How to Choose Your First Telescope

There are different types of telescopes that are available in the market and every one of them has its own distinct set of advantages and disadvantages. Many times those who are buying a telescope for beginners may find it a hard task and get confused by the many varieties that are available; this is especially true if you are going to buy your first telescope. If you are a first-time buyer looking for a good telescope for beginners, you need to know the basic features if a nice telescope. Among the leading features that you are going to consider include the optics, the magnification and the type of telescope you are going to buy.

One important consideration you must give a telescope for beginners is optical quality; optics refer to the components that are found inside the telescope that gather the distant light and focus it. All telescopes have a lens and a mirror that it uses to collect light; the size of this lens is known as the aperture. Basically, a telescope for beginners should be one that had a large aperture as much faint light as possible to enable for better viewing.

Many people who sell telescopes for beginners will almost always highlight high magnification power; the truth, however, is that higher magnification doesn’t necessarily lead to clearer images. The ability of a telescope to give a clear image will be determined by the aperture size and not necessarily the magnification. The problem with high magnification is that it easily distorts the quality of the image. Those who are buying telescopes for beginners should avoid buying anything that promises any unrealistic magnification level such as 500 X and above.

There are different types of telescopes that are available. The three most common types are the refracting, the reflecting and the catadioptric telescopes.

Refracting telescopes: Refracting telescopes use lenses that are in-line to focus on distant objects; they are simple to use and don’t demand any type of maintenance. However, their main disadvantage is their large size and weight.

Reflecting telescopes: Reflecting telescopes employ a number of mirrors to bring a visible image; they are compact in design and lighter than any other telescopes. These are recommended for viewing galaxies and nebulae but their images may not be as bright as the refracting model and they aren’t good for terrestrial or nearby viewing.

Catadioptric telescopes: Catadioptric telescopes employ both mirrors and lenses and the combination of both makes this a good choice for al purpose viewing; it delivers crisp images for nearby and distant objects in space. Catadioptric telescopes are compact and portable but they are more expensive. All three designs are good choices for telescopes for beginners as you will enjoy a number of years of enjoying astronomy as a hobby.

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