Re: Astronomy Buffs
Blitz.....
Take a few factors into consideration before you purchase a telescope. First and obvious is how much are you willing to spend. You can get decent telescopes for as little as $300 but you can also pay $1000 for a really good telescopes. I have been into amateur astronomy since I was a kid and its a great thing to get the family interested in. I cant wait for my son to get interested in another few years. Ok, so here are what I think are important things to consider........
1. Where are you primarily going to use it?? If you live in the city where you have alot of light pollution and this is where you are mainly going to use it, like the back yard, then dont get anything too expensive. I dont care how good your telescope is, light pollution is a tough element to fight through. If you are in or really close to the city, then I would recommend a simple "refracting" telescope. These are the ones you see in the malls.....long straight thin tube-like telescope. A good refracting telescope in this class will be a 3-4 inch telescope. 3-4 inches is the diameter of the tube. Dont pay attention to what the ads say about 100x, 1000x power magnification though. I will get into that later. This telescope will be ideal for looking at the moon, and brighter planets. Anything more distant or nebulous will require a trip to the country, but this telescope will still be ideal for that trip. Lightweight and easy to move around.
2. If you live in the country where there isnt much light pollution and you can afford to spend $600 - $800, then you can look into the reflector telescopes. These are the shorter tubed telescopes in which you view from the side instead of looking straight through the tube as in the refractors. The light gets reflected, back and forth, through the tube then into the eyepiece. They are a little heavier than the refractors, but still very mobile if you wanted to bring it to a darker location. The diameter on these usually run about 3-6 inches.
3. If you are already into amateur astronomy yourself, and want a really good telescope that you will love and also the family, then get a catalogue from companies like Celestron or Meade. I have a Celestron 8-inch that I bought about 15 years ago. Back then it ran about $1500, no idea what it goes for now though. Not as transportable unless you take the upper tube away from the tripod stand. These weigh about 40lbs and are a load to lug in and out of the house and up and down the stairs lol...trust me on this!!
I mentioned earlier about magnification and power. Dont let a salesman sweet talk you by throwing out terms like "this telescope can magnify objects 1000x or 5000x". Magnification is simply a function of two things ....the length of the tube transferring the light, and the diameter of the eyepiece. Any telescope can be equipped with the right eyepiece to achieve any magnification you want. Dont let magnification influence you at all when making your decision, even though the salesmen and the ads will have it in big bold letters.
Also, unless you are already into amateur astronomy yourself and know about things like "polar aligning" a telescope, then stay away from the motorized telescopes. This will be huge waste of money unless you really know how to use it.
Blitz, if you need more detailed information, then I would be glad to help out more. If your situation doesnt fit any of the things i mentioned above, then get my email from Jack and I'll help you more. It's a fun thing you're getting into, and telescopes arent anything to just go out and buy unprepared. If you do, you'll probably be sorry with what you get.
Hope this helps.
