When shopping for a high-quality telescope, you’ll find three major styles, and to find the perfect telescope for your needs, you need to understand the differences.
The Refractor Telescope
The first type of telescope uses a refractor mechanism, which features a shape that most people are familiar with. The front of this product has a large lens, and as the lens collects light, it beams it into the mirror positioned in the back of the telescope.
PROS
- Excellent for objects on Earth
- Effortless design and easy to use
- Requires almost no maintenance
- Sturdy design
- The sealed tube keeps optics safe
CONS
- Not an excellent choice for faint objects
- It holds less value than a reflector telescope
- It tends to be bulky and heavier than other styles
The Reflector Telescope
Reflector telescopes operate differently than their refractor counterparts and have a mirror built into the end of the tube.
The purpose of the mirror is to gather light, which is sent to another mirror before it hits the eyepiece. We recommend reflector telescopes for viewing faint objects, offering images of a higher quality than refractor telescopes.
PROS
- Features a compact, lightweight design
- Ideal for looking at faint objects
- More expensive than refractor telescopes
- Produces a high-quality image for you to look at
CONS
- The optics tube is open and vulnerable to dust
- Not a good choice for Earth’s objects
- Needs regular maintenance
The Catadioptric Telescope
The third primary style is the compound telescope, also known as a catadioptric telescope. Unlike the other types, this telescope features two mirrors located in the front and back. The two mirrors work together with the lens to produce a high-quality image.
PROS
- The optics tube is sealed to prevent dust accumulation
- Best choice for astrophotography
- Works well for Earth objects
- Good choice for viewing faint objects
CONS
- It tends to be large and bulkier
- More expensive than other choices
- The additional mirror reduces image brightness
Choosing the Right Style of High-Quality Telescope
With three different styles, many consumers need help picking the best telescope.
If you’re starting this hobby, you can get a reflector or refractor telescope. For consumers who want to avoid maintenance, a refractor telescope is a great choice.
Refractor and compound scopes are great for observing birds and similar Earth objects, and compound and reflector telescopes are best for viewing faint objects in the deep sky.
For astrophotography, a compound scope is a great choice, and if you want to get the most value for your money, we recommend reflector scopes.
Telescope Basics
The Aperture
When buying a high-quality telescope, you need to understand the basics for the best value. The first principal component is the aperture, representing the diameter of the lens or mirror in the scope.
This factor is more important than all other features to find out exactly how much you’ll be able to see with the telescope. In almost every situation, a bigger aperture is better.
A telescope with a vast aperture allows total light to flood into the eyepiece, and with more light, you’ll get better image quality for faint objects.
If you’re on a budget, you should always try to get the biggest aperture you can afford because it will make a massive difference in image quality.
The Focal Length
Another essential feature is the focal length, representing the total distance from your telescope’s focal point to the mirror or lens.
The focal length isn’t nearly as important as the aperture, but it’s important enough to consider. Objects with a more extensive focal length will look much more prominent than those with a smaller size.
It’s always best to look for products with an extensive focal length and aperture, but if you have to choose between these two features, pick the scope with the bigger aperture.
The Magnification
All telescopes can magnify the objects in the night sky, and the focal length and eyepiece determine your magnification level.
Some say that more magnification is better, and many cheaper telescopes emphasize the scope’s magnification. However, if you can’t get a clear image, a high level of magnification is almost useless.
The Electronic Control
Not too long ago, all telescopes required manual operation, and there was no way to automatically set them for specific constellations of stars.
Today, you can find a variety of electronic scopes, and with the help of a built-in computer, these telescopes can automatically find particular objects in the night sky.
The average person doesn’t need this feature, but an electronic telescope is worth considering if you want to get into astrophotography or need a way to follow moving objects.
Things to Look for When Buying a Telescope
The decision to purchase a telescope is enormous, and if you choose the right product, it can completely change your life and how you view life on Earth. The ability to see deep into the cosmos profoundly affects most people; fortunately, it’s much easier than you might think.
It’s one thing to see the planets in our solar system on paper or through computer animation. Still, once you’ve seen the world through the eyepiece of a high-quality telescope, you’ll gain much more appreciation for the night sky.
Once you’ve had this experience, you’ll want to dive even deeper into the majestic wonders of the universe and never put the telescope down.
Understanding How Telescopes Work
Before you find a product to purchase, you should know how it works. The primary purpose of all telescopes is to collect light, and every kind of scope gathers light differently than the rest.
When you look up at the moon with your naked eyes, you’ll see a large white sphere, but you won’t be able to decipher any finer details.
By collecting light, telescopes allow you to unlock the finer details of objects in the night sky. Galileo said it best when he described telescopes as tools for revealing the invisible.
Why Bigger Is Usually Better
When gathering light, bigger is almost always better, and a four-inch mirror is four times better at picking light than a two-inch mirror.
It’s best to purchase the telescope with the biggest aperture that you can afford because larger scopes gather more light. With more light, you’ll get a higher image quality, and it will be much easier to see faint objects.
Do I Need Extra Items for My Telescope?
After purchasing their first telescope, many beginners want to know if they need additional items to make it work. Fortunately, most modern telescopes are sold as complete systems, so they don’t require extra items or purchases.
Once your new high-quality telescope has been removed from the packaging and set up with the included components, it should be ready to aim at the sky. However, some high-end optics are sold without a tripod, mount, and accessories.
If you decide to purchase a refractor telescope, consider buying a star diagonal because it will help bend the light from your target object, making it easier to see certain things in the sky.
Various Types of Telescopes
When shopping for a high-quality telescope, you’ll find three major styles, and the third style combines the first two. All types of scopes use mirrors or lenses, and compound scopes use a variety of mirrors and lenses.
The refractor style allows you to gaze into the heavens with lenses, and although most refractor telescopes use at least two lenses, some have as many as four.
Reflector telescopes use mirrors to gather and focus light onto an eyepiece, and out of the many different reflector styles available, the most common type is the Newtonian reflector.
Catadioptric or compound scopes use a combination of mirrors and lenses, and the two popular designs are Maksutov-Cassegrain and Schmidt-Cassegrain designs.
The Differences Between Small, Medium, and Large Telescopes
The market is filled with telescopes of different sizes, making it difficult to know what size is best for your needs. When someone refers to the size of a scope, they’re usually talking about the size of the aperture, and any telescope with a four-inch aperture could be called a small scope.
Medium telescopes tend to have an aperture between four to 10 inches and are excellent products for beginner astronomers. One of the best medium scopes on the market is the Schmidt-Cassegrain, and it’s available for an affordable price.
A large telescope is any product that has a 10-inch aperture. Since people have become much more interested in space and astronomy, large telescopes are more popular than ever.
What About Eyepieces?
After purchasing a new telescope and using it for the first time, many people overlook entirely eyepieces, which are essential pieces of equipment. Some of the worst eyepieces are tiny pieces of glass, and with such a small size, they’re complicated to look through.
A low-quality eyepiece will have you constantly squinting, and you might still need help seeing the object you’re looking for. When shopping for eyepieces, you have many options, and the best products are very comfortable to look through.
Finding the Right Mount
Another piece of equipment regularly overlooked is the mount; every telescope needs a solid foundation to support it. Many modern telescopes are sold as complete systems and come with a mount, but depending on the product, you should consider getting a better mount.
Some consumers purchase just the optics tube and try to mount it to a standard camera tripod, and although this might seem like a good idea, many camera mounts need to be more sturdy for a telescope.
The best mounts will allow you to swing your telescope in any direction, and once you’ve locked onto the target object, the mount will still hold the optics tube.
If you have a lot of money to spend, consider buying a motorized mount. A mount with a motor is controlled by a computer, allowing you to program the mount for specific objects in the sky.
Choosing A Finder
Many consumers purchase a new telescope and completely overlook the accessories. A finder is something that every amateur astronomer should have, and it will allow you to point your telescope at specific objects in the sky.
By pressing the side of your head against your telescope, you might be able to aim it toward the moon or bright stars, but when you need to find small, faint objects in the night sky, you’ll need to use a finder.
A finder is an excellent accessory with three primary styles. The peep sight is the simplest, and it’s perfect for beginners.
The next best finder is the reflect sight, which projects a tiny red laser toward the sky. The third option is like a miniature telescope, and with the help of crosshairs, it allows you to find even the faintest objects.
Tips to Properly Care for Your New Telescope
Any high-quality telescope is an investment, and it needs to be correctly cared for. One of the significant aspects of care is cleaning the optics, and since you’ll constantly be pushing the limits of your scope, proper optics cleaning should always be noticed.
The whole point of using a scope is to see faint objects in the sky, and you’ll find it nearly impossible to accomplish this task if the optics aren’t clean.
The fine details of many objects can be lost to a few particles of dust. When dust accumulates on a lens or mirror, it distorts the light and makes it harder to see planets and stars. One of the best ways to avoid this problem is to practice preventive maintenance.
A telescope should always be covered when not in use—the lens cap, which protects the optics from dust. If your scope doesn’t come with a protective cap, you can cover it with a homemade lid.
It’s also a good idea to leave your scope pointing towards the floor because this position will prevent dust from settling onto the optics. Extra eyepieces should be stored in a plastic bag, and the lens or mirror within your high-quality telescope should never be touched.
Cleaning the Lens or Mirror
The lens is critical, and how you clean it is also vital. A brush made from camel hair is excellent for removing dust from a lens, and you can find many of these products in stores that sell many different types of cameras.
If you ever manage to spill some residue onto the lens, there are particular solutions that you can use to clean it. Many popular cleaning solutions for lenses are made of pure methanol.
If you own a reflector telescope and need to clean the mirror, you should be confident in your ability to disassemble and reassemble the scope.
Tips for Beginners
One of the best tips that we can give to beginner astronomers is to have realistic expectations. Most people have seen images of distant galaxies and star clusters, but the Hubble space telescope took the photos.
It’s only possible to get the same quality images with a typical consumer telescope. Some of the best telescopes on the planet require millions of dollars in funding to build, and they can’t even display distant stars with as much detail as Hubble.
The good news is that modern consumer telescopes have plenty to offer, but you must have realistic expectations and know that the objects you’re viewing won’t look like what you’d see in space magazines.
Avoid Buildings
This simple tip is commonly overlooked and can make or break your viewing experience. When using a telescope, you should always stay clear of buildings and large objects because they release heat during the night, which makes it very difficult to see distant stars and planets.
The air currents produced by heat rising off large objects reduces your telescope’s ability to see distant objects. Open areas are some of the best places to use your scope.
Avoid Windows
Another common mistake is using their high-quality telescope to see through a window. For the same reasons buildings should be avoided, windows can make it very hard to see distant objects, and you’ll have a challenging time if there is a significant temperature difference between indoor and outdoor air.
If you’re forced to view through a window, it will become a part of your lens, and for the best results, aim the telescope directly through the window.
New telescope owners believe they’ll get a better image if they aim the scope through the window at an angle, and unfortunately, this is different.
Make Sure to Adjust Your Eyes
Depending on the location, it can take your eyes up to 30 minutes to adapt to the darkness. It only takes a few seconds of staring into a bright light to reverse the effects of standing in the darkness.
Most astronomers use red light because it’s much easier on eyes that have adapted to the darkness. You can find many flashlights that use a red light or purchase a lens for a light you already own.
Practice Using Averted Vision
For beginners, practice observing distant objects using averted vision, which involves looking out of the corner of your eye.
By observing objects from the corner of your eye, you’ll see faint things which might otherwise be invisible.
Start with The Lowest Eyepiece
You can find a variety of eyepieces for your high-quality telescope, and many modern scopes come with several. The power of the eyepiece, and it’s usually the piece that is marked with the most significant number.
The images viewed through a low-power eyepiece will be sharper and brighter. And in most situations, you’ll get the best viewing experience from your low-power eyepieces. Once you have some experience, you can experiment with other eyepieces.
