Beginners Guide to Telescopes

 Beginners Guide to Telescopes

 

There are many different types of astronomical Telescope available on the market and for the Beginner, selecting one can be a bewildering experience. Before buying a Telescope it is important to ask yourself: What objects do you want to see through your new Telescope and how much can the person buying it afford to pay?

Not all Beginners telescopes are the same nor do they give the same results.

Many amateur astronomers have two or more different telescopes for different types of observing, but there are some which offer a good compromise and most objects can be seen through them.

Once you have decided on the telescope’s main purpose and what you want to see through it, choosing a beginners one can become much easier. With the exception of the Moon, planets and close star clusters, interesting night sky objects are faint; in fact most will appear as just points of light. As a beginner/ new observer you may be mainly interested in viewing the Moon and planets, and if this is the case, a beginners telescope with a small objective (primary mirror or lens) may be sufficient.

Most beginners quickly graduate to galaxies, nebulae, globular clusters, open clusters etc. To view these objects you will require a telescope with the largest aperture that is possible for your circumstances, which includes things like cost, weight, portability, etc.

Below are the 3 main types of Beginners telescope worth considering:

Newtonian reflector telescopes are a popular choice for beginners because they have the lowest cost per inch of aperture. Observations of faint deep sky objects, such as Galaxies and Nebulae, can be achieved at a relatively reasonable cost by reflectors with mirror diameters of 150 to 200mm (6 to 8 inches). More Info

Beginners

Celestron Astromaster 130

Refractor telescopes are good for achieving high power and contrast when viewing the planets and the moon. They have a reputation of providing crisp, sharp-quality images. Since they are virtually maintenance free, they are easy to operate, but due to high costs for the large aperture scopes, most Beginners will choose a Newtonian reflector as a first scope for all round astronomy. Short-tube refractors are now another low-cost option for beginners. Their smaller size makes them an excellent choice for a portable or beginners telescope and the beautiful wide-field star vistas which they provide are great for beginners learning their way around the night sky. More Info

Beginner

Bresser Refractor Telescope

Dobsonian Telescopes are one of the best beginners choices for a general telescope and have many advantages including simplicity, economy and large light gathering ability. Dobsonians are actually large Newtonian telescopes on a simple manual Alt/ Az (Up, down, side to side) mount. Due to the mount and optical tube assembly being so simple, Dobsonian telescopes are the most user-friendly for beginners and economical on a cost per inch basis. This enables massive apertures being made affordable, bringing fainter objects within the grasp of  beginners and usually well within budget with mirror diameters from 150mm to 400mm(6 to 16 inches) or much larger. More Info

The Meade 16″ LightBridge

Another consideration when choosing a beginners telescope is the mount – the part the optical tube assembly sits on. Usually a tripod with a head containing manual or motorised controls, which point the telescope and track an object observed.

The three main types of mount are:

Equatorial – Usually found paired with all beginners and advanced telescopes apart from Dobsonians. Equatorial mounts enable the telescope to follow the rotation of the sky with on axis parallel to the Earth’s axis of rotation. They can also be used in a basic manual mode which can be manually moved by hand in the Altitude (up/down) and Azimuth (left/right) axis. This is good for beginners or ad-hoc observers. Many higher end mounts have computers and GoTo systems incorporated which are almost essential for astrophotography.

Hand operated Manual Alt/ Az (Altitude/ Azimuth) – Usually found on very cheap beginners, small telescopes, Dobsonian telescopes, binocular mounts and photographic tripods. Simple and easy to use, however they do not track objects across the sky.

GoTo or Computerised – Found on many mid to high range telescopes of all sizes and extremely popular with astrophotographers and imagers. Unfortunately many beginners are drawn to the sexy marketing of scopes that are computerised and this can be an expensive mistake. Personally I believe it to be better to use manually guided telescopes for beginners starting out instead of jumping in straight away with computerised ones. It is much better to concentrate on good optics and a solid mount rather than waste lots of money on often complicated and unnecessary electronics. GoTo really is only suitable for beginners or those wanting to do a lot of astro imaging The Best Telescopes for Beginners, Easy Guide and Review or can afford many hundreds or thousands of pounds for a good telescope; this is not for the beginner. For more info on mounts and GoTo Systems see the Beginners Guide to GoTo

Hopefully this guide has given you more insight into the complicated world of beginners telescopes, and enable you to make a better decision when buying your new telescope. If you have found this guide helpful, please visit the Meteorwatch Store where you can browse a large range of beginners telescopes. You can also read The Best Telescopes for Beginners, Easy Guide and Review.  Your new telescope should be one that you can enjoy and get the most out of for many years.