What kind of astronomical telescope to have ?

My telescope.

I thought to write a few words for those who want to buy a telescope but do not know why would they do this . Of course they must have a reason , and most say that for observing planets.
I've been asked many times in many ways about telescopes , different people asking my opinion about what you can see with a telescope , or which one to purchase , but it has to be cheap. To them I tell that whatever kind of telescope they choose, with a low magnifying power even as binoculars , to large telescopes, they have what to observe in both cases.

If you take binoculars with a 7x40 magnifying power for example, you can enjoy the fascinating Moon , whose craters are visible even if the Moon is whole seen in the binocular visual field . With binoculars you can observe even planets. With the type of binoculars that I have mentioned above, I observed Jupiter with the four Galilean satellites: Io, Europa , Ganymede and Callisto. Although bright, both planet and its moons orbiting it, are seen as small milk white pearls .

If you want to get a deeper observation of space , you can buy a telescope , either reflector ( with mirror ) or refractor ( lens ) .
Personally I never had a refractor , so I can give advices only on reflectors . My telescope is a Newtonian 8 inch diagonal mirror or 203 mm. You can see many things with such a telescope , beginning with the Moon and continuing with planets, stars , nebulae , galaxies and comets . With this mirror , it is a medium telescope category for amateur telescopes . I have exploited this telescope and I'm not sorry . Once taken , you will enjoy it whenever you have the mood to go out to observe the sky .

Many of those who want a telescope they want to immortalize what they see through it. To achieve this the mount is important, the tripod have to be strong, heavy, to give stability of the telescope's tube. I do not think you want to go out shooting shaky photos or video due to a frail tripod that do not keep the tube fixed. My mount is a category 5 (CG5) one, strong enough to be used even for tubes with larger mirrors than 8 inches, even 11.

On the question of which telescope to purchase, many who own one will tell you to take yourself a small one, then bigger and then a bigger one. But guess what, get a big one to start as your first telescope, on how much money you have, because you may not want to take your second bigger telescope, after you'll learn how to work with a smaller one. Why? For whatever telescope you have, you will learn the same working techniques.

Faebook comments on this article:

 Buick MacColl Well said, Lupu. Whats important to know is that with the technology of astronomy, you very much get what you pay for. So if you see a deal thats cheap, its probably with good reason. Save more and buy bigger - is the rule  because upgrading is an expensive pain in the *** !

 Jack E. LaRocque ...telescopes sure are affordable these days; I know that I certainly enjoy my older 8-inch Meade, but I keep looking longingly at the newer 14- and 16- inch Dobs!!!

John T Smith I tend to agree with this. Assuming one KNOWS one WANTS to do Astronomy and nothing else or not much else, then put all your available money into a decent scope that will last you for years, like a six inch reflector and a mount that will accept a drive unit sometime in the future if you cann't afford a six inch scope or larger with a drive unit

Leo Sparrow attending a local star party or astronomy club may help them also see what they wish to do also with there equipment,many people will be happy to show them how to operate there equipment and some will let them actually view through diffrent kinds and sizes of there scopes as well as get to know some of the people in there local area

Luis A Silva Good advise...I take the smaller telescope for a quick observation of the sky when I don't feel like carrying 100+ lbs. of equipment.

Posted in: What kind of telescope should I buy?