And be sure to check out our favorite things to see with a telescope. Again, the different features of the telescopes allow different possibilities, and trade-offs exist. You can also see many double, or even multiple, stars — i. Perhaps the most famous example of a double star is Albireo, in the constellation of Cygnus. A low magnification of about 35x is enough to show two stars — one gold, one sapphire blue.
You can also view star clusters, which come in two varieties. An open star cluster is a group of hundreds or even thousands of stars that are packed together into a relatively small space. The Pleiades star cluster in Taurus and the Beehive cluster in Cancer are both fine examples. The other type of star cluster is a globular star cluster.
These contain hundreds of thousands of stars that are gravitationally bound together so they form a huge sphere in space. One of the best examples in the northern hemisphere is M13, the Keystone Cluster in the constellation Hercules. You can also see nebulae, which are huge clouds of gas and dust in space where the stars themselves are born.
At the other end of the stellar lifespan, planetary nebulae are the shells of gas thrown off by dying stars. And of course, the night sky offers literally hundreds of distant galaxies to be seen. These typically faint objects require telescopes with higher aperture and wider fields of view to bring in more light.
Dobsonian telescopes offer some the best image quality for the price but are also some of the least portable options, for instance. They would work well for people who will park their telescope at a cabin or their house, and move it less frequently. Another consideration is whether you will typically have more or less light pollution or other factors affecting visibility.
Last but not least, price matters for everyone. Before you invest in a telescope for yourself, you might consider ways to participate in astronomy without purchasing your own equipment.
The astronomy community is a friendly bunch, and people love to share tips with each other and showcase their equipment. Virtual astronomy: Other websites offer classes and educational materials where you can learn about the night sky through virtual astronomy. If you are looking for a virtual astronomy class, camp or program, then be sure to check them out here.
This is the diameter, usually measured in millimeters, of its lens or mirror more about that in a moment. The larger the aperture, the more light it is able to gather. This is the distance that light must travel from where it enters the equipment to where it exits. For a telescope, the entry point is the end that points up at the sky, while the exit point is the focuser that holds the eyepiece.
Eyepieces themselves also have focal lengths. To do this, simply divide the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the eyepiece. For example, if you have a telescope with a mm focal length and an eyepiece with a focal length of 10mm, your magnification is 50x. A Barlow lens is an adapter that can multiply the magnification of any eyepiece you use with it. A Barlow is an essential accessory because it will immediately double the number of magnifications you have available.
With the exception of Jupiter and Saturn, the planets typically appear small and it can be difficult to discern any details without a magnification of x or higher. We generally recommend focusing much more on aperture i. The best telescope for beginners typically comes in one of two main forms: refractors or reflectors. We discuss the differences between these two types in detail in another article here. To summarize quickly:. A refractor is what many people would consider to be a traditional telescope.
The light enters through a lens, travels down the optical tube and then exits through the eyepiece at the bottom. They can, however, be more cumbersome and limited in terms of their aperture. They also suffer from chromatic aberration, though methods exist these days to mitigate its effects. A reflector Newtonian reflectors being a common type for beginners uses mirrors to bounce the light to the eyepiece.
Light enters the telescope through the open end that points up at the sky. The light then travels down the optical tube to a large, primary mirror at the bottom. The mirror reflects the light back to a secondary mirror, and then out of the tube at an angle.
Since the mirrors bounce the light back and forth, you get good focal length without needing a long tube. The downside to a reflector is that you have to fine-tune the alignment of the mirrors i. A third type of telescope, called a catadioptric including Cassegrain, Schmidt-Cassegrain or Maksutov-Cassegrain , uses both lenses and mirrors.
Catadioptrics pack high focal length and aperture into a compact package, but can cost more than other types. They have been slowly gaining in popularity and are some of our top rated telescopes. But the vast majority of beginner scopes will still be either refractors or reflectors. Besides the types of telescope, you will want to consider the type of mount that comes with your telescope.
This will help you determine if its suitable for beginners. Here, too, we have two main types:. First, the alt-azimuth mount is the oldest and simplest. It allows the scope to move horizontally and vertically in a straight line. This makes it easier to track your target necessary for astrophotography , but can often be tricky to set up and a little confusing for a beginner to use. For that reason, we recommend beginners choose a telescope with an alt-azimuth mount.
All of our selections reflect this. Lastly, note that not all telescopes use a tripod. In recent years, the Dobsonian mount has grown in popularity and is now one of the most common mounts available. Being of simple design, Dobsonian telescopes are amongst the best value telescopes that money can buy and without too much compromise. Your budget goes primarily towards how powerful the telescope is the size of the light-gathering mirror rather than fancy electronics.
Other types of telescopes can be found cheaper however you may well find yourself venturing into the realms of poor build quality and difficult to use in which case you really must try before you buy! We highly recommend you go to an independent astronomy equipment supplier rather than any online retailer.
We recommend First Light Optics whom we know to be a very reliable, helpful and customer focussed supplier of telescopes and associated equipment. See the telescopes they currently have in stock. With guidance, these portable Dobsonian telescopes are ideal for children aged 6 to They make ideal travel scopes for a family stargazing adventure to a dark sky region! Ideal for beginners, these telescopes use your mobile phone to point to objects. The app takes only a couple of minutes to set up and offers a guided tour of the night sky.
Finding planets, galaxies, and nebulae is straightforward. The aperture light gathering area is a little small; however, the technology makes things easy, and these telescopes still offer amazing views! Sky-Watcher StarTravel Refracting Telescope This refracting telescope uses lenses instead of mirrors to gather light. Observe the Moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies by using the app on your mobile!
Such convenience does come at the expense of aperture light gathering area ; however, this telescope still offers fantastic views! Their 10 times magnification and 50mm aperture lenses are an ideal combination for beginners, making them not only easy to use but also great for observing the Moon and the brighter deep sky objects. More details… Recommended Accessories Red dot finder A red dot finder makes it easy for you to point your telescope at objects in the sky.
When looking through this type of finder, a red dot is projected onto the sky and, once aligned, where you point the red dot is where the telescope is also pointing!
More details…. Telrad finder A trendy alternative to using a red dot finder is a Telrad finder. However, these devices work similarly to a red dot finder but project a circular target instead. Smartphone Adapter This cool device allows you to attach your phone to your telescope eyepiece easily and is absolutely fantastic for taking photos of the Moon!
Baader Hyperion Zoom Eyepiece All new telescopes come with eyepieces — lenses of different powers that magnify the image that is formed by the telescope allowing you to see things on a larger scale. This well-constructed Maksutov-Cassegrain also comes with a single eyepiece with a focal length of 28 mm for a magnification of 64x. Weighing in at For versatility in the type of mount you choose, a Vixen-style dovetail plate is supplied for the moderate price tag.
The Skymax 's optical prowess is outstanding, with no sign of optical distortion. The telescope is a great all-arounder, suitable for imaging everything from the planets to deep-sky galaxies and nebulas — and as you would expect for a telescope designed for giving great images. As an added bonus, the instrument is a breeze to use and accessorize. The focuser is a dream to operate being lovely and smooth.
The Skymax keeps a good amount of fine-focus once it's been found — vital for those long imaging sessions. The way that the Schmidt-Cassegrain optics focus light usually means that the focal plane — where the light comes to focus — is curved, but if you are imaging, your CCD camera's sensor is flat.
A curved focal plane on a flat CCD sensor results in field curvature, where stars at the edge of the field become blurry. An undesirable effect for astrophotographers. The EdgeHD optics negate this, creating a perfectly flat field right to the edge of the frame for pinpoint sharpness right across the image. We are impressed with the optical performance that the Celestron Advanced VX9. The setup also performs periodic corrections to remove errors when tracking objects and also comes with an autoguider port.
The Celestron Advanced VX9. Aperture: Diameter of the primary mirror or lens, which allows a telescope to collect light. Field of view: Area of sky visible through the eyepiece. Focal length: A telescope's tube length. Short focal lengths offer a wide field of view and a small image. Focal ratio: Also known as the telescope's speed. Small focal ratios provide lower magnifications, wide field of view and a brighter image.
Magnification : Relationship between the telescope's optical system and the eyepiece. The aperture is one of the most important things to consider when purchasing a telescope, then you should next consider the focal length.
It really all comes down to the targets you are wanting to view. Shorter focal lengths, say of about 20 inches mm , will provide a field of view for you to take in large areas of the Milky Way and showpieces such as the Pleiades Messier 45 and Orion Nebula Messier Meanwhile, high-power objects such as the moon , planets or double stars need a telescope with a longer focal length of about 80 inches mm.
Read on for what you can expect from the three major kinds of telescope: the refractor, reflector and the catadioptric. As their name suggests, refractors bend or refract the light that they gather to give you a view of your astronomical target. As telescopes go, they have a fairly straight-forward assembly and consist of a main objective lens at one end that focuses light through to the other. Intuitive to use, the refractor is often a popular choice of instrument for novice astronomers since they require little maintenance and are usually affixed to the simple alt-azimuth mount, which allows the skywatcher to slew from left to right and up and down in order to locate a desired target.
Being easy to use means that these telescopes are also simple to manufacture, making them cheaper to buy with price points increasing with aperture size. Refractors are particularly good at given highly magnified and high contrast images and, because of this, are ideal instruments to use when looking at solar system targets such as the moon and the planets. The best refractors usually have an aperture of two inches 60 mm or more and will provide reasonable views of astronomical objects.
The drawback of a refractor is that they can suffer from chromatic aberration, also known as color fringing. To reduce this problem, many refractors are manufactured as achromatic or apochromatic also known as Extra Dispersion ED telescopes. The achromatic refractor is cheaper than the apochromatic refractor and, combined with its efficiency, is often the type of telescopes that novice astronomers go for. If you do decide to go for the expensive option, then you will be stunned by the views you will get through these excellent telescopes.
There are two common types of reflector telescope — the Newtonian and the Dobsonian. This reflector is a favourite in the amateur astronomy community due to their versatility by being able to observe a wide selection of astronomical targets and allow for astrophotography.
With Newtonians, you can also buy a large aperture for less money — for instance, an eight-inch If you choose to go for a reflector of this sort, then you should always choose one which has mirrors with a protective coating — these will last longer. These telescopes give the capabilities of a reflector without the complexities an equatorial mount will bring since it employs an alt-azimuth mount.
Dobsonians are very simple to use and can be pulled into orientation when looking at astronomical objects with ease. Whatever reflector you choose, these telescopes are excellent for low-magnification targets such as galaxies and many types of nebulas. In order to take the best parts of the reflector and refractor, telescope manufacturers introduced the Schmidt-Cassegrain and the Maksutov-Cassegrain.
These catadioptric telescopes generally correct any problems that are often experienced by reflectors and refractors. The Maksutov-Cassegrain corrects the problem that the reflector experiences — an aberration effect called "coma", which can make objects look distorted and appear like they have a tail.
This effect is reduced or banished with the combined efforts of a mirror and a corrector lens. This catadioptric is very robust and is also the ideal family telescope. Packed into its short optical tube is a system that allows you to target higher magnification objects such as the planets, moon and double stars. What you get with a Schmidt-Cassegrain is very similar to the capabilities of the Maksutov.
It will allow you to make general observations of planetary targets and stars. The catadioptric telescope is also suitable if you want to try your hand at astrophotography but combine this with their marked improvement on your standard telescope and you should expect to see a substantial rise in cost in comparison to standard reflectors and refractors.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community space. She was elected as a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in Previously, she worked for Nature's journal, Scientific Reports , and created scientific industry reports for the Institute of Physics and the British Antarctic Survey.
She has covered stories and features for publications such as Physics World , Astronomy Now and Astrobiology Magazine. Jump to: Beginner telescopes Enthusiast telescopes Computerized telescopes Observing planets Astrophotography telescopes Buying advice. Best telescopes Beginner telescopes. Orion StarMax 90 Tabletop. Pre-assembled for good, "out-of-the-box" views of the solar system. Specifications Optical design: Maksutov-Cassegrain. Mount type: Dobsonian desktop version.
Aperture: 3. Focal length: Highest useful magnification: x. Lowest useful magnification: 13x. Supplied eyepieces: 10 mm, 25 mm. Weight: 6. Reasons to avoid - Lacks slow-motion controls. Specifications Type: Reflector. Mount type: Alt-azimuth. Aperture: 4. Lowest useful magnification: 16x. Weight: Reasons to avoid - Lacks computerized mount.
Specifications Optical design: Refractor. Mount type: Motorized GoTo alt-azimuth. Highest useful magnification: Up to x with digital zoom. Reasons to avoid - Expensive. Celestron PowerSeeker EQ. The best telescope for enthusiasts and beginners who want to upgrade. Specifications Optical design: Reflector. Mount type: Equatorial. Aperture: 5" mm. Lowest useful magnification: 18x. Supplied eyepieces: 4 mm, 20 mm, 3x Barlow. Weight: 22 lbs. Reasons to avoid - Accessories not best quality.
Orion StarBlast 6i IntelliScope. Lightweight setup, crisp and clear optics and a "push to" design. Mount type: Computerized "push to" alt-azimuth. Aperture: 5.
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