So, you're interested at peeking into the cosmos......You want a telescope, right? Telescopes are great instruments for looking at small portions of the sky up close. They can bring out all sorts of detail from what looks like a pinpoint of light. Telescopes have been around for almost 500 years and since then they've been improving constantly. With the help of modern optical engineering and new technologies, today's commercial telescopes are better than before and much cheaper. To see larger portions of sky at a time, get a pair of good binoculars or simply view by the unaided eye. Keep in mind that you're not buying the multi-billion dollar Hubble telescope, so you won't get multi-billion dollar results when you look through the eyepiece. Budgeted telescopes for the amateur astronomer can still prove satisfying if you are a smart buyer. Just be aware that not all scopes advertised are the best pick.

You might go to a department store one weekend and jump at the first seemingly "economical" sale. It would probably be a 60mm refractor selling for around $100 (beware of these!) with fantastic pictures of deep space all over the box, the box that claims to have enormous magnifications of 400 or even 700x. We're talking about a telescope that is less than 2 ½ inches in aperture. Don't be impressed by big numbers coming from a $100 telescope; bigger numbers aren't necessarily better. In conventional eyepieces (such as the ones beginner scopes come with) the higher the "x", the smaller the eye relief would have to be. Most of all, you would not have sufficient image brightness. The image would appear very dark and blurry. Finding a $20 telescope at a garage sale is not a good idea either. They are usually missing crucial parts that can't be replaced or would cost as much money as a new scope to replace. These 60mm starting scopes have flimsy tripods that will give you hours of frustration and grief. Finding and keeping track of an object would be an arduous task. Nothing is wrong with a well made 60mm refractor, in fact it's a great first telescope, they can see planets, superb views of the moon and they're great for star gazing too. You would need a 60mm with a better tripod. They are closer to the $150-200 price range. If your budget allows though, I would recommend getting at least an 80mm refractor. (We'll talk about different scopes and their specs later.) You should find a good one for $300. It will have a much better tripod with tight adjusting controls. The optics would probably be better too. You may have not planned on spending over $150. But, it's highly recommended since most scopes below this price range are not sufficient enough to take you into enjoyful star gazing. If your $100 telescope spends it's life (to your disappointment) unused in a closet, that $100 would have completely gone to waste. Spending more will be worth it in the long run. You want something that is good enough for you to enjoy for a while, even if you're interest is minimal.

Guidelines that Apply to All Telescopes

Before even looking at different kinds of scopes there is an important factor to discuss that applies to all telescopes. The bigger it is, the more you will see. Regardless of the kind of telescope or how pretty it may look, larger aperture telescopes can see more than smaller ones. "More" meaning being able to see further into space; to see more detail on most any object, especially faint ones; to be able to see objects at higher magnification (when needed); and to have brighter images. Some of the few exceptions to this is lunar, solar and planetary viewing. This small group of objects has plenty of brightness, and reveals much detail even through small scopes. It isn't necessary to have a large telescope to view an object like Jupiter. If you're primary interests are to view the moon, sun and planets, then you need not worry about wrenching your back on a large telescope. With very few other exceptions, all other celestial objects will welcome the largest telescope you can muster - both strength wise and money wise.

What Does a Telescope Really Do?

All optical telescopes do that same thing in the end… Gather light, magnify, and resolve. Different telescopes just have different ways of doing it. The gathering of light is most important. No detail and power can be made without it. The magnification needed depends on what you look at. Lower power is usually better for most stuff. Resolving power is very important. It highly depends on the quality of the optics. As the telescope gathers light and magnifies, it will need to resolve the intensified image into sharp focus. Having good resolving power can help the efficiency of the telescope so you get the most out of the aperture.

Expectations

Appreciating how much work the telescope is doing can help adjust the expectations in the eyepiece. Remember that most space images seen on posters and television was a time lapse photograph taken by Hubble (a multi-billion dollar project that costs millions to maintain!). Hubble orbits above most of the Earth's Atmosphere and is subjected to almost perfectly dark and unobstructed views with very little temperature. The Earth's atmosphere is a large barrier to overcome and it is one of the reasons we can't resolve as much detail on Earth as Hubble. Some sophisticated observatories are caching up, but they are still a far reach from amateur telescopes. Even so, posters and photographs and show detail and color that can not be seen when looking through an eyepiece.

You Can Expect to See...

• Extreme close detail of the craters, valleys, mares, mountains and shadows of the Moon
• The Rings of Saturn and some of Saturn's moons.
• At least 2 cloud belts on Jupiter, and 3-4 of Jupiter's moons
• The phases of Venus
• Mars
• Mercury (when visible)
• The Sun and Sunspots (with a filter!)
• Stars and their apparent colors; to a magnitude depending on the telescope

In Telescopes 4.5" and bigger you can see...

• Nebulas
• Star Clusters
• Star Clouds
• Asteroids
• Comets
• Galaxies
• many other celestial objects depending on the size & quality of the telescope

Astrophotographs taken by modest telescopes can really bring out some detail, but that is an art of it's own. With a reasonable budget one could take poster quality photo's if the technique of astrophotography were mastered.

Can color be seen?

Yes, but not on everything. Color can be seen on stars and planets. Galaxies will not, nor will nebulas in most cases. The images will appear black and white. Some of the reasons for this is the cones in the human eye aren't as perceptive when dark adapted. When the "visual purple" chemical change takes place the eye is more adept to a mono-color.

There are catch phrases and gimmicks. I will take you through some of what I believe misleads people into the wrong direction.

More Power!

Magnification is NOT the most important part of the telescope. Rather, it's light gathering power. By blowing up the image you make it darker, blurrier and narrower. Other things get worse, too. If your telescope shakes, the stability of the image in the eyepiece gets worse and worse when you magnify further. It's much harder to track objects at higher power. If you really want more magnification, get a bigger scope. The small 60mm scope that claims to bring you more than 400x would have to be an 8"(203mm) or a very expensive refractor 5" or more. In a well made scope, the maximum power is limited to 60-70x per inch. That would make the 60mm around 150x tops.

Computerized Goto Scopes

There is certain controversy about automatic computerized telescopes. This is the new hype on telescopes today. I won't suggest getting one brand over the other. I would only recommend a 5" or larger size scope for a goto. To make the computer really worth your money, you will want a scope at least this big to see the thousands of objects in its database. If you want a smaller scope, it's really not worth the hassle for a goto- but be noted that most advertised are the 60-100mm range, smaller than 5". Also keep in mind that most of the GoTo scopes advertised have minimal mechanical quality. For most of the GoTos 90mm and below in size, you are paying well over half the price for the computer and not the optics that actually allow you to see the object. It's around $400 for an 80mm GoTo today. That price today can get you an 8" telescope that can see many times as many objects and would be over 5 times brighter. True, you would be doing all the finding; but it would allow you to "grow" into it and learn the night sky. Once you found your way around a bit you would be glad to have a bigger scope.

High-end GoTo scopes are really nice and are usually sold as the tripod & mount only. These mounts are more accurate and mechanically superior. The nicer GoTos are ideal for use with a larger telescope with topnotch optics. CCD imagers also favor GoTos as it saves them time from finding objects on their small imaging chip. Naturally, you pay the price for these great instruments. The starting price for a well made GoTo mounting system (only) is approximately $1100.

"…how far it can see"

How far? millions of light years... Larger telescopes will see further, but it's a weird fact to apply since it's so ambiguous. The human eye can see over 2,000,000 light years away. It just depends on what is bright enough to reach Earth. During the day the telescope will see as far as there is clear and stable air. The optics, even if minimal, are far more stable and consistent than the air and the heat that circulates around. During the day the limiting factor is usually the air, not the telescope. In the night sky it can see "far" and it's best to be left at that. An 8" telescope can see quasar 3C 273 which is 2 billion light years away.

Diffraction Limited Optics

Sounds nice doesn't it? What does that mean though? Diffraction is a behavior of light waves as they pass by surfaces. Light isn't as linear as we would like to think. It scatters like mist when it passes by something, say the edge of a telescope. Reflecting telescopes are more effected by this because if the second mirror at the front of the scope. The incoming light passes by more surfaces in a reflector. The end result is less contrast, which can make things look hazy. There is no way to stop light form doing this. The best we can do is reduce the amount of surface the light has to pass. This can be done by making smaller secondary mirrors and/or smaller/thinner secondary mirror holders. Some sources define diffraction limited optics as ¼ System Wave or better (usually displayed as Peak-to-Valley, PTV). To avoid more paragraphs, lets say that ½ wave is bad, ¼ is good, 1/8 is excellent, and beyond that is better but very hard to tell the difference. The main point is not to concern yourself with this term too much. It's probably on most scopes whether or not the optics are ¼ System Wave or better. It's a marketing term that caught on so anyone might use it.

Gotos, catch phrases, department stores

First off, if this is your first telescope purchase I recommend getting it from Orion Telescopes & Binoculars. They provide better starting scopes than department stores and even better technical support before and after the sale. The telescopes provided will usually include all necessary accessories to make the telescope fully functional without buying anything extra.

At $100

Get a pair of binoculars 42mm or bigger, 10x or lower. You will see far more with this than a 60mm starting refractor with a clumsy tripod. A good book such as NightWatch by Terrence Dickinson costs about $30 and serves as fine reading material, too.

At $300

If you live in a well-lit city I suggest getting a 90mm refractor. Decent ones can be found for this price and do include the tripod and eyepieces. In dark skies a decent 4.5" (114mm) reflector can be found and will see a little bit more than a 90mm refractor if properly collimated.

At $500

If you are only interested in viewing the moon, planets, and terrestrial stuff during the day a 90mm or bigger refractor will serve well. If you want to see more, at all, you may want a 4.5" (114mm) reflector or the biggest sized reflector you can get at that price. Leave a good $50 or more of margin for accessories, you will end up needing some if you use the telescope. Dobsonian reflectors are the winning economical choice here, for $500 you can get an 8" (203mm) telescope!

At $800-$1,200

Your options expand greatly here. For around $1,000 an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain would serve as a very versatile telescope. For those who want to see "a little bit of everything" this may be the way to go. At this point you could easily spend another $1,000 on accessories, and there are certainly many accessories available for this telescope that will enhance it's experience. If you wish to specialize in lunar, solar and planetary viewing, you may venture into the high-end refractors which easily start at $1,000. If your a deep sky enthusiast, you can purchase a good "light bucket" by getting the biggest reflector $1,000 will get. At that price range you can expect to find something around a 12" aperture. Remember that the accessories will add up quickly; so if your budget is a max of 1,200, you probably shouldn't go beyond $900 for the telescope and tripod.

At $1,500-$5,000+

A telescope that is mastered for optimal viewing can now be purchased, getting into high end refractors and catadioptrics Many instruments at this point have photographic capabilities, but remember that is still and art of it's own and will require more time and money. For visual purposes a $2,000 telescope will serve as a fine instrument. A well made 5" refractor can cost about 2,500 and will deliver stellar image detail of the planets. An advanced refractor (that sometimes has an apochromatic design) may only be 90-120mm in size even at this price range. A large reflector 1/4 the cost will still out perform these refractors for deep sky viewing. Once again the accessories will easily match the price of the telescope eventually. Topnotch telescopes will probably need topnotch eyepieces and accessories.