Beginner's Guide

Answer - Three points are 1) The child is looking at the wrong end. This is a Newtonian Reflector you view from the side. 2) The tube cover is still fitted on the front 3) It is a 76mm reflector (aperture too small for the type) on an unstable mount 4) It is a very bad telescope in every way

A Guide to Buying a Telescope (Apologies that it is long, but it’s stuff you need to know) As well as being bought by the user many telescopes are bought as a present by a partner or family member. With all good intentions they person often knows little about them and makers of some telescopes take advantage by claiming their telescopes provide absurdly high magnification, such as "525x" or "675x" and with boxes illustrated with unobtainable images. Magnifications like this sounds and looks good, however, they are unobtainable with small telescopes and is a sure sign of poor quality. These telescopes can often be found in Department Stores or Supermarkets. Even a “good name” like National Geographic or Greenwich Royal Observatory is no guarantee. If you already have a telescope like the one on the right all is not lost. There are some easy modifications which will help improve it. Click HERE for the page Reviews Be very careful when reading reviews of telescopes. If each review has a link to Amazon for pricing then the reviewer gets a commission if you click on the link and buy a telescope. It is not in their interest to tell you anything bad about it. It doesn’t matter to them if you hate the telescope and find it unuseable. I don’t sell bad poor telescopes - as I want my customers to be pleased with their purchase. A Little Knowledge Helps The main purpose of a telescope is NOT to magnify, but to gather faint light and get it into your eye. Therefore, the larger the lens or mirror of the telescope (known as aperture) the brighter (and often better) the view will be. But there is much more to choosing a telescope than this. It is not possible to give you a complete guide in just a couple of web pages - this is why we run a 2 hour course on the subject, but here we will point out the important things you need to know. If you cannot visit us not to worry just phone. We are always happy to talk telescopes at any time. What is There to See? Often misunderstood by new buyers is that the planets are very small and need at least 120 to 150 times magnification to give reasonable views. However, Galaxies, Star Clusters or Nebulae are much larger and often viewed at 50 to 150 times magnification. One telescope may not be able to achieve both these things. Most beginners start out looking at the Moon and brighter planets (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus). For these objects the focal length of the telescope is most critical to allow sufficient magnification of the image. Later the beginner starts to look for star clusters, gas clouds (called nebula) and galaxies collectively known as Deep Sky Objects (DSOs) scattered across the sky. Too late they discover their scope's lens or mirror is too small to show these well. For these objects the aperture of the telescope is most critical. Light Pollution If you want to see Deep Sky Objects and you live in or close to a large town or city consider either a larger aperture telescope or a portable one (so you can take it away from the lights). The Moon or planets are less effected by light pollution. To get a really good view of DSOs consider a Smart Telescope Ask Yourself These Questions Think about the following questions in this order. The results will narrow down your search for your telescope: 1 - Where will you be observing? Your garden, nearby park, several miles away where it is darker. If you are not moving the telescope too far you could have a larger telescope. As long as you are physically able to carry it. If you are driving some distance will the telescope fit in your car. A small aperture telescope looking at a night sky with little light pollution will show more than a larger aperture one under badly light polluted skies. 2 - What do you want to view? A single telescope will not show you everything there is to see equally well. If you only want to see the Moon, Planets and Double Stars select a Maksutov (102mm minimum, a 127mm is better). They give the best views with higher magnification than an equivalent refractor. It will also show galaxies, etc. but not as well as the same aperture reflector. To see Deep Sky Objects (Star Clusters , Galaxies, Nebulae) a reflector is the best choice. It work well on the Moon and double stars, but you may need better quality high magnification eyepieces to get the best planetary views. 3 - What is your budget? Know how much you want to spend and stick to it. Do consider spending a bit more for a telescope you will grown into rather than paying for one you may quickly grown out of, meaning you will want another within a year or two. Allow £100 for extras eg red torch, one or two more eyepieces and warm clothing. 4 - Do you know anything about the night sky? If you know nothing about the constellations or star names, cannot identify any planet or where a bright galaxy is located it may be worth learning a few things first. Once you have the telescope you will be anxious to see things, but they are not that easy to find if you cannot interpret a star map. Learning your way around the night sky will lessen the amount you have to learn when you have your telescope. A computerised GOTO system can help find the objects, but you still need some knowledge to set one up. The “do it all for you telescopes” cost a lot more. The Naming of Parts A telescope has 4 main parts - Telescope - more properly called an Optical Tube Assembly (OTA) Mount - to support the telescope. There are two main types Alt Az or Equatorial Finderscope (or Red Dot Finder) - used to locate the object you want to look at Eyepieces, these ultimately effect how large the object looks ALL four items are important. A good telescope can be ruined by: - a poor mount will wobble too much to give a stable view - a poor finderscope makes locating objects difficult - a poor eyepiece may stop the image being sharp Cheap small aperture telescopes are simply not worth buying. If you have less than £200 to spend keep saving and use the time to learning more about the night sky. If you have reasonably dark skies buy a pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars too.