So you want to get involved in astronomy? How do you choose a telescope? What do I need? These may be questions that you have asked yourself prior to purchasing a beginner telescope and you may have searched the internet or the library for what to get to begin your search of the celestial body.

Beginner telescopes are important decision since making the wrong choice may lead to a lack of interest in astronomy. While you may see a variety of telescopes as you leave the store, making your choice in choosing a beginner telescope should be an educated one and not spontaneous to avoid making the wrong choice and thus losing interest and wasting money.

Beginner Telescopes

Choosing a telescope is a difficult process for the novice and if you do not make the right choice you may lose interest or worse your child may lose interest in the whole process. Choosing a telescope that allows for optimal viewing of celestial bodies and entering the amazing world of astronomy is an important step since putting too little money or too much money into the process. Since knowledge is important in choosing I suggest that you research your product and understand what you want to view in the night sky.

Telescopes are a semi-expensive investment, while low-end telescopes are available they may not provide you with the astronomical view that you hope for, thus for a little more money you could be impressed with the results. Making the choice of course is based upon what you can afford and what your level of interest, also if you are purchasing for a child or yourself.

Children are fickle and may lose interest and you would be selling your beginner telescope on EBay or in a yard sale if they lose interest quickly, especially if the results of the viewing of stars are less than stellar; so make the choice wisely and you could be upgrading to a bigger telescope

Beginner telescopes choice is an important step for budding astronomers and thus making the choice in telescopes for yourself or another in your family a step that could make or break you, choosing based upon research and perhaps the skills of others interested in astronomy can become instrumental in your choice of telescopes. Whether you choose a high end, medium priced or low end telescope is a personal choice and only you can make that choice.

When we were children we were often taught that we could wish upon the first star that we saw in the evening sky. After that wish was made and if we believed hard enough our wish would come true. Eventually, our childhood fantasies gave way to fact as we became more educated. This education was accomplished through astronomy classes, space exploration and other educational means.

The word astronomy is comprised of two Greek words. The Greek word astro means star shaped or star and pertains to outer space. The word onomy literally means the study of. Therefore, astronomy is the study of the stars.

One of the major tools that assists amateur and professional astronomers in understanding and respecting the galaxy is the astronomy telescope. When looking to purchase a good astronomy telescope there are a number of factors that you can keep in mind. First, of all consider some practical suggestions, remember it is about the diameter of the lens, and make sure your telescope has a solid stand.

Practical Suggestions

Before you purchase your astronomy telescope it is important to conduct your research. One way of conducting this research can be accomplished by accessing the Internet and learning more about telescopes. Some of the questions that you should endeavor to answer surround what features to look for in a telescope, approximate cost, recommended brands, etc.

Another practical suggestion, before you purchase your astronomy telescope, is to “test drive” a telescope. This can be accomplished by joining an astronomy club. Often these clubs will have a stargazing event which will allow you to peer through the telescopes owned by the various members.

Another way of conducting research, prior to purchasing an astronomy telescope, is to ask the members in the club as to what telescope they would recommend. The key is education. Listen for the features they recommend, brand names, the diameter of the lens, price, etc.

Also, you may come across a member of the club who is considering the purchase of a new telescope. If so, you may be able to purchase their used telescope.

Diameter Of The Lens

When considering the purchase of an astronomy telescope it is important to remember what is the key feature surrounding your purchase. That key feature should focus on the diameter of the lens of the telescope and not its advertised magnification.

This is because the diameter of the lens equates to the amount of light that can be received by the telescope. Therefore, the larger the diameter of the lens the more light that is captured. This in turn allows for the image that you are viewing to become more visible.

Solid Base

Another very important feature when considering the purchase of your astronomy telescope is to ensure that it has a solid base. Generally, these bases or mounts are tripods.

It is important that when the telescope is mounted on these bases that the telescope does not shake or move. Obviously, any movement by the telescope, when peering into space, will distort the image being viewed and provide a negative experience.

Refractor telescopes are some of the oldest telescopes available, utilized at around the beginning of the 15th century and still around today the refractor telescope is quite possibly one of the oldest telescopes in use today. Made up of concave lenses that allow the light to be refracted and images to appear bright and larger than looking at it with the normal eye the refractor telescope can greatly aid in seeing stars, planets and moons.

These telescopes are made up of convex lenses and an eyepiece lens similar to binoculars, these refractors gather light and bend it in order to view objects at a distance, which is particularly useful when looking at stars and the night sky Refractor telescopes may seem complicated and are made up of lenses that are concave and refract the light.

The telescope come in a variety of versions; the Galilean telescope which is named after its creator was one of the first versions and was improved upon by Johannes Kepler with the Keplerian Telescope, which is a refractor telescope that utilized a convex eyepiece as opposed to a concave of the Galilean model. The decades and centuries since have observed newer inventions and different lenses, with the achromatic refractors invented in the mid 16th century and later with apochromatic refractors.

Pros and Cons of Refractor Telescopes

I stated previously that refractor telescopes have been around a long time and with that comes a definite plus since there is a definitive ability to know what the pros and cons of the telescope. These telescopes have obviously come a long was since the 15th century yet the technology has increased to a point in which the refractors have improved yet the size of refractor telescopes pose a problem in the fact that the larger the refractor lens the more chance that it can have defects or begin to sag.

While technology continues to grow and there is no telling where refractor lenses in telescopes will go to in the future one thing for sure is that refractor telescopes have been around for centuries and thus show no decline in their use by many of astronomers. So no matter what telescope you choose to utilize to view the universe or neighborhood, you can not dismiss the value of the refractor telescope and the impact that its utilization has had on astronomy and the search of the skies.

The Hubble Space Telescope has been orbiting around the Earth and owes its name to Edwin Hubble who made the discovery of galaxies that lay outside the Milky Way as well as for his creation of Hubble’s Law that calculated the rate at which the universe is getting bigger. The Hubble Space Telescope is able to send sharp optical images of very distant objects and has, since being launched in 1990, become astronomy’s most important instrument.

The Hubble Space Telescope has provided man with some of most ground-breaking observations and helped astronomers to comprehend the fundamental problems troubling astrophysicists. It is able; thanks to its Ultra Deep Field provide the most sensitive astronomical optical images that have thus far been taken by mankind.

Many Ground-Breaking Discoveries

In the twenty odd years of its existence it has proved to be a valuable aid in the study of outer space and has revealed many mysteries, but its life is coming to an end and with failing gyroscopes it may not last longer than 2007, and if another failure is to happen, it will lose its ability to point and thus become unusable.

It requires replacements with the help of a manned service mission, and is in need of a re-boost to increase the diameter of its orbit so that it does not re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, due to drag. With proper servicing, the Hubble Space Telescope will be able to function until 2013 by which time a new successor will have been launched.

The Hubble Space Telescope has been (quite literally) instrumental in resolving some of astronomy’ long standing problems, and has also provided results that have given rise to new theories to explain them. One of its primary objectives was to measure distances to Cepheid variable stars in a manner that was more accurate than ever before, and thus constrain the value of the Hubble constant.

The Hubble Space Telescope helped to better the estimates of the Hubble constant to reduce errors from 50 percent and bring such errors down to a meager ten percent. In addition, it has also helped to refine the age of the universe while also casting doubts on the longevity of the universe.

The Hubble Space Telescope has also been able to provide images of the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994, and other major discoveries include proto-planetary disks in the Orion Nebula, proof for the incidence of extra-solar planets as well as the optical counterparts of unexplained gamma-ray bursts.

Almost everyone can remember the day in school when they got to the science class and the teacher had the microscopes on the table. We all knew the fun that could be had looking at things up close and the things that we came up with to look at were almost infinite.

Telescopes were also a favorite in the classroom, yet not quite as much as viewing the world of scabs, hair or whatever gross object that a middle school child could find to view up close and personal.

Microscopes and telescopes have the interesting effect on pre-teens and the thought process that they can come up with to view with microscopes and telescopes is often times quite original.

Microscopes and telescopes are quite similar in that they are both utilized to view objects up close. The utilization of microscopes and telescopes dates back to the early 17th century and the similarity in the use of convex and concave mirror and lenses to make them have not changed much in the last few centuries. While these similarities in materials have not changed the utilization of technology has increased the abilities of microscopes and telescopes.

Microscopes and telescopes have evolved into computer versions that allow the user to manipulate the scopes and view the images on a computer. The computerization of microscopes and telescopes allows the user to manipulate the imaging process as well as the search process.

Differences in Microscopes and Telescopes

Beyond the obvious viewing material, looking at organic material under a microscope or the stellar skies with a telescope the microscope and telescopes differ in the manner in which they produce images to the user and the various types of microscopes and telescopes produce varying results that enable the user to view various images. While microscopes provide the user with a view of material in an easier manner than the telescope user, since telescope use takes patience to find various objects in the sky.

While many of us have fond memories of our first microscopes and the dream of our very own laboratory and although many of us are older we can still pass that passion on to our own children or grandchildren by introducing them to microscopes and telescopes. So when looking back at your childhood and remembering the times with your microscope or telescope take the time to share those memories with youth in your life.

When viewing distant objects through the use of a telescope, the most important part of that telescope is called the objective. The objective is that component of the telescope that has the ability of gathering the light that is available. Obviously, the larger the objective the greater is the capacity of the telescope to gather light which in turn allows the viewed image to be better visualized.

In addition, there are two types of telescopes. One type of telescope is called the refractor telescope and the other is known as the reflecting telescope. The difference between these two telescopes is how the light is captured.

Refracting and Reflecting Telescope

The refracting telescope obtains the light through its objective that is made out of glass. Basically, in this type of telescope, the glass lens is situated towards the front of the telescope. As the light is captured by the objective, it is then refracted or deflected through a lens which allows for the viewed image to be magnified. Examples of this type of telescopic equipment include scopes that are used on rifles, binoculars and spyglasses.

A reflecting telescope uses a mirror as its objective. This mirror is located towards the distal end of the telescope. In addition, the mirror has a concave shape. The curvature of the mirror allows for the midpoint of the mirror to be the focal point for all of the light that strikes each part of the surface of the bowl-like mirror. This reflection is then captured by the lens to view the item of interest.

Advantages Of The Reflecting Telescope

There are several advantages to the use of a reflecting telescope. The major advantage is that distortion of what is being viewed is minimal. This is because, through the use of the mirror, the wavelengths are all reflected consistently. This advantage also leads to the reflecting telescope being less expensive than the refracting telescope.

In addition, through the use of the mirror as the objective, the support for this mirror can be all along the posterior portion of the telescope. This allows for the housing to be very large which will accommodate a larger mirror. Larger mirrors mean more light which results in increased visibility.

Disadvantages

However, as with anything else, there are a few disadvantages in the use of a reflecting telescope. One of those disadvantages is size. This is due to the fact that these types of telescopes can accommodate larger mirrors. This results in the telescope itself being larger which may prove to be an issue when storing or relocating the reflecting telescope.

In addition, because of the use of mirrors, there may need to be occasional adjustments made so that optimum light alignment is maintained.

You can find many uses for a telescope camera, if you look far enough. Indeed, telescopes themselves have been around for a long time, shedding light on the mysteries that are above us.

For years and years, people have been using telescopes to record the night sky. In the past, this recording was done with a pen and paper, and people would draw what they saw and compare with others. Now, of course, we have telescope cameras which allow us to do much better.

With telescope cameras you are going to be able to not only look at what you are seeing in the sky, but also take a picture of it. This is very important, because you can take photos of the night sky and you can use a computer to save those files and checked against what has been seen in the past. You can upload the photos that you have taken of the night sky and put them into a grid where the usual stars are shown, and by this you can find out when the picture was taken and from where.

Uses

One of the main uses of a telescope camera is simply to learn. By taking photos of what we can see in the night sky, we can go back and study these at a later time. There is only so much studying you can do when you are looking through a lens at the stars. There is often not very much light where you are, and it is hard to interpret what you are seeing.

Also, if you have a question about something, it is hard to ask because your lens is going to be full of different things, and the person you are asking might not know to what you are referring when you ask them.

So, you can take a telescope camera and use it to take a picture that you can use later. When you have this picture, you can study it to your heart’s content, and you can also find people to ask questions to about what is in your picture.

You can check it against many things and figure out what it is that you are looking at. Having a camera on your telescope is going to be a feature that you find most enjoyable, and something that you can use for many years to come.

Ever since man could wonder, he turned his face to wonder towards the stars. This is something that everyone knows, and something that everyone has probably seen at one time or another. With the invention of telescopes, man was able to actually get a big closer of a look at the things that have held him in such wonderment.

Now, of course, the idea of making telescopes is something that can be considered as an art form, something that only few can do, but something that can give wonderment to plenty. In reality, making telescopes has become something of an art form. Not many people can do it, and even though telescopes are mass produced, they are done so by machinery and computers that can make the best lens, and put it at the best angle, with the best kinds of eyepieces so that you can see the furthers and the clearest.

This is not something that many people know how to do, because the computers can much more easily compute what type of lens should be used and where each part should go so that you are able to find yourself with the best telescope possible.

Art Form

However, in the difficulty of making telescopes lies the actual art form. Those that began to make these devices a long time ago passed on the wisdom to their children, and to their children’s children. This is the kind of art form that is something which will last for a lifetime, and these children have never forgotten it.

Even today there are people who build telescopes by hand, using just the right types of wood and just the right sizes of wooden pipes to make the telescope. The art of making telescopes is something that is much alive today.

Of course, making telescopes is an art form that does not result in telescopes that can see the farthest and the clearest. It is, in fact, something that is not done because these telescopes are going to be the best ever made. It is something that is done to preserve the original idea of exploration that these craftsmen had.

If you have a homemade telescope, it will not see the farthest and the clearest. It will, instead, give you a glimpse into history and what it meant to truly be the first to discover something. You might just be impressed at what you come up with.

The difference between a telescope and telescope binoculars is one eye. With a telescope you peer through the lens with one eye and with telescope binoculars you use them both. Additionally, telescope binoculars are similar to traditional binoculars, only with a much longer focal length.

It has been said that a person can see more in the sky with a good pair of binoculars than with a cheap telescope, and telescope binoculars are designed with star gazing in mind with wider aperture opening to allow more light into the lenses, offering a brighter view of the viewing subject. There are many binoculars on the market which can serve as telescope binoculars with the right focal length and magnification power, along with a reasonably wide lens opening.

Porro prism binoculars are better suited for night time gazing as they absorb less light through the prism path as do roof prism binoculars and will render a much brighter image when used as telescope binoculars in the typically low light conditions of nighttime viewing. However, upgrading optical quality and lens coatings are rapidly allowing the manufacturing of roof prism binoculars to meet the quality of porro prism units and they are gaining in popularity despite the higher cost.

Mount Telescope Binoculars For Stability

When using traditional binoculars as telescope binoculars it is best to have a unit with the capability to mount to a stable object such as a tripod or wooden deck to allow for better stability as well as in keeping them pointed in the same direction. Much like a telescope, they can be used to spot smaller objects in the sky, but can quickly lose sight of the object if moved and you will have to start the search all over again.

When looking for binoculars to double as telescope binoculars the numbers are important to know and understand. Binoculars are usually listed with two numbers, for example 10 X 50. This would indicate a magnification factor of 10, meaning the object will appear to be 10 times larger than the original and the diameter of the objective lens, in this case 50, determines the light gathering capability of the lens. While an objective measure of 30 is good for daytime use, a 50 would provide typically good views at night.

To be effective as telescope binoculars, a magnification of 100 with an objective opening of 70 or more would be preferred. Remember that the longer the magnification and lens opening the more the unit is subject to shake when being held in the hands. A tripod or mount will reduce this and is virtually necessary with longer lenses.

Often, the first name that pops into a user’s mind is that of Meade telescopes and the reason behind this is that Meade is well known for selling quality telescopes at reasonable prices, and is especially suited for the home astronomer.

Before selecting a Meade telescope, you should consider the intended application and for the beginner or amateur telescope user, one may opt for a Meade telescope to see the many astronomical objects with the help of either refracting or mirror lens telescopes.

The reflecting Meade telescopes are more suited for those who are interested in astronomy as these have larger apertures and provide good value for money. In any case, the Meade telescope is easy to set up and is a sturdy instrument that one can use and enjoy for years to come and grow with, while learning more about the night skies in one’s area.

A World Leader in Design of Telescopes for Amateur Astronomers

Meade telescopes are instruments that are made by Meade, which was founded in 1972 and is a world leader when it comes to the design as well as manufacture of telescopes and accessories for amateur astronomers.

The products that this company sells are innovative as well as incorporate the best in technology to give to the user an advanced product that is arguably one of the best that can be found anywhere in the world. With a Meade telescope, one can expect to get quality viewing at a budget price.

There are high performance 70mm refractor telescopes which would make any beginning astronomer proud to own one is it for use in terrestrial observations or for astronomy. With one of these telescopes, one can view the rings of Saturn and the satellites of Jupiter with sharpness, as well as clarity of images.

The Meade RCX400 Advanced Ritchey-Chrétien Telescopes are the best in optical design in telescopes that helps produce large, coma-free field of vision from edge-to-edge, and allows astrophotography to get the best in imaging technology and capture crisp as well as sharp images over a wider field.

Through such a Meade telescope, viewers are able to pinpoint stars as well as extended objects, however far they may be. In fact, almost every professional reflector telescope, including the Hubble Space Telescope is a Ritchey-Chrétien.

Such is the quality and price/performance benefits of the Meade telescopes that most experts as well as users give them the thumbs-up and are the first choice when it comes to choosing their telescopes. Of its many useful features, the Meade telescope will also offer users AutoStar automatic location, automatic leveling as well as more to make stargazing an experience to draw much pleasure from.