Buying A Telescope. Advice And Guide For Amateur Astronomers
By John Weasner, Mon Dec 5th

Before purchasing a telescope it is very important to know whatyou want and what. $30 invested in a good book will not only adto your enjoyment of the night sky, but may save you from makinga $300 mistake. The best advise is to visit your local astronomyclub and learn from the experience and mistakes of others whohave gone before. Question the scope owners about theadvantages/disadvantages of each of their scopes. You willquickly learn that there are many different types of scopes andmounts. There is no "best" design, each has its strong and weakpoints. The only way to know what to expect and what you reallywant is to look at and through as many different scopes aspossible before deciding what to buy.

When you are ready to buy, avoid department stores. The types oftelescopes that sell in department stores for up to $300 andmore are mostly junk. Despite outrageous advertising claims theyare all but unusable and are more likely to kill your interestin astronomy than encourage it. A telescope shop is thepreferred place to shop though some larger camera stores may beapproached with caution.

When getting started in any new hobby the best advice is alwaysto start with the basics. Every avid amateur astronomer, nomatter what other equipment they own, has a good pair ofbinoculars. There are several good reason for this. The widefield of view and erect image of allow easynavigation around the sky. Many of the best astronomical objectscan be seen in including; 150,000 stars (Compared to3,000 with the unaided eye), the complete Messier Catalogue of109 best star clusters, galaxies and nebulae, all the solarsystem planets except Pluto, 2 - 4 moons of Jupiter, 100 cratersand mountains on the Moon and bright asteroids. Note also thatbinoculars are better than telescopes for observing extendedobjects such as star clouds of the Milky Way, open star clustersand bright comets which are to large to fit into the field ofview of a telescope. A pair of

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that you already havearound the house are the most cost-effective way to get startedbut if you have to buy a pair 7x50 or 10x50 are anideal beginners instrument. You can get a very good quality pairof for around $150 which will give views far superiorto a cheap telescope that cost twice that much. The nextaccessory you should consider is a camera tripod and an adapterfor your binoculars. The view through a solidly supported pairof good quality is comparable in quality to a widefield view through a good telescope. The secret to enjoying thenight sky is not having fancy equipment, but knowing what tolook for and where to look. A telescope is no better than thenaked eye if you don't know where to point it.

Once you learn your way around the sky and how to locate thebrighter objects you may decide that your interest justifies thepurchase of a telescope. The move from to a telescopeis motivated by the desire to see finer detail in bright objectslike the moon and planets or fainter objects like galaxies andnebulae. Long focal length refractors are best at showingplanetary and lunar detail; a large aperture reflector excels atshowing feint galaxies and nebulae, while wide field scopes arebetter for comet and supernovae searches. Alt-azimuth mounts areportable, inexpensive and easy to operate, while heavier, moreexpensive equatorial mounts are best for photography and highpower tracking. For these reasons it is strongly advised againstbuying a telescope until you have looked through severaldifferent types and talked with a few experienced owners.

About the author:John Weasner is a long time amateur astronomer. He is currentlyworking on a web site about telescopes and telescope making, butuntil it will be ready you can visithttp://www.nightskyinfo.com, a nice and useful weekly guide tothe night sky.

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