Buying a Telescope
October 24, 2008
Fall is continuing to zoom by and before we know, it will be gone and a thick-slushy, white substance will be covering everything. I love the winter night sky; everything appears so dark in comparison to summer nights and the stars and other planets seem to shine. The stars appear brightest during winter evenings because of several reasons. (1) There is less haze and moisture in the winter night sky than summer sky because low temperatures force the moisture to settle as frost, removing which provides a clearer view of the sky. (2) Winter evenings generally have more clear sky conditions than summer nights and (3) there are brighter stars visible in the winter sky than in the summer sky.
Considering all this…I want to buy a telescope. But I really have no idea how to start. What type? Cost? Where should I buy it from? I hope to accomplish some amateur night observation, something that has WOW but I don’t need to discover any planets/asteroids or E.T.
Type
The consensus for telescopes considered “amateur” are 6-8 inch reflectors. In a reflector, light is gathered at the bottom of the telescope by a concave mirror called the primary, which has a parabolic shape. According to the National Astronomers Association, almost all major telescopes are reflectors. So we’re set, reflector telescope is the way to go. For further advice on quality of telescopes, check out Scopereviews.com
Cost
After searching around the internet and forums dedicated to amateur astronomy, I’ve come to the conclusion that I should spend no more than $300 on an amateur telescope. Most people in forums have suggested not to spend less than $200 on a telescope. “You begin to get cheap parts. Cheap focus and objective, usually not sturdy construction and a telescope without a warranty,” theSCOPE from a certain forum writes. So I’m going to have to shell out 225-300 bucks.
Orion SkyQuest XT8
Where to Buy
http://www.telescope.com/control/main
^The best site i’ve found for amateur and professionals alike. High quality telescopes for the beginner.
While these are only a few, there are many other places to find a telescope. If you find a telescope at one of the above websites, shoot on over to Ebay or craigslist to find a lightly used or new one for 10%+ cheaper. I’ll let everyone know the telescope I choose to purchase, but I may have to wait until christmas or so, but I’ll continue to search for some great deals up until christmas. Cheers!
Thanks. Good tips. I had a lot of disappointments early on buying telesopes that promised wonderful views of the planets. Mostly they produced tiny views of say Mars, so small could not see anything. Yes, need to buy big scopes to make it worth while.