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TELESCOPES

2

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Reflecting Telescopes

Pros:

excellent light gathering power - the bigger the better
cheapest per centimetre of aperture
wider field of view than refractors

Cons:

Some maintenance required (re-coat the mirror faces every 8-10 years, re-align mirrors if necessary)
optics are not enclosed, but can be cleaned ocassionally
Lower resolution due to secondary mirror obstruction, generally suited better for faint objects

CONTENTS

TELESCOPE LINKS:

Mounts

Closer Look At Refractors

POWER!!!

Closer Look At Reflectors

LIGHT GATHERING

Dimensions

Balancing

Bigger is better! Important information for telescope buyers!

The larger a telescopes aperture (size) the more light gathering power and better resolution it has.

There are billions of other objects in the sky, but they cannot be seen until a telescope is used. Our eyes have a maximum aperture of 8mm and a magnification of 1x. To an extent increased aperture size allows more magnification. The brighter an object, the more the light can be spread out through magnification. When an object is magnified twice (2x) the light is spread over twice the area which makes it half as bright. With increased magnification, atmosphere heat waves, air pollution and dust in the air etc., it is hard to get good focus of an object. This means the highest magnifications can only be used on the clearest, stillest nights. Generally a maximum of 300x magnification can be used on any night. It is important to stress that every night is different. Sometimes it won't be possible to use 300x, but on other nights, the viewing may be exceptional and magnifications will be able to far exceed 300x.

The minimum aperture for astronomical use is 60mm for a refractor and 80mm for a reflector. Ametuer telescopes are available up to 1 meter in diameter as a reflector.

It's better to start with a small telescope and see the many objects available for a small price tag. If you wish to see more objects or in greater detail, then it's time to move up!

Eyepieces

Cleaning

Tips

Astrophotography

Build your own telescope

Build your own telescope
for schools

Binoculars

FRONT PAGE

CONTENTS

tips

on viewing the night sky or use the following links.

Click here for

mounts,

Newtonian reflectors,

refractors,

Schmidt-Cassegrains and
Maksutovs

Magnitudes

END OF BASICS