Camera Basics Focal Length
Telescopes: What to look for?
I know this gets asked all of the time, but I am having problems finding an answer to my exact question.
I want a top end telescope. Goto, top magnification, best lighting, camera ready, ect. Can someone give me specs on all the basics of what I need to look for? (reflecting vs refracting, best brand, aperture, focal length, ect.).
Let me ask it this way, what would you buy if you could drop a few grand on any telescope you wanted?
Thanks!
Thanks everyone, great answers
Well, what I ended up buying (after first owning 24 other telescopes over a 50 year period) is a Celestron CPC 1100, an 11″ Schmidt-Cassegrain. This fits my exact purposes perfectly, allowing me comfortable sit-down observing of variable stars and planets, especially Jupiter. Its GOTO is extremely accurate, so I can observe my variable stars with minimal fuss and bother, and it is housed in a SkyShed POD observatory, so it’s ready for use at a moment’s notice.
However, it probably is totally wrong for you, since your interests will be quite different from mine. In particular, it’s not terribly well suited for photography, which doesn’t interest me much. In fact, there is _no_ perfect telescope, no matter how much you spend; that’s why I own nine other telescopes. So you need to do your own research, and, by trial and error, eventually arrive at the best telescope for _you_.
Here are a few web pages with good information on telescopes. They are aimed at beginners which, I assume from the wording of your question, you are:
http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0702_Buying_a_Telescope.pdf
http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html
http://observers.org/beginner/j.r.f.beginner.html
For more advanced information, read Phil Harrington’s Star Ware, 4th edition (Wiley).
You’ll get the greatest value for your money with a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:
http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~VIEW_INDEX=0/~VIEW_SIZE=1000000
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?class1=1&class2=106
Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, either locally or online; don’t buy from department stores, discount stores or eBay as mostly what they sell is junk. The best advice I can give you id to find your local astronomy club and try out different telescopes at one of their star parties:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/organizations
Then you’ll begin to know what telescope will be best for you. Clear skies!
What is Focal Length?
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