Have you ever truly looked at the night sky and wished you had a telescope to marvel at the beautiful constellations and colors that you can experience? Nature offers a wide variety of landscapes and views through which we can indulge and discover new hobbies or activities. Stargazing or partaking in astronomy can be a wonderful approach to distance ourselves from our hectic schedules and responsibilities. However, to fully engage in stargazing, a telescope is a must-have. Thus, let’s provide you with the basics in this telescope buying guide before you rush out to buy your very first telescope.
Understand your Landscape
We all have interests that fascinate and help us discover a new side of us that we did not know about. Therefore, if you have a love for the night sky, you should grasp its essence and set it in motion. However, the first thing the majority of beginners do when trying astronomy as a hobby or a lifestyle is to buy a brand-new telescope almost immediately.
It is advisable to purchase some astronomy books and even a pair of binoculars before a telescope. This way, you can acquire knowledge pertaining to watching techniques, star charts, or special astronomical events that take place year-round. You will develop skills and capabilities that will improve your experience when you finally acquire a telescope.
The Nature of your Sightseeing
Before you purchase your first telescope, you must take into consideration what you are planning to utilize it. There many kinds of telescopes manufactured for different purposes. Believe it or not, there are terrestrial scopes that are employed to observe fauna or to appreciate natural landscapes, thus there are astronomical telescopes to view the night and starts.
For this reason, you must do research to comprehend and understand because the first telescope you will buy depends on the use you wish to make of it.
Join a Club!
If there is a local astronomy club near you, do not hesitate and mingle with them. You will encounter amazing people who have the same drive and passion for astronomy as you do. Even more, you will find go-getters who have more experience and can provide an insight into the beautiful world of astronomy. If you are uncertain if there are any clubs in your area you can do a search here.
They can even yield valuable information regarding the best place to buy your first telescope or what features you should look for before purchasing one. They can also advise you on what they think are the best telescopes to buy before you go ahead and take the plunge into the exciting world of Astronomy.
Additionally, it is great to travel to remote locations for stargazing, but safety comes first. Traveling with others will give you a gratifying and secure adventure.
Telescope Prices
Like in every purchase, the price of your first telescope is one of the deciding factors when choosing one model or another. We all would like to buy a scope with a price that exceeds 600 dollars and be able to enjoy the view in the most minuscule detail. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible.
If it is the first time that you are going to buy a telescope, ideally you should purchase a telescope with enough magnification to appreciate the sky. A telescope with a price range between 170 and 350 dollars is more than enough to commence your astronomical journey.
As you gain experience, you can opt for a more advanced version.
Diameter or Aperture
How powerful the telescope will depend in great measure to its diameter and aperture. For amateur astronomy, it will be enough with a refractor between 60 and 90 mm in diameter or a reflector between 100 and 200 mm.
Type of Mount
Even if we have a scope with the best optics, it will be worthless if it is unstable and moves constantly. If this occurs, you will not be able to observe the night sky as it will be quite difficult to aim at the object we want.
You must know that there are 3 types of mounts: Computerized, Altazimuth, and Equatorial. I would recommend the computerized mount for beginners since it consists of electronic components that grants us the ability to pursue celestial objects in a simpler way.
Another great mount is the Altazimuth because you are able to do simple horizontal and vertical movements.
Finally, the Equatorial mount is more complicated considering it is utilized by placing its axis parallel to the Earth’s axis of rotation.
Brand
In the market, just as we can encounter many models of telescopes, we can also recognize a variety of brands of telescope manufacturers. One of the most prominent products include Orion, Celestron, and Telmu. They are one of the best telescope brands in the marketplace and having one of them in your possession will guarantee you a high-quality product.
Be One With your Eyepiece
A telescope has an eyepiece that augments the image, which improves visibility. To accomplish crystal clear vision, it is best to have focal lengths in the 15 mm to 26 mm amplitude. This will allow you to observe outstanding planetary backgrounds and deep-space objects. However, if you decide to purchase different sets of eyepieces, they must fit in your focus diameter.
Portability
An aspect to keep in mind is adjustability. If you wish to take your equipment to astronomy encounters, trips to rural skies or simply moving it to the terrace, its size can practically determine how much you are going to utilize it.
Maybe your budget permits you to buy a relatively big telescope as your very first telescope, but you have to consider its context regarding travel opportunities or the amount of luggage allowed to take with you. If it has its own maneuverability, it might not seem inconvenient, but a smaller version could be more useful ultimately if you travel in another car or a long-distance air flight.
When you have your own place and a beautiful night sky, it is probably a good investment to acquire a larger telescope. However, if you do not have an acceptable night view and you are obliged to migrate every time you want to stargaze, maybe, for the moment, prioritize on transportability and assembly time.
Accessories
Although the telescope is the main element to a successful night viewing, you can also acquire additional products to further enhance your nighttime adventure. Most people love to purchase a red flashlight. Why, red of all the colors, you might ask? Well, it is the top choice due to the fact that it can safeguard your night vision the best, particularly during night skies. Also, it is recommended to have a dimmable feature to adjust the brightness to your liking.
Another popular item is the Barlow Lens. It is a divergent lens that you place between the telescope and eyepiece and grants you the ability to multiply the focal length of it. This is rather useful for amateurs to increase the performance of viewing stars without the need of buying multiple telescopes with different focal lengths.
Now you have all the ropes and knowledge to begin your voyage to an amazing experience in astronomy and the exciting world of stargazing!
We hope this buying guide on purchasing your very own first telescope comes in handy as you contemplate your purchase.