Join the astronauts and unmanned space travelers as they explore the stars. Now that you have had a look at a part of Mars, why not see the rest of it?

 

 How many times have you walked outside on a starry night and looked up at the skies overhead? Remember when you were a kid lying on your back in the grass, watching the stars wheel through the night skies?

 

 Everyone, at one time or another, has been captivated by the heavens. Remember that poem by Walt Whitman, "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer," when he says how
he, "in the mystical moist night air...looked up in perfect silence at the stars."

 

 From Galileo to Carl Sagan, from H.G. Wells to Gene Roddenberry, we have always been intrigued by life on other planets, space travel, trekking through the stars.

 

 Consider the enormous popularity of such movies as ET:The Extraterrestial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Contact.

Remember the first time you looked at the moon through a telescope or a set of binoculars?

 

Shopping for a real telescope can be at times a bit intimidating. After all, a state of the art telescope looks pretty complicated. But it really isn't.

 

 Let us introduce you to the one-stop telescope shopping website, where you will find out everything you ever wanted to know about telescopes as we guide you through the many varieties of viewing instruments.

 

Before you decide on which telescope to purchase, you should ask yourself several questions:

 

1. What is the most important thing about buying a telescope?

 

 The best place to buy a telescope is a telescope store, and not a department store. Stores that do not specialize in telescopes will attempt to sell you a telescope based on its "maximum magnification".

 

The reason is that as far as telescopes go, how much you can magnify is a function of the amount of light the telescope receives, which is
almost entirely determined by the telescope's aperture (the size of the lens or mirror that points at the sky).

 

As far as magnification
goes, you can expect 50x per inch of aperture on a normal night, up to 62.5x on an exceptionally clear night (this is the number Meade uses
in calculating their magnifications).

 

 Department stores always show little 2 1/4 inch refractors for up to 100+ dollars and say that the refractor can get up to a whopping 600x or so. Strictly speaking, this is true. However, applying the 50x rule, it is easy to see that 125x would be pushing the optics, and that is assuming that they were high quality ones.

 

With the quality of the parts they usually give you are lucky to get 100x with reasonable resolution. Stores that do not specialize in telescopes will sell you a telescope based on its "maximum magnification".

 

 A scope may be advertised as a 500 power instrument, but what they forget to mention is that the image is completely blurry
at that power because it far exceeds the limit of the instrument.

 

The best analogy we can think of is when you're buying a computer. At a good computer store, the employees are trained to answer all your questions. So are we.

 

2. What will I be able to see with my telescope?

 

The best way to find out is to go out observing with someone who already has a telescope. Look for a local astronomy club via the internet, or check with your local library. In general, you will be able to see all the planets, except Pluto as white disks. You will be able to see the bands and the red spot on Jupiter and the rings around Saturn.

 

You may be able to see the ice caps on Mars. Venus and Mercury will show in phases, but not much else. You will be able to see four of Jupiter's moons as points of light, as well as Saturn's moon Titan. Of course, you will be able to track and photograph comets.

 

Your images will not be
as sharp and clear as the ones shown by the Voyager spacecraft. After all, if a $2,000 telescope could see such things, why spend billions of dollars to send a spacecraft to get them? As far as deep sky objects, you will be able to see the Messier objects in almost any state of the art telescope.

 

 Galaxies will tend to appear as shining blobs of light; however, look a while longer and you may find spiral arms or dust lanes. Galaxies look nothing like their pictures-you do not see the arms anywhere nearly as clear.

 

In summary: through a 60mm refractor you will see:
 

a) The moon in fantastic detail.
b) Jupiter including at least 2 major cloud belts across its surface plus the 4
major satellites.
c) Saturn and its rings are easily visible at 60X.
d) Deep space Nebulas such as the Orion Nebula are gas clouds which are
easily visible throughout the year.
e) Star clusters:
1.Globular clusters.
2.Open clusters.

f) Galaxies such as Andromeda galaxy. 40 to 50 galaxies are visible.

Through an 8" telescope
a) Moon becomes incredibly complex in fine detail with millions of valleys and
ridges.
b) Jupiter's cloud belts take on a more structural character rather than just
straight lines. Disturbances become visible.
c) Saturn's Rings are much more defined in structure and color.
d) Nebulas are brighter and in wider expanse.
e) Star clusters, galaxies and multiple star systems are much greater in number
and detail. A cluster is a fuzzy spot in a 60mm refractor. In an 8" scope it is a radiant ball of star points.

7. This leads to the next question: How much do you want to spend?

 

Telescopes are available in a wide price range, from about $50 for a 60mm alt/az refractor with tripod (telescopes can be assumed to come complete with tripod, unless otherwise stated) to a whopping $15,000 and more for Meade Instrument's sixteen-inch, computerized LX200 with all the bells and whistles.

 

Fortunately, just like buying a car, there are a lot of choices in between, which brings us to our last question.

8. Who is the telescope for, an adult or a youngster or both?

 

 Obviously, if the telescope is for an adult, your expectations would be a bit higher. You would expect the telescope to move smoothly, to present excellent images, and allow for the viewing of a variety of stars. On the other hand, a youngster might very well be happy with a telescope that will show the moon and the rings of Saturn. The older a child is, the more he or she will expect.