This site is best viewed in 1024x768

Updated 20/12/2009

Visit our site overview page

Binocular Information

The store is currently closed. We apologise for any inconvenience.

How to choose a telescope

So you are now ready to buy your first telescope, it is an exciting time, but it can be rather difficult to know exactly which telescopes to choose. You need to consider your own individual needs including cost, versatility, portability usability, appearance etc. If you are just starting out bear in mind not to buy anything too big or too complicated or too cheap and nasty.

A big telescope is heavy and cumbersome and it takes a great deal of effort to move it around, which will lead you to not using it as often as you would like to. It will also take longer to adapt to the outside environment and will be more prone to atmospheric "seeing" conditions. They tend to also not perform as well in light polluted areas.

Telescopes with all the bells and whistles, computer control, auto-star, nexstar, GoTo, as good as they are will hinder or limit the beginner in truly appreciating and understanding their way around the night sky, besides they are much more expensive to purchase.

Cheap and nasty telescopes will serve to dim your interest as their poor quality and performance will not excite the observer.

On the other hand a good quality smaller telescope is a lot more compact, portable and easier to use, and will be used much more often. You can quickly grab it, take it outside and start using it with less acclimatization time. It is also easier to take with you when you wish to observe from a darker site. Smaller telescopes are generally also less expensive to purchase, so you have less money gathering dust if further along in time you find that you are using your telescope less frequently.

So hopefully you are now considering that your first telescope should be of a smaller size. But what size?, what type?

Telescope sizes and telescope types

Ideally you would like to choose a telescope that shows good clear images of many of the brighter and more interesting objects in the night sky.

If you are on a budget then you should consider purchasing no less than a good quality 60mm Refractor or 114mm Newtonian Reflector. You should try and purchase one with two 1.25" eyepieces, a good sturdy mount and a good finder scope. If your budget is a little more relaxed then a good quality 80mm to 90mm Refractor or a 150mm Newtonian Reflector is strongly recommended, again with 1.25" eyepieces, sturdy mount and a good finderscope. Telescopes with less aperture have less light gathering power so in the case of most of these telescopes, they would be best suited to observing the Moon, planets, double stars and the brighter deep-sky objects, (galaxies, nebulae, star clusters).

Refractor telescopes are generally more suited to observations of the Moon and planets because their generally longer focal lengths and un-obstructed clear aperture usually provide clearer images with better contrast.

Newtonian reflecting telescopes on a dollar per dollar basis are generally more suited to fainter objects such as nebulae, galaxies and star clusters as their larger diameter have more light gathering power, however the central obstruction which supports the secondary mirror slightly degrades the clarity and contrast thus making it less effective in revealing finer detail in planets when compared to a Refractor of similar or smaller aperture. You should also be aware that Newtonian Reflectors require occasional alignment "collimation" of the mirrors in order for it to perform at its best. If handled roughly during delivery your Newtonian may give you very poor images and will need collimation as soon as you take delivery. Collimation is not a difficult procedure and is well worth the effort. See our page on collimating your telescope.

Maksutov-Cassegrains with focal-ratios of around f10 to f13 with an aperture of around 100mm to 105mm may be a good compromise, the larger aperture gathers more light, the central obstruction is generally less than a Newtonian Reflector thus giving better clarity and contrast and the longer focal lengths enable higher powers to be used. It is recommended to have two good quality 1.25" eyepieces a (25mm to 30mm) focal length and a (6mm to 10mm) focal length a 2x Barlow lens is also strongly recommended. They are also very small, compact and rugged. However these Maksutov-Cassegrains are more expensive.

The telescope you have chosen should keep you satisfied with what it enables you to observe for a long time (years perhaps), it should also make you feel confident that there is more out there to see and leave you wanting more, more, more. Your interest in astronomy will now last, you can now be confident in purchasing a larger telescope, and keep your original telescope as your quick look telescope or as your travel telescope. 

Back to home page