Telescope Tuesday: Beginner Telescopes
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With the holiday season in full swing, and many people looking for gift ideas, a telescope is a great choice for anyone interested in Astronomy. For many beginning Astronomers, the hardest part is picking a piece of equipment. The best advice I can give is the “best” telescope is the one you use often.
Too often people end up spending thousands of dollars on overly complicated equipment which is used once or twice, then banished to the closet, never to be used again. Other times, people get cheap, inferior products that provide disappointing views and again, are banished to the closet.
Important considerations regarding telescope are aperture, cost and quality.
Many people will tell you “bigger is better” with regards to aperture, and this is true, to a certain degree.
While it is true that a 12″ telescope will have far more light gathering than say, a 3″ telescope – such a large telescope may be unwieldy and difficult to transport. Consequently, a small 3″ telescope may not bring in enough detail on objects.
In this economy, cost is definitely a factor. Buyers want the best value for their money and want to make sure they are receiving a quality product. It is inevitable that lower cost telescopes will have fewer features or less robust construction than a higher cost unit, but there’s a HUGE difference between “inexpensive” and “cheap. The previous distinction is what I believe to be the most important factor in quality.
There are many different technologies that have been used on telescopes since the 1600′s. Today many manufacturers can use plastic lenses instead of glass, fiberboard tubes instead of metal, black paint instead of flocking, etc. Construction is important in a telescope, and generally speaking, the more expensive, higher end telescopes are built to last for years, due to better materials and better mirror/lens coatings.
There are two lower end telescopes I that I use quite often. Â 
The Galileoscope was created as an International Year of Astronomy 2009 project and is a great tool to use for outreach events. This telescope mimics one of Galileo’s original refractor (lens based) telescopes. At a cost of about $50 this telescope is priced well for what you receive.
The telescope is of inexpensive design, and is sold in “kit” form, which I feel makes this telescope an excellent teaching tool. One other feature is the 1/4-20 mounting nut on the bottom of the telescope that allows the Galileoscope to be used with virtually any tripod.
The other inexpensive telescope I use regularly is the Celestron FirstScope 76mm Dobsonian Reflector
I suggest purchasing the Celestron Firstscope with the optional accessory kit, which includes a moon filter and two additional eyepieces. While the included eyepieces are inexpensive, the moon filter will be invaluable since that is one object the Celestron Firstscope excels at viewing.
You can find the Celestron Firstscope model in stores or online from around $30, to the $50 range for a “bundle” with the acessory kit.
Both of the above telescopes are inexpensive “starter” telescopes that will easily last long enough to keep a new Astronomer interested until they can “graduate” to a more robust telescope.
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:05:12
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2010/11/30/telescope-tuesday-beginner-telescopes/
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