Narrowing Your Focus when Choosing a Telescope

Looking towards the sky is a favorite pastime of young and old alike and there are many various types of telescopes available today for purchase to suit your different needs. There are many factors to consider when choosing which of the types of telescopes that you will end up purchasing. Factors such as price and intended use rank as the most important to differentiate amongst the main types of telescopes. Before we get into the basics of all of the types of telescopes, let’s first look at some important guidelines to think about when purchasing a telescope.
1) Never buy an extremely cheap telescope (typically under $200 or $150 for a new telescope). These telescopes are not worth the money. If this is your budget, there are many types of binoculars available that will provide much more satisfaction and bang for your buck.
2) Don’t buy your telescope on power. Telescopes that advertise outrageous “zoom” factors are generally cheap models that should be avoided.
3) Do buy your telescope based on aperture, or the diameter of the mirror or lens. Simply put, the bigger the size of the aperture, the more amazing views you will get.
Refractor Telescopes
Refractor telescopes use lenses to refract the light which enters the device. This light then converges, from the objective lens to a focal point where it is magnified for viewing. Refractors are good for many reasons. They are easy to use and reliable and, being smaller, are easier to travel with. Refractors are also good for daytime and terrestrial viewing. Refractors however are more expensive than comparable reflector telescopes.
Among refractor telescopes there are several different varieties, the best and most expensive of which are the apochromatic refractor telescopes. Beneath that are the achromatic refractors and beneath those are the non-achromatic refractors which represent the bargain-bin telescopes you can find anywhere.
Reflector Telescopes
Reflector telescopes use mirrors as opposed to lenses. The mirrors collect, reflect and then focus the light. Also known as Newtonian Reflectors, these telescopes are cheaper than refractors and allow you to get bigger telescopes, with better views, while staying in your budget. One drawback to a reflector telescope is the necessary adjustments and toying with it takes to keep it operating at its best.
Catadioptric Telescopes
Catadioptric telescopes combine elements of both refractor and reflector telescopes. Both mirrors and lenses are used to direct and reflect the light toward a mirror from which it can be magnified and viewed. These telescopes are great all-around, versatile telescopes which provide great views. They are small and easy to use; however they are also expensive and have an uncommon design. (This is important for people who want a telescope to show off to the neighbors or houseguests, for example). The two similar variations of catadioptric telescopes are the Schmidt variety and the Maksutov.
Binoculars
As mentioned above, a high performing pair of binoculars will easily outperform a cheap telescope. If your budget is less than $200, you should buy a top notch pair of binoculars for your views. (It is a good idea to have a nice pair of binoculars in combination with your telescope anyway, so this is not a wasted investment even if you decide later you’d like a telescope!)
As you can see, there is a plethora of available types of telescopes for you to choose from. Find your available budget and then think about what will be available in that range and what suits you best. Whatever your needs – beauty in design, clarity of views, ability to use in daytime, etc – there will be a telescope that matches them.