Expert: Paul Wagner - 7/5/2007

Question
QUESTION: To whom it may concern,

I am starting to look into astronomy and recently bought a cheap telescope that is said to have 117x and I would like a way more powerful telescope, but at the same time I don't have the money to buy an expensive one. My main problem is that I do not understand the specifications about them. So I was wondering if you could tell me what to buy and what not to buy. I highly appreciate it and thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,
Andrew

ANSWER: Hi Andrew

There are four main elements to the cost and performance of a telescope, and magnification is only one of the four.  Frankly, any reasonable telescope should be able to give you 100X.  But more important is the size of the primary lens or mirror.  The bigger it is, the more light it collects, and the dimmer the objects you can see.  I would say that the minimum size to have any real fun with a telescope is 4.5"...and 6" is even better.  

The third element is the quality of the optics.  Most telescopes at department stores and the like are pretty grim.  Look at Discover Telescopes or Orion Telescopes.  THey sell good quality scopes for fair prices--and they don't try to charge you for what you don't really need.

Finally, the mounting can be a real cost factor.  I like a simple dobson or alt-azimuth mounting, because they are very stable...holding the scope very still.  All the expensive electronic mounts with complicated mechanisms add a lot to the cost of the scope...and don't really matter until you get into a much larger size.

Hope that helps.  

Paul Wagner

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ok, I will tell you the truth. That helped me alot but I still don't know what I want or what I am looking for. Would there be Any possible chance that you would actually pick a telescope out for me? Or am I just asking for too much now? And if you do not wish to do that, thats fine. I just want a telescope that can see deeper into space and see planets alot better than mine. Now that I have made a couple hundred dollars my price range has gone up to about 400$. Once again if you could give me any help that would be Excellent and I greatly appreciate your time.

Andrew
ANSWER: HI Andrew

Nice to hear from you again.  With that kind of budget, I would look at the Celestron 8" starhopper.  This is a pretty good scope, with a LARGE 8" mirror, that will gather twice as much light as a 6".  Good solid mount, nice optics.  And it is light enough that you can take it in your car to a dark sky location for a really memorable star party. If you have a little money left over, you could spend it on a 12.5mm eyepiece, or a nice star atlas to help you find your way around the sky.

http://www.discovery-telescopes.com/celestron/c-starhop.html

Orion has a very similar scope for $20 more that includes both the extra eyepiece and the star chart, as well as a very cool laser collimator that you will want, once you learn how to use it!:

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=252215&itemType=

Paul Wagner

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Ok. I have made my choice on which scope I want, the Orion SkyQuest XT8, but now I can't decide if I should go with the original product or get the upgraded one with the object finder. Which do you think I should buy?

Answer
HI Andrew

I am a huge believer in not just looking at the sky, but learning your way around the constellations and planets.  Part of the fun of owning a telescope is learning where this stuff is, and working your way around the sky to find it all.  So for me, there is no real advantage to the object finder.

Do you have a good pair of binoculars?  I would spend a few nights out under the stars looking at stuff with those.  Once you get an idea of how much stuff is up there, you will really enjoy the scope a lot more.  And it would help you get a sense of how easy or hard it would be to find things.

But that is my opinion.  Your mileage may vary...and probably will!

Paul Wagner