What is a good telescope for a junior astronomer?

Answer 1

If you are a junior astronomer then forget getting a telescope unless you are willing to get a very good one costing several hundreds of pounds or dollars. Cheap 'toy' telescopes are next to useless, as they claim to have great magnification, but the image is usually very poor and grainy and impossible to see properly because the optics and light gathering power are usually pretty poor. Also, the mounting of toy telescopes are usually flimsy and result in a great deal of shake. Often a good mount is as espensive as the telescope itself. A good pair of binoculars with a tripod to reduce shake should be perfectly adequate for seeing the craters on the moon, Jupiter and its moons, Venus, and large star clusters and nebulae like the Pleiades. The rings of Saturn may be too small for a small pair of binoculars, and so in this case a decent telescope is better. If you are keen on getting a telescope rather than binoculars then there are some excellent sites that will sell you one and give advice. www.telescopehouse.com a a superb UK site where you can get excellent advice and real machines that are not toys. If you are living in the UK, avoid toy 'scopes from Argos, catalogues or camera shops - they are next to useless, poorly made, shake all over the place and their optics are dreadful - and they are expensive for a pile of junk. If you wish to take up the hobby seriously, then a reflector telescope is better with a mirror of 6 inches or more, (or 8 if you live in a city - to compensate for light pollution) with a really good Equatorial mount to avoid shake. If you can afford a motor drive too to compensate for the earth's motion then that would be an advantage. To get a variety of magnifications you will need several eyepieces of different focal lengths. Choose only reputable makes like Celestron or Meade whose optics are excellent.

One last point - NEVER use a telescope to look at the sun with or without a 'safety' filter. That is the surest way of you ending up permanently blind. Dark filters may cut down the light but most of the sun's heat usually passes straight through, is focussed just like light onto your retina, ad, whilst you think everthing is Ok it merrily burns a hole in your retina just like catching a piece of paper on fire using a magnifying glass. You have been warned!

Answer 2

A Dobsonian-mount telescope is the best for beginners. There are no complications with mounting it on stands or anything like that. But then, there are other choices. It depends from person-to-person. Some prefer Refractors, some prefer reflectors. I suggest that you join a local astronomy club as that will give you a better idea. You can look through a few telescopes and decide which you are most comfortable with and what fits in your budget. You may want a Go-To telescope that helps you find stars and planets.

Answer 3

Baby Camp's telescope!