What Targets Interest You?

A key decision in buying your first telescope is choosing what type of observing you like to do. If you don’t know, that’s ok!

Broadly speaking, there are two categories of objects: 1) deep-sky “faint fuzzies” and 2) lunar/planetary targets. Deep-sky objects are things like galaxies, nebulae, globular/open clusters and Milky Way star fields. For these you’ll want a telescope with a large aperture and low power such as a reflector of 4” - 8” (depending on your budget and portability interests), letting you see famous objects like the Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula, Pleiades cluster and so on.

The second category, lunar/planetary viewing, requires a telescope with high sharpness and resolution to give quality views at higher power. Planetary objects (Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, the Moon, etc.) are typically very small but very bright. So a moderate aperture will give sufficient brightness, what’s more important is the quality of the optics. For this, a refractor telescope with a moderate aperture of 3” - 5”  is ideal as it gives slightly higher resolution per inch of aperture compared with a reflector. 

For those who don’t want to primarily focus on a single category, there’s a third option called compound telescopes that we’ll cover tomorrow that blends the advantages of both designs to give you a great all around compromise.

We’re just scratching the surface, but if you’d like to learn more, Orion Telescopes & Binoculars is a highly recommended manufacturer, here’s a link to their beginner’s guide to purchasing scopes! (Standley Lake Stargazing is not sponsored by nor affiliated with Orion Telescopes & Binoculars).

How to Choose a Telescope | Orion Telescopes Resource Center

How To Choose a Telescope Like choosing neighborhoods, automobiles, or spouses, buying a first telescope is a highly subjective undertaking. There's no "best" telescope for everyone. The one that's right for you will depend on your lifestyle and your astronomy goals. Spending a little time analyzing your motivations will help you make an intelligent choice.

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