Telescope?

Question

I accidently bought a telescope online but that doesn't matter since I wanted one anyway. Which telescopes are good and which are bad? Any suggestions for me?

Fotar Astral Observer reflector telescope NIB

Features: All Glass Coated Optics Finderscope Interchangeable eyepieces (SR4, H20) 675X Max. Power 900mm Focal Length 114mm Objective lens dia. Equatorial mount

What does this mean?

Answer 1

Meade and Celestron make the best amateur scopes. Depends on what you want to look at - planets and nearby galaxies/nebula can be easily seen in a 4.5 inch, but you'll want an 8 inch or larger to look at most galaxies and smaller nebula and clusters. The 4.5 or 8 refers to the size of the primary mirror. You'll probably want to go with a reflector - they are easier to carry around. If you're not planning to try astrophotography or anything requiring a motor, you might want to look at Dobsonian mounts - they are cheaper than equatorial or alt/az. Have fun!

Answer 2

Astral Telescopes

Answer 3

It means you bought a somewhat crappy telescope.

But there is an upside. You bought a 4.5" reflector with a german equatorial mount. You could have done a lot worse.

The most important aspects of a telescope are it's aperture, quality of optics, and quality of the mount.

Aperture means the diameter of the telescope's lens or primary mirror. Yours has a primary mirror. The more aperture, the more light collecting ability the telescope has, and the more things you can see. 4.5" is the absolute smallest you should get. You will be able to see a few planets, galaxies, and nebula.

Get a good 25mm or 32mm eyepiece and a very good 2x barlow...Orion makes good ones.

If you have any further quations you should contact your local astronomical society or go to the forums at http://www.astromart.com

Answer 4

Hiya there!

Well, it depends on what you want to observe. For planets they say the best ones are the refractors, for deep space the reflectors like yours. But that's not absolute because for the same money you can buy reflectors with bigger apertures so you can observe anything you want, including planets, that is!

I believe you bought a 4.5-inch reflector according to your description. I would consider your telescope a beginner's telescope, which is fine for your level. It's certainly not a toy (like my telescope is!) and you can do work with it if someone could help you.

Whenever you're ready for the next step, you should try a bigger aperture if possible although you should keep in mine you might loose part of the portability your current telescope is offering you.

Happy viewing!

Answer 5

A good resource for information on telescopes is magazines on astronomy and can be purchased at most major book stores!

There is a lot more then just telescopes in these mags.



Below is one repectable Company that sells telescopes.

Hope this helps!
Bruce

Answer 6

I highly recomend atleast an 8 inch dobsonian from www.oriontelescopes.com. You could also google orion telescopes. Light pollution filters are worth theye light in gold. There is a verry informitave section about telescopes, just look fir it.

Answer 7

If you accidentally bought a telescope that suggests that you never really had a yearning for one.

If that is the case, and astronomy is not a passion for you, the telescope will be a real waste of money. Astronomy viewing is not easy, and requires practice, which in turn requires you to be fairly passionate about wanting to do it.

If you have the passion, good luck. I started as a kid with a 40mm ordinary draw telescope tied with and old necktie to an ex-army telescope mount that I bought cheap at the army surplus. I discovered lots of stuff in the heavens following tiny star maps from an old encyclopedia. I did this with a telescope that kids of today would not even look at.

But I was passionate about astronomy, and spent lots of time on it. If you haven't got that, don't bother. I bet there are millions of nice telescopes gathering dust in our world.

Answer 8

Thoes huge ones on the tops of hills..