Which type of Telescope is best for looking at Stars?

Question

I know there are two or more types of telescopes, but which is best for this. Would like explainations way each is better or worse.

Answer 1

Your question shows that you don't know much about astronomy. Most amateur astronomers don't look at stars through their telescopes. They look at the Moon, planets, and deep sky objects (star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies), but rarely at stars, because stars are just not very interesting: points of light. Different kinds of telescopes excel on certain objects, but most telescopes work well on most objects. The best value for money is usually with reflectors.



Here are a few web pages with good information on beginner's telescopes:

http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0702_Buying_a_Telescope.pdf

http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html

http://observers.org/beginner/j.r.f.beginner.html



For more advanced information, read Phil Harrington's Star Ware, 4th edition (Wiley).



You'll get the greatest value for your money with a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:

http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~VIEW_INDEX=0/~VIEW_SIZE=1000000

http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?class1=1&class2=106



Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, either locally or online; don't buy from department stores, discount stores or eBay as mostly what they sell is junk. Find your local astronomy club and try out different telescopes at one of their star parties:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/organizations



I strongly recommend that beginners steer clear of astrophotography until they have learned their way around the sky. Astrophotography is by far the most expensive and difficult area of amateur astronomy.



Many people who buy telescopes have no idea how to find interesting things to observe. A good introduction to finding things is NightWatch by Terence Dickinson (Firefly). A more advanced book is Star Watch by Phil Harrington (Wiley).

Answer 2

Telescope For Stars

Answer 3

Well let me start by saying, it's difficult to get a good telescope under $200, and it might serve you better to save up another $100, but you can find a good enough telescope for under $200 if you just plain want to see something. If stars are your primary passion, you may want to get a refractor. I don't recommend these often because good ones are expensive and so most can only afford small ones that can't see much more than, well, stars. Achromatic and apochromatic refractors are good for stars because they are completely free of the diffraction spikes sometimes seen with reflectors. These are the spikes that give stars that star look and are due to the support of the secondary mirror in reflectors. Sometimes the effect isn't noticable in reflectors though. You can't afford even a small apochromatic refractor but you might be able to afford an achromatic one. I wouldn't get one smaller than 80mm and to be very honest, if I were buying achromatic I'd insist on 120mm because the 120mm would allow you to see planets, galaxies, and nebula alot better. Reflectors are far more affordable and I doubt you will be disappinted with the view even if there are diffraction spikes to some degree. The advice is, buy the telescope with the most aperture you can afford, on a sturdy mount. If it's a reflector, make sure it's at least 4.5" and larger if you can. There is a type of telescope sold in reflector and refractor form and that is a richest field telescope, also called arich field telescope. These telescopes have short focal lengths and are made to have wide fields of view. They are good for viewing open clusters and large swaths of stars, provided they don't have much edge distortion. It's something you might want to consider. An alternative is to buy a telescope and a good pair of 7x50 binoculars. You loose a little something when you only have one eye to look through. I get far better views of star fields in my binoculars than I do in either of my telescopes, and when I see a cluster of stars I think may be interesting, I simply point my 4.5" telescope at it. I hope that helps. By the way. Celestron, Meade, and Orion are good brands. Apogee makes a 80mm rich field telescope but I think you'd be happier with a reflector with more aperture than a small refractor.

Answer 4

From the point of view of actual stellar observation by serious experienced astronomers there are essentially three types of observations of the stars themselves:



Double or multiple star observation.

This IDEALLY would suit a refractor best, because of the lack of interfering diffraction spikes on brighter stars from the secondary mirror's mounting vanes that are present in a reflector. In practice though, most stars aren't so bright that diffraction spikes will interfere with observing a secondary star in a double star.



Variable star observation:

Telescope type not important, except that a reflector, usually being a larger scope, will see fainter. And that can be important depending on the star being observed.



Spectroscopic observation:

A pretty limited field among amateurs. Reflectors are best because of the lack of false color, which may affect performance/results in a spectroscope (not really sure how much though).

Answer 5

Yes, they are generally two types of telescopes. Reflectors and refractors. The first ones use mirrors and the latter lenses. Of course they are some combinations of lenses and mirrors too, but let us keep it simple. :) I'm an astronomer myself and I prefer reflectors, because you can make quite good quality mirrors that are big enough and they are not as heavy as lenses of the same size would be. So I would go with mirrors, and at least 12 cm (5 inch) in diameter. The bigger, the better, of course. For example Celestron has some great machines! Hmmmm... NexStar 5 SE.

http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?CatID=13&ProdID=414

Great for deep-sky objects too, like nebulas and galaxies.

Answer 6

People always talk about the virtues of mirror telescopes, more for your money, bigger aperture, etc. However, nothing will ever be as pleasing to the eye as a refractor for looking at the stars. An unobstructed lens makes for the most natural view.

Answer 7

Astronomical Telescope