BEST BUYING GUIDE FOR TELESCOPES IN 2022
Are you one of those who like to do a journey into the stars? Are you interested in seeing the moon and planets? Or are you interested in imaging planets and deep space objects like galaxies and the Orion Nebula? It may also be possible that you are interested in doing a little bit of everything. If you are seriously considering buying a telescope, either for yourself or for someone else, you should choose a telescope based on your or your person’s (whom you want to gift) observing interests, lifestyle, and your budget. You must know, the spectacular images in astronomy books or on the web you see, you can see similar sights through a small telescope after buying it. Well, most of those stunning views were likely taken with large observatory instruments and through cameras employing long time exposures which result in high quality pictures with intricate details and colours. But, a good small telescope can definitely reveal a surprisingly awesome and varied array of celestial wonders i.e; moon, stars and even planets.
There are multiple options for telescopes available in the market. Choosing the best among them can not be so easy for anyone. Therefore, BestBaba’s expert team has shortlisted the top 10 telescopes on the basis of thousands of customers’ reviews, feedback and ratings, which are available online and featuring best qualities in every aspect.
POINTS TO CONSIDER WHILE BUYING TELESCOPES
Types Of Telescope: Before buying a telescope, it is important to understand for what purpose we are going to buy it because there are several types of telescope available for different kinds of purposes. It can be divided into various categories depending on their design, their usage, the cost, components they use, and so on. There are radio telescopes, Atmospheric Cherenkov telescope, X-ray telescopes, optical telescopes, solar telescopes, infrared telescopes, Dobsonian telescopes, and more. In this article we have listed Optical Telescopes ideal for beginners to study about the sky and the prices of those are not that high as well.
Optical Design: There are 3 types of optical telescopes such as refracting telescopes, reflecting telescopes, and catadioptric telescopes. A reflector telescope is good for viewing distant objects. It eliminates light aberration and smudging but the “dragging effect” may occur in this type of telescope. Refractor Telescope is good for observing the moon, planets, etc. but these are costly. And the catadioptric telescopes incorporate both refractive type optics (lenses) and reflective optics (mirrors) which are optimised for producing images of objects at an infinite distance.
Mount Type: In this sense A telescope mount is a mechanical structure to support a telescope and allow for accurate pointing of the instrument to track the motion of the stars as the Earth rotates. Altazimuth mount & Equatorial mount are the two major types of Telescope tracking mount. An altazimuth mount is a simple two-axis mount for supporting and rotating an instrument about two perpendicular axes – one vertical and the other horizontal. But the Equatorial mount compensates for earth's rotation by having one rotational axis, the polar axis, parallel to the earth's axis of rotation. For a beginner, the Altazimuth mount type is good enough to consider because it’s less costly in comparison to Equatorial mount.
The Telescope Tube: Telescope tubes are known as OTA (Optical Tube Assembly) . Some OTAs are better for planetary imaging, while others are better for astrophotography. Telescopes that come with 50mm or 70mm apertures are called basic telescopes useful for observing the Moon, few planets, Jupiter’s moon, double or binary stars, blurry view of galaxies and nebulae etc.
Highest Useful Magnification: A telescope is theoretically capable for unlimited magnification however as the power increases the image brightness of distant objects such as nebulae, galaxies etc. decreases. It is calculated by formula ‘’Magnification = Telescope focal length ÷ Eyepiece focal length’’. For example, if you use a telescope of 1000mm focal length with a 25mm eyepiece, the magnification would be 40x (1000mm ÷ 25 = 40).
BEST TELESCOPES IN INDIA
Celestron PowerSeeker 60AZ is a refractor optical telescope design with a 60 millimetre aperture and 700 millimetre focal length. It has an altazimuth mount which makes it extremely stable and secure, eliminating wobble while viewing. It is a dual purpose telescope that helps you view both astronomical and terrestrial objects. It comes with two eyepieces - 20 mm which offers 35x magnification and 4 mm.It also has a 3x Barlow lens to enhance the magnifying power of the eyepiece and make it almost triple the size. It comes with 711 mm optical tube Length, 5 x 24 finderscope with highest useful magnification upto 142x. With all these amazing features it’s an affordable telescope for beginning astronomers.
Meade Instruments Infinity is a 50mm (2 inch) refracting telescope that delivers bright images which are ideal for viewing both land and celestial objects. It comes with 3 eyepieces that provide low, medium and high powered magnification for viewing a wide range of objects (Moon, planets, or land). 1.25 inch Eyepieces (SR 4mm, H12mm, H20mm). It’s an altazimuth mount type for easy and quick viewing. It's an ideal choice for newcomers and beginners to discover the cosmos and the outdoors.
SSEA Telescope is a refractor telescope which has multiple magnification options, 35x56x175x power with 3 multi-power eye psc mod 60700 Zoom. Whether it's watching stars and moons at night or observing planets, the telescope is the best helper for kids & astronomy beginners. This is ideal for use as travel telescopes because it’s quick and easy to set-up and offers terrestrial viewing with a smartphone adaptor. It is an extremely durable telescope that has a sturdy build for rugged outdoor use. Due to its compact and foldable stand it can make a portable design, it can be carried wherever you go for camping, hiking, wildlife tours, and so on.