Telescope Buying Guide

Gary C asked:


I’m about to receive my Orion Skyquest XT8 telescope and it comes with the EZ Finder II which is a red dot finder. I was wondering what reasons would make this a bad finder? The most I hear is people wanting a right angle finder to avoid crouching and weird angles but I never had a problem with it using it on my Starblast 4.5.

What are the different finders exactly and which one is considered the “best” type in the astronomical community?

Lynn_Holmes asked:


My fiance has found a new interest in astronomy and would like a telescope. His birthday and Christmas fall on the same day so I’d like to buy him one. I found a Bushnell that seems pretty awesome for a beginner but I’d like some input from someone that might know more than I do. Also: I don’t want to spend too much money on a “First” telescope. [No more than $200] Thank you!

Gary C asked:


If I see Saturn right now but I want to see it even CLOSER, what do i need to look for in a reflector telescope? Is magnification solely based on eyepieces or something else?

If I understand correct, the bigger the scope (aperture), the more light it gathers, the clearer the picture. The higher the magnification from certain eyepieces, the less detailed the picture looks? So, the bigger the aperture of the telescope, the smaller the eyepieces I can get in order to see closer and closer and closer?

Syria asked:


1.What is the maximum distance at which the telescope could detect a nova having a peak luminosity of 1×105 solar luminosities?
2.Repeat the calculation for a supernova having a peak luminosity 3×1010 times that of the Sun.
A certain telescope could just detect the Sun at a distance of 9000 pc.

O asked:


The star Betelgeuse is a supergiant with distance 150 pc and a radius equal to the radius of the earth’s orbit about the sun. How large a telescope is needed to just resolve this star at a wavelength of 550nm? At a wavelength of 5 microns? (Consider diffraction-limited observations only, and ignore seeing. Note: 1 pc = 1 parsec = 3.1 x 10^13 km)

Carl asked:


My sister’s planning to get a new tank sometime next month for her black moors and she’s giving me her 5 gallon tank for my own fish. I really want to get the telescope eye so bad! I’ve been looking up on the internet about them but all I get is information about black moors or other fish similar to them. If you have a telescope eye goldfish where can I get one?

Chiemeka Utazi Chichi asked:


Reflecting telescope makes use of a concave mirror in place of the objective lens to bring a distant object onto focus. What is the magnifying power of a telescope that has a mirror with 250cm radius and an eye piece, whose focal length is 5.0cm?

angelgirl15351 asked:


I saw a telescope on sale with the 50x and 100x lenses. How good is it and what can I see with them?

Ken asked:


The two that I am looking at are the Celestron Astromaster 70 AZ Refractor telescope or the Mead NG70 SM telescope. Is either one better than the other? I realize that in this price range my choices are limited and for a lot more money I can get a better telescope. However, I am looking for a “beginner” telescope with not a lot of investment for now. Also, does anyone have any other telescope recommendations?

Kasey asked:


I want to buy a telescope for my husband, but I don’t want anything cheap that will fall apart. I want something you can see a lot of things with. Maybe in the $500-$700 dollar range. Any tips also appreciated.