Telescope Buying Guide

Palash asked:


how can i calculate the minimum and maximum magnification of a telescope? i need it to determine the distance of the nearest & the far object it can make a clear picture. with this information i can determine how much i can allow the lense to move. pls help.
I wanted to know what is the range of distance a specific telescope can focus clearly. ie. the distance of the nearest object it can focus & distance of the farest object it can focus. It’ll help me to calculate how much i should allow the lens to move.

Kees Tel asked:


Microscopes and telescopes are getting better and better.
Will there come a time that a scientist looks in his microscope and will see a scientist with a telescope starring up at him?

Philip B asked:


With the need for a flat field of view (i.e. coma free), which type of telescope would you choose between an apochromatic refractor (e.g. Meade 5000 or Skywatcher Equinox) or a Maksutov Cassegrain (E.g Skywatcher Skymax Pro)

The refractor might be better because of the clear aperture, the reflector though has the larger aperture.

As asked:


I know this is a broad question, but assuming I have around $500 to spend on a telescope and I bought the best one I can get with that money.

How much detail can you see?

Like the planets..nebula, galaxies, star clusters

Would I be able to see Jupiters Great Spot?

ABC123 asked:


I have a big interest in astronomy and already own a reflecting telescope but its old, porr quality and peices are missing. So what is a good telescope that I could buy?? I want to view planets and deep sky objects, which would make me thing of a cassegrain, but most suggest a reflecotr.

magicsebi asked:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maksutov_telescope
On wikipedia it says that maksutov telescopes are good for planetary and lunar observations. But it says they are not suited for astrophotography. I’m not interested in that but I would like to see some messier objects too, besides planets and the moon.

Bonanza asked:


I’ve heard that scientists have said that the Hubble Telescope can see so far that it looks into the past. What does this mean exactly?

Dan M asked:


ground? What advantages does a small ground-based telescope have, when compared to any space telescope?

AlexP asked:


How are those beautiful images you see of galaxies and so on created? Can it be done with a single radio telescope or do you need several?

My basic understanding is that a radio telescope focuses incoming radio energy to a single point where it is detected by a sensor.

When a digital camera takes images using visible light, the incoming light is focussed onto a 2D sensor, i.e. a grid of CCD cells. Does a radio telescope have a similar 2D grid of sensors? Or is the telescope physically moved to scan the sky like a television raster? Or something else?

pushkar j asked:


i have a digital camera of 500 mm lense . I want the telescope under 500 Us dollers so that i can attach the camera to telescope and take pictures. I wana know what are best amature telescopes are and is there any attachment thing so that i dont have to invest again in camera.