How does a good telescope work?
Dave asked:
I’m thinking about getting a telescope, but I’m not exactly sure how these things work. If you were to get one of the better ones for a couple hundred dollars or so, what exactly do these telescopes do? And how well can you see things in outer space with the telescopes? If you were to look at Mars with one of these telescopes, how well would you be able to see it? Whoever have one of the nice telescopes, can you tell me how it works, what you can see, and how well you can see it? thanks alot guys
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I’m thinking about getting a telescope, but I’m not exactly sure how these things work. If you were to get one of the better ones for a couple hundred dollars or so, what exactly do these telescopes do? And how well can you see things in outer space with the telescopes? If you were to look at Mars with one of these telescopes, how well would you be able to see it? Whoever have one of the nice telescopes, can you tell me how it works, what you can see, and how well you can see it? thanks alot guys
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:59 pm
basically its just looking in the glass and adjusting the angles
April 25th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Mirror telescopes are more commonly used than refractive. The huge astronomy labs all use mirror telescopes. Essentially, mirror use mirrors to obtain the desired magnification, while refractive depend solely on glass to get the magnification. Refractives are generally much bigger, heavier because of all the glass in them. Furthermore, the outermost glass of heavy refractive telescopes tend to sink over time due to the effects of gravity, potentially screwing up the focus and causing a blurry image.
Getting good images through your telescope depends on two things:
- the telescope itself
- the time and location of the place your observing
Buy the best telescope you can buy without breaking the bank. Cloudless, moonless nights are ideal. Also move as far as possible from cities or heavily populated locations; light polution will rob many detail from the skies.