Telescope Buying Guide

Ben asked:


After watching Prof Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Solar System on BBC this evening, I’d like to buy a telescope, to view details of planets such as Jupiter & Saturn. What magnification would be required to view details of the planets, like their moons and rings? Also, is there a good telescope capable of reaching this magnification for around £100. I see Argos currently have a telescope for £99 with 225x magnification. Would this be any good?

Mr Perkins asked:


I recently bought a telescope and tried to see jupiter and mars; however, they just look like really small bright dots even at 180x magnification. Is this how they supposed to look?

kingsley_beu47 asked:


I am thinking of buying a telescope but I don’t have any idea what is best for a bigginer like me. Can we see the moon’s crater on that magnification? Can we see the other planets around us? I have only $200 budget on that project.

crackerjack113 asked:


Hi. I am about to buy this telescope: the Celestron AstroMaster 90mm Refractor and I want to know what you think about my choice.

Specifications are as follow:

Optical Design: Refractor
Aperture: 90 mm (2.76 in)
Focal Length: 1000 mm (35.43 in)
Focal Ratio: 11.11
Eyepiece 1: 20 mm (0.79 in)
Magnification 1: 50 x
Eyepiece 2: 10 mm (0.39 in)
Magnification 2: 100 x
Mount: Altazimuth
Optical Coatings: Fully Coated
Weight: 20 lb (9.07 kg)
Warranty: 2 years

Features of Celestron Astro Master 90 AZ Alt-az Telescope Refractor:

All coated glass optics
Permanently mounted StarPointer
Pre-assembled tripod with 1.25″ steel legs
Deluxe accessory tray

(I know it’s an altizimuth)

dukecitybovverboy asked:


Would a 355x do it? What is a good price for a scope that can view Pluto?

water_skipper asked:


How does a telescope work different from a camera lense? I’m specifically wondering about magnification. With a camera lense, a longer lense means higher magnification so to get really high magnification it needs a really long lense. With a telescope they just change the eyepiece to get higher magnification and don’t change the length of the telescope.. How is it telescopes can change magnification like that and camera lenses can’t? I asked this question under physics already and didn’t get any decent answers.

Johnny asked:


Which would have a stronger magnification a 5mm or a 20mm telescope eyepiece?

gisburnuk asked:


I have been interested in physics since I was 18 and I want to use this knowledge to explore out of the grim atmosphere of earth and into the vast enormity of space.
I use to own a £50 refractor telescope three years ago but I found it very frustrating to use because of the low magnification due to its low aperture lens.

The type of Telescope that I want to purchase would need to have a 6 inch aperture because I prefer to observe galaxies rather than planets.

wavers3 asked:


I know if there is a single number with the “X” you multiply that by 35 to get the power but what if there is a number like 900mmx60mm? Does this mean the telescope is a zoom and will go 31500 to 2100? And if so is this a good number.
I know you get what you pay for, so what should I be looking for in a telescope in the $150.00-$200.00 range for optics/ numbers.

astronomer asked:


Hi, I am having problems viewing the moon under my reflector telescope. I use one with 90X magnification but sometimes all I see is white light.

How can I view the surface of the moon well?