Showing posts with label astronomy telescope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label astronomy telescope. Show all posts

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Reflector Telescope Capture a Great Deal of Charming Celestial Sights.


If you often wondered which reflector telescope to invest in, we are discussing the significant features you need to contemplate to help you to take your decision.


Reflector telescopes use a mirror to receive and focus light emanating from celestial objects including those from our own solar system. Since these objects or ‘stars’ are extremely far away from you, the light rays reaching the earth and your telescope are parallel. These fall on the mirror inside your telescope which has a ‘parabolic’ profile and this facilitates in reflecting the rays to a single point. Hence they have the name ‘reflector telescope’.  In addition, as opposed to Skywatcher refractor telescope, they do not suffer from chromatic aberration (distortion in color) since all wavelengths get reflected from your mirror equally. Apart from this, reflector telescopes have the benefit of  being made in substantial size, they are more affordable than refractor telescopes of same size and since light is reflected rather than passing through, only one side need to be optically perfect. However, they also have some negatives. The optics may get misaligned and  they need frequent cleaning. Also, where secondary mirrors, either curved (convex) or plain, are used they may generate glare caused by bright stars.

Before you decide which telescope to buy, remember that larger the size of the light gathering source called the aperture, better is the object resolution or finer details are now visible. In other words any 304mm (12 inch) is better than a 155mm (6 inch) telescope! Usually a reflector telescope with 114 mm (4.5 inch) is enough to observe the moon, planets in our solar system, sun with special filters to protect your eyes and some stars in the nearer galaxies. Most preferred models are 60mm (2.4 inch), 80mm (3.1 inch), 114mm (4.5 inch) or 155mm (6 inch). Note also that larger aperture will also mean heavier telescope minimizing its transportability.

Perhaps you have noticed advertisements for reflector telescopes offering ‘power’ as 300X or so. Well, more power does not mean better viewing, since the power refers to the magnification and may possibly give larger, but very faint image. Also, the small eye-piece may not allow you to see the whole of the image due to size restriction. As a result do not get carried away by these terms. What is important is to get the best aperture and eye-piece combination for the best viewing pleasure.
Reflector Telescope

There is yet another term some manufacturers use to push their product. This is the focal ratio or the ratio of aperture size to focal length. For example a telescope with 114mm (4.5 inch) aperture and 1143mm (45 inch) focal length has focal ratio of f10. Higher focal ratio does not always mean higher image top quality. Also larger ratio with same aperture would mean a longer telescope.

Mount is necessary for steady viewing. There are two types of mounts available; altazimuth or equatorial. Altazimuth is like a photographic camera tripod allowing movement up and down (altitude) and back and forth (azimuth). Equatorial mounts, at times with drive motor, are best for following an object in its revolution and travel. The last item to watch out for is the eye piece. Some models offer numerous eye pieces (2 or more) so that your friends can also watch at the same time. Power of the eye piece is expressed in mm and most common is 25 mm; lower its number, better is the magnification.


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Friday, 3 February 2012

Top Advice to acquire an Astronomy Telescope


Just before you figure out which telescope to buy, you should spend a little time documenting yourself to get a greater idea of what they are able to do, and to better identify your own needs.


The choice of astronomy telescopes depends upon the time you will devote to the observation, which site you have access to, the ease of use and control and, as always, your budget. Some advantages and negatives for some different astronomy telescope are discussed here depending upon their designs.

1. A refracting astronomical telescope makes use of two lenses. The lens in the front of the telescope, called the objective lens, produces an upside-down image of the object. The lens near the eye, called the eye lens, acts as an ordinary magnifying glass to magnify that upside-down image. Naturally, each of these two elements of the telescope could be made up of several lenses, to combat certain inherent limitations, or aberrations.

Advantages
Standard-quality achromatic or apochromatic refractors have some advantages over other telescope designs. Firstly, refractors, by default, bear a entirely clear aperture. There is no central obstruction that leads light to be distributed from brighter to darker spots. So, the visitor can experience a better contrast in refractors. In these telescopes refractors often are adduced as the premier instruments for a planetary and double star observation.

Low maintenance is the second bonus of refractors as lenses do not need recoating like mirrors do. In addition, the optical tube assembly of a refractor generally does not depend upon collimation. Lens is placed into the tube and usually does not get misaligned, unless it is dag up to some major trauma.

Disadvantages
As the refractor is a closed-tube assembly, it may demand a extended amount of time to cool to ambient temperature. Presently used thin-walled aluminum tubes have decreased this period substantially, but cool-down time still should be accept into account.



Newtonian Reflector Telescope
2. Newtonian reflecting telescopes consists of two mirrors — a large primary mirror at the bottom of the tube and a small, flat secondary mirror near the top of the tube. Front- lights arrive into the tube, fall on the primary mirror, get reflected to the secondary mirror, and then it is mirrored again into the eyepiece.

Advantages
These reflecting telescopes does not ached any chromatic aberration. Included mirrors bear only one optical surface, whereas an apochromatic lens has between four and eight causing it less expensive to develop.

Disadvantages
Secondary mirror forms what is called a central obstruction which results in unnatural distribution of light and loss of contrast in the image. In case to resolve this problem, a few manufacturers have prepared so- called planetary Newtonians, having smaller central obstructions (some as small as 16% of the aperture).




Important things to consider when shopping for a telescope :

a. Know everything you can about telescopes including manufacturers' ads, catalogs, and especially read telescope reviews with customer rating on a particular model. The Astronomy magazine will be a useful resource for both advertise and telescope reviews.

b. If a  telescope is included with low-quality, high-power eyepiece, high (albeit empty) magnifications can be attained. So, it is meaningless to claim 500x magnification for telescopes. To make change of the magnification of a telescope, you need to swap the eyepiece.

c. If you are serious about buying a telescope, consult with your nearest astronomy club where you can get all the assistance on understanding all feature of a particular.

d. General review says that the bigger the telescope, the better to get view. But, if you need often use of it, then choose smaller one as it is easy to set up a small refractor on a standard tripod rather than a large Newtonian reflector on a heavy mount.

And finally, always remember: an astronomy telescope is a useful tool- but only if you know what to do with it !


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