It refers to the diameter of the frontal lens. Aperture – This is the most important number in any telescope.Refractors are a good choice, there’s no need to second-guess that.īut which refractor should you pick? Well, the most important thing to consider is to prioritize the following. You just need to follow a few general guidelines like the ones detailed below and you should be able to make an informed choice.įirst of all, since this article focuses on refractors, I am going to skip the part about choosing what type of telescope is better for beginners. It can be intimidating to take a look at all of the technical specifications in a telescope and look at all those numbers without knowing what each of them means or which matters the most.īut choosing a telescope is not that hard. They also tend to come with alt-azimuth mounts that are easier to use. Refractors are more beginner-friendly because of their low maintenance requirements.They require less temperature acclimation time.Refractors don’t require collimation or inner maintenance like Newtonian telescopes.They have small tubes, making them lightweight and easier to travel with.This generally results in better contrast and brighter images. Refractors use lenses instead of mirrors.Some of the pros that refracting telescopes have over other designs are: Yes! refractor telescopes have many advantages that make them a great choice, especially for beginners and for astrophotography. I believe the StarSense tech is definitely worth the higher price tag, especially for beginners.Ĭheck StarSense explorer DX 102AZ Price Are refractor telescopes good? You can compare it for example to the Omni XLT 102AZ which is basically the same telescope without the StarSense tech. The price of the StarSense explorer is higher than that of a comparable telescope by about 20% due to the value added by the sky recognition app. This makes the telescope a good choice to take it out on the field where the tech becomes even more useful. The Celestron Omni 2x that we have reviewed before would be a good choice for this.Īt 660mm (2.1 ft) the focal length of the StarSense Explorer is short enough to keep the tube compact and lightweight. Another option would be to instead get a Barlow lens that will allow you to double the magnification the included eyepieces offer. Check out our magnification calculator if you want to figure out if an eyepiece is a good fit. Remember that lower eyepieces = more magnification. To reach that magnification you can use eyepieces with a focal length up to 3.5mm. Since the highest magnification of the telescope is considerably larger at 240x, you will probably want to get a couple of eyepieces with more power. These give you a magnification of 26x and 66x respectively. Both are solid choices and include the same accessories but the latter is considerably more powerful. It is available in 80mm, and 102mm apertures. The rest of the telescope is pretty much a regular refractor. I remember the first few times I used a telescope I spent a frustrating amount of time trying to find the objects instead of actually watching them. This solves one of the major issues beginners have which is figuring out where the objects that you want to see actually are.
Then not only will it mark on the screen the names of the stars and constellation you are looking at, but it will let you open a database of the visible objects for that night and will guide you on how and where to point the telescope to view them.
#FIRST USED REFRACTING TELESCOPE FOR ASTRONOMY FREE#
Start the free sky recognition app (available on iOS and android), follow the instructions, and it will automatically detect your position and it will map out the night sky that you can see from there. The StarSense telescopes allow you to connect your smartphone to the mount. Leaving things such as optics and build quality aside – which are good, but more on that later – the most important feature of a first telescope is how much is it going to help you learn and how enjoyable is it going to make your experience as a rookie stargazer. The StarSense line by Celestron simply has the best telescopes for beginners.
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