–to enhance the visibility of a certain object. It has seen different types of development since its invention during the 17th century and its capacity has greatly improved and will continue to do so because of technology. Because of the availability of these technologies, high powered telescopes could be purchased by any hobbyists for night sky observation or even bird watching.

Selection Based on Need

There are a lot of brands, editions and type of telescopes to choose from. Selecting the right type of telescope is very important since each type of telescope could cater to a certain need. The brands and editions are just secondary decisions and this will only be influenced by your experience, skills and budget.

The Three Types of Telescope

The basic types of telescopes are the following: Refractor, Reflector and Catadioptrics telescopes.

Refractor telescopes are very common type of telescopes since the binocular is a type of refractor telescopes. This type of telescope uses lens in absorbing light. After the light passes through the lens, it is divided into two rays of light only to be combined in the second lens where the user looks. This is an affordable type of telescope and also durable since they are usually encapsulated to prevent fuzzy visions. On the other hand, there is a disadvantage of using refractor telescopes for night viewing. Since it uses a small aperture, it cannot provide a wide view of the sky and its viewing is limited only to the moon and the planets.

Reflector telescopes are also in the same price range of refractor telescopes. This type of telescope is more conducive for viewing the night sky because of its widened aperture. The light is absorbed by a large mirror and the reflection is passed to the secondary mirror. The primary mirror that absorbs the light could be as wide as the hobbyist would wish to enhance the view of the sky. On the other hand, reflector telescopes are very fragile. Installation may be very easy much like the refractor telescopes but getting used to its operation could take some time. Manual collimation (alignment of mirrors) is often required to have a clear view of the sky.

Lastly; Catadioptrics telescopes are a revolutionary type of telescopes as it has all the advantages of previous scopes without their disadvantages. Two brands of Catadioptrics stand out: Maksutov-Cassegrain and Schmidt-Cassegrain. These are well known scopes because of their portability while providing a crisp view of the sky. Aside from a widened view, it can easily pinpoint stars and planets because of their "GO TO" feature. However, even though they are portable, they are still bulky especially with the tri-pod. Because it’s a high performance type of telescope, this type of telescope is not for the budget hunter. But if you’re experienced hobbyists, you’ll know that every penny spent for a Catadioptrics telescope is worth it.