What's important in a Telescope?
Light gathering power. Note how the light entering the end of a telescope is 'squished' to exit through a much smaller lens. A bigger objective gathers more light and creates brighter images. Simply put: the larger the objective mirror, the greater the light bucket!
 20-in. Telescope. |
 200-in. Telescope. |
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Resolving power. Regardless of the amount of light,
a larger objective mirror means we can resolve smaller and
finer details of distant objects. Not only must the object
mirror be large, the optics must be top quality. Our telescopes
are limited, however, by atmospheric seeing:
blurring and distortions in the image brought on by
turbulent regions of air with differing temperatures.
Magnification. While this is usually what's stated in advertisements for telescopes, it's really not very important. Only the eyepiece does the magnifying, and it's easy to buy a new eyepiece (though they can get pricey). If the telescope does not deliver on the afore mentioned characteristics, a high magnification won't be of much use!
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Location Matters Things to consider: Dark Sky, Good Seeing, High Altitude, Non-turbulent airflow and located Near the Equator:
1) Hawaii |
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