Friday, October 17, 2008

Three Types of Astronomy Telescopes

By Gary Pearson

You will find many kinds of telescopes used for astronomy nowadays. It is a big investment if you are going to purchase a telescope to peruse astronomy as a hobby at home. You can spend some high-quality time together as well as teach a new subject to your children with the help of an astronomy telescope.

It is a good idea to learn more about the features of the telescope before you purchase as it will help you understand the telescope better. In fact the astronomy telescope is available in three key kinds.

Refractor telescope is the first category of astronomy telescope. This has an optical system that employs a number of glass lenses to refract or bend the light from an entity which is at a distance. It can be magnified to some extend by focusing on the object. It is also known as Galilean refractor as it was made popular in the 17th century by Galileo himself. It is a historical telescope with an old aspect in the design; it is use even today and gives good results.

The second kind of the astronomy telescope is known as the reflector. An optical system is used in a reflector telescopes which includes a crucial mirror to get the reflection with the help of light from the remote entity in a manner that the piece can be magnified by it. Reflector telescope became popular in 17th century with the patronage of Sir Isaac Newton and is also called Newtonian reflector.

The third type of astronomy telescope is the Maksutov-Cassegrain. It has a different kind of design which uses spherically curved front lens component together with a likewise curved main mirror. As the result of this arrangement the images are very clear in a compressed folded-light path enclosure. The focal length in comparison to the actual optical tube body is much longer in this total optical system.

Understanding how these telescopes are generally designed will give you a framework from which to evaluate astronomy telescopes on the market and make the best choice for your budget and your stargazing needs. - 15437

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