Friday, June 20, 2008

How To Buy A Telescope

After seeing the starry pictures from NASA, you may be wondering how to buy a telescope, and explore the universe for yourself. There are many department stores selling telescopes, however, to buy a telescope which will help you with looking at objects clearly in the night sky, you will need to know some key points.

Most people, who think about buying a telescope, either go to a local department store or toy store and buy any telescope they have for sale. Usually these kinds of places will only have 1 or 2 models. You buy the telescope and go home, put it up and go to look at the Moon. You position your telescope to look at the Moon, you see craters, and find that soon as you go to call someone to take a look, they take a look and it is gone.

When you look at objects in the night sky, they are constantly revolving in its path, this makes objects move in the night sky. Exactly how you can see the Sun rise in the east, and set in the west; and how you can see the Moon whizzing from one part of the sky to the other, when you take a look at the Moon in a telescope it moves fast. With a cheap telescope, this will be of no use to you, as it will be hard to keep up.

Soon frustration kicks in and the department store / toy store telescope is put in the attic, and never used again. For some people this would be the whole of there astronomy hobby, but for some dedicated people, they soon pick up the drive, and buy a telescope which is suited for astronomy and looking at objects in the night sky!

There are specialist telescope sellers. These outlets generally sell only telescopes, and things related to astronomy. There telescopes may be priced higher then a toy telescope, however, a good telescope will last you a long time, and in fact it can last a lifetime with good care.

For most people being able to travel to a telescope shop is a pilgrimage, as there are not that many places available. The next best thing is to shop online. Shopping online for a telescope has many benefits. One of the biggest benefits of buying online is that you can find the best telescope for your needs, and you can also get the best prices for telescopes online.

A great benefit with buying from specialist telescope sellers is that they can give you advice about what telescope is best. They will look at your aspirations for owning a telescope, and what you want to get out of the telescope. How much room do you have to house to telescope? What things do you want to look at with your telescope - deep space, local (our solar system) or both?

You can even achieve getting advice about telescopes online, you can look at reviews, you can email a telescope seller or you can give them a quick call if you have there phone number. Always make sure that you buy from reputable sellers. Most online sellers are safe, however, one way I have found that helps is to contact the seller and see how long there response is. If they answer how to buy a telescope and give you advice within a day or two, then you can be sure that you are getting service from a company that has your best interests at heart.

There is nothing like owning your own telescope, and being able to direct it through the sky to uncover a sea of beauty. The question how to buy a telescope is not a big one, more what you want out of the telescope. There is much more to astronomy then buying a telescope. You will also need to buy an atlas of the sky suited for astronomy, and a guide. The best one I have seen is Turn Left At Orion, and details can be found on our site or online.

Find a selection of the best telescopes and read telescope reviews.

Meade Telescopes

* Celestron Telescope

* Bushnell Telescope