When it comes to choosing the right astronomical telescope, you must first consider your requirements. You need to find out why you want to have a telescope. In other words, you must know your needs to have such a device. Therefore, it is recommended that you thoroughly check all visible and hidden aspects of this device. Here in this article we will try to explain some tips and ideas on how to choose the right one for your needs.

There are mainly two parameters that need to be considered when looking for a device, namely the aperture and the focal length. Here, aperture means the diameter of the mirror or lens, and focal length means the distance from a particular mirror or objective lens to the point where a particular image is created. Therefore, with a simple calculation, you will be able to find the right one for your requirements.

What is the aperture of the telescope?

The aperture of a telescope can be described as a physical or visible size of a particular telescope. It means that the larger the aperture, the more light gathering ability a particular telescope has. Take, for example, a suggested aperture for a first telescope which should be a minimum of 100mm, especially for a refracting device, or about 150mm for a reflecting device or telescope. If you analyze these figures, you will know the importance of openness.

It is a scientific truth that the pupil of our eye can reach about 8mm in diameter, especially when fully adapted to a dark place. So it is simply equivalent to an area of ​​around 50mm square. This is the main reason why a refracting telescope typically has an aperture of about 100mm in diameter and thus covers an area of ​​about 7850mm2. It means that a telescope with a 100mm aperture is simply capable of capturing 7850/50 = 157 x light. It is then available through the eyepiece of a particular telescope. So it means that if you look through a particular telescope, it will allow you to discover objects about 157 times larger than life size.

If you follow the same calculation, you’ll notice that a 150mm aperture telescope can help you see objects that are 353 times larger than what you would see with the naked eye. In all, if you want to maximize the benefit of a particular astronomical telescope, you should select the maximum aperture size. This will certainly help you accomplish a desired task.

What is magnification and focal length?

Now take a look at what magnification and focal length are. A focal length represents the physical length of a particular telescope or it can represent its optical arrangement. It means that a small size focal length can give you a wide field view, such as night sky vision. On the other hand, a long focal length can give you a very narrow field of view, but objects appear relatively larger than the original size.

Now, let’s move on to the magnification of a particular telescope. It is actually a combination of telescope, telescope eyepiece, and focal length. It goes without saying that a telescope of a particular focal length may offer an image of a particular size that could be fixed and will not vary. Also, the eyepiece is used as a microscope to view the desired images. It means that if you change the eyepiece, the magnification of a particular astronomical telescope will also change.