How to use the astronomical telescope? What kinds are there (which telescope is best for personal use)

Sometimes when we look up at the stars and want to see deeper and farther space, we need binoculars. Large radio telescopes and infrared telescopes can observe ancient space and see the cosmic scene several light years away. They are precise, professional and extremely expensive, and they are national scientific research instruments, far behind home users. There are several kinds of telescopes used by individual astronomy enthusiasts.

1. Refractive telescope. Telescopes image by refracting or bending light.

Many entry-level refractive telescopes have a simple mounting bracket. Refractors provide excellent color contrast, so they are usually used to observe the moon and planets, especially those celestial bodies with relatively high focal ratio. Refractors with low focal length ratio can provide excellent low magnification and wide night sky view.

However, refractive telescopes are not without their drawbacks. Compared with other telescope structures, their cost per inch aperture is relatively high. This is because they use lens prisms with higher production costs. The use of telescope prism is the cause of optical distortion of telescope, which is called chromatic aberration or color edge, and it appears purple halo around bright objects. This is because when the light passes through the prism, because of the different refractive indexes, the light with different wavelengths will not all focus on the same point.

High-quality refractive telescopes overcome this problem by using special glasses with certain characteristics, which enhance the telescope's ability to focus the wavelength on one point. This makes them very suitable for astrophotography, so they have color correction and excellent contrast.

Reflecting telescope, contrary to the refracting telescope, reflecting telescope was invented by Sir isaac newton. The working principle of reflective telescope is to use the light gathered by mirror telescope to image at the eyepiece.

The production cost in reflecting telescope and the United States is very low, because the mirrors it uses are easier to produce and the cost is lower. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of large-aperture reflective telescope is much lower than that of refractive telescope with the same aperture. For those users who are looking for low-budget telescopes, large-aperture reflecting telescope is the best choice. Medium-sized and low f/5 mirrors can also be made into excellent wide-field astronomical telescopes.

Refractor has no chromatic aberration, but it will produce optical distortion, which is called spherical aberration and coma. Mirrors also need a certain degree of maintenance, because dust and debris will be deposited on the mirrors inside the telescope, and the mirrors may be dislocated due to movement or impact. Although regular cleaning is not required, the reflective telescope should be checked and calibrated before use to ensure its good performance. There are many ground observation accessories of reflective telescope, but it is not suitable for ground observation due to the structural reasons of reflective telescope.

3. Folding reflecting telescope, also known as Maksutov-seglin telescope. Reflecting telescope uses lenses and mirrors to image at the same time. This includes a spherical mirror at the back of the telescope and a curved lens at the front of the telescope tube for collecting light.

When many people see this kind of telescope, their first impression is that it is small and portable, so they come to the conclusion that it must be a low-power instrument. Although it is really a small and portable instrument, it is by no means low power consumption. Due to the nature of its reflective design, the optical path bends inside the telescope, resulting in a long focal length but a short physical tube. This is not only to compress the powerful telescope into a smaller size, but also to reduce the high focal length ratio of the reflective telescope, thus essentially eliminating any optical aberration seen by the refractive telescope or the reflective telescope.

They are very suitable for planetary and lunar observation, because they have a long focal length and can achieve higher magnification than mirrors and refractors. Unfortunately, reflecting telescope is an "omni-directional telescope". Their high focal length ratio leads to a narrower field of view than other telescope designs. This limits their ability to observe objects that occupy most of the sky, because it is difficult or impossible to see the whole object. The aperture of folding reflecting telescope is relatively small, because a large size requires a large and heavy lens, and the more moderate aperture of folding reflecting telescope also limits their performance in dim objects.

Folding reflecting telescope is relatively more professional within the scope allowed by its design. They are small, light and require little maintenance. For those who like convenience and looking for a grasping telescope, the folding reflecting telescope is the perfect telescope, especially for observing the moon and planets.

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