We live in a wonderful age for any one interested in stargazing. Today, it is possible to get various types of powerful astronomy telescopes for a reasonable price in the marketplace.

Buying a good telescope is a wonderful investment, if you are beginning the hobby of studying astronomy at home. Looking into the night sky is a great way to spend more time with your children and show them that learning can be very interesting. Seeing the craters of the moon upclose is thrilling at any age...

What kind of telescope should you buy? To decide that, you will find it useful to get to know the different aspects and details regarding the telescopes, ahead of purchasing one. There are three main kinds of Astronomy telescopes available today.

Let us start with the refractor telescope which is a typical home astronomy telescope. In this type of astronomy telescope, there is an optical system which makes use of a succession of glass lenses. These lenses collect the light from a distant object and then refract it, so that it is focused at a point which in turn is magnified. Historically, Galileo built and used a refractor telescope in the 17th century to view the skies. As he was the one to make this variety of telescope popular, some people also refer to it as a Galilean refractor. Despite being a "very old technology," this telescope is still useful today.

The next common astronomy telescope is called a reflector. Reflector telescopes use an optical system that incorporates a primary mirror to reflect the light from a faraway object. The mirror focuses the light to a point and the resulting image is magnified by an eyepiece. This style of telescope was popularized by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century. Itt is sometimes referred to as a Newtonian reflector.

The third class of astronomy telescope to consider is the Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope. This telescope has been designed to utilize a spherically curved front lens element in conjunction with a similarly curved primary mirror. This configuration provides incredibly sharp images with a smaller tube. Known as a compact, folded-light path package, the Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope is a combination of a refractor telescope and a reflector telescope! The total optical system provides a focal length much longer than the actual optical tube's body length. Note that a similar, but slightly less powerful version of this style of telescope is called the Schmidt-Cassegrains telescope.

Each of these three types of telescopes can be found in different price ranges and styles, depending upon their magnification power. Now that youy are a bit better informed, you can find the astronomy telescope which is right for you...

To shop for an online telescope and other optical equipement, visit our Telescope Store at Viewing the Universe.

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About the Author:  Scott Harker is the publisher of several websites including: Sherlock Holmes Pastiches, Dating and Relationships, Samurai Weapons, Naming the Baby, and the Spotlight on Science Blog.

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