A Guide to Telescopes 

Telescopes come in a wide variety of strengths, shapes and sizes. Finding the right one for star gazing or studying the Solar System widely depends on how far you are planning to take your studies. You will need to understand what a reflector and refractor is. If you are planning to purchase a telescope but have no idea what you need or where to find it, then you should understand some basics before you make your purchase.

You should understand at least some idea of what you can expect from a smaller telescope. Many people typically do not expect much from a small telescope, simply because most of the photos that you see of the universe are taken by large scientific scopes. These pictures are normally multi exposure photos which are taken with many different filters that allow the colors in the subject to stand out much better. This is of course not what you will get with a small consumer sized telescope, but you can find a good scope that will allow you to see many sights in the Solar System.

A small telescope, one that is of a fairly good quality, will allow you to see Jupiter with its four largest moons, Saturn with its rings and Venus and Mars. You should also be able to view Nebula, the Great Andromeda galaxy and many star clusters within our own Milky Way.

Remember when you are purchasing a telescope that you normally get what you pay for. If you truly want to experience sights of the universe, then you may want to spend a little more than what you had planned, although cheaper telescopes will still give you a view of the stars and constellations. You will want to steer clear of outrageous claims of up to 500X magnification if the telescope seems to be very low priced. What you will likely get for less than $150 is something that will work about the same as a pair of binoculars.

Remember that cheap optics will allow you to see only fuzzy grey blobs. What you should be looking for in order to get a high quality image is a telescope with a 60mm refractor and at least a 4.5 inch reflector. You can find these telescopes at a very high quality for around $200 to $400. If you have more to spend than this then you can find a very high quality telescope that will give you a motorized drive to track the stars. There are also many computerized drives in higher priced telescopes which give you the ability to dial in specific locations and find certain galaxies.

Be sure to spend some time researching the many available models of telescope before you make your purchase. You should understand what you are getting for your money and what aspects you will be able to view. Also spend just a little time reading the instructions that come with your telescope, make sure you understand how to balance it and how to maintain it. Also be sure to keep it inside unless you are using it. You want to ensure that you protect your investment from the natural elements when at all possible. ur Solar System has been an ongoing study for centuries. The system itself consists of a star called the Sun and planets called Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, although Pluto is no longer considered to be a planet but instead is considered to be a mini-planet.