Telescope Tripod Software
Telescope Tripod Software
what is a good telescope?
hey so for christmas i want to get my boyfriend a telescope, and theres one thats 114 mm reflector telescope, it includes tripod with accessory tray and the skyX planetarium software. i know nothing about telescopes so i dont know if this is good enough quality or not.
There are many types of telescopes available for at-home use. For the beginning astronomer, it can be difficult to decide what telescope is the most appropriate choice. Knowing some of the basics about telescopes---how they work, how large certain telescopes are, costs, upkeep, etc.---can help amateur stargazers decide what telescope fits best with their individual budgets and lifestyles.
Choosing the Right Telescope
Both refractor and reflector telescopes can be used at home, and they come in a variety of sizes, makes and models. The determining factors for choosing a telescope are what you expect to get out of the stargazing experience, whether it will be used inside or outside, whether you plan to travel with it, and how much light is in the surrounding area.
Generally, the higher a telescope's aperture (its ability to collect light), the better it will be at viewing distinct features in the night sky. A telescope's aperture is in positive correlation to the size of the objective lens or primary mirror. From a suburban setting, it is possible to see craters on the moon with an aperture of 2 to 3 inches. To see the rings around Saturn, however, a 6- to 9-inch aperture will be necessary. Furthermore, the closer you live to a city or other light area, the more light pollution there will be, and the more difficult it will be to view certain stellar bodies. From an apartment in the middle of San Diego, it may be nearly impossible to view Jupiter without an 8-inch aperture. From the top of a dormant volcano in Hawaii, however, it may be relatively simple to spot different galaxies with a 6-inch aperture. What you plan to view and where you live are major factors in choosing a telescope.
If price is an issue, reflector telescopes are almost necessarily the way to go. Making the lenses for refractor telescopes is an expensive and difficult process; this is reflected (no pun intended) in the price of refractor telescopes. It is often beneficial to look in newspapers and peruse the Internet for used telescopes. Most serious individuals take care of their astronomical equipment, and you can likely get a telescope for half the price of a new one.
Furthermore, size will probably be an issue. A 10-inch reflector telescope in a studio apartment is going to take up a lot of space. If you plan to take the telescope to darker areas such as fields or parks, it will also probably be beneficial to get a smaller, more portable telescope. Refractor telescopes, because of their design, are often a bit smaller and easier to transport. If this telescope will reside in a garage or attic until Friday night when it is transported a short distance to the driveway or backyard, a larger reflector telescope might be more beneficial.
These are all issues worth considering before purchasing a telescope, and they will be different for every individual. Consider your location, your budget, and what you expect to get out of your telescope, as all of these will ultimately impact the enjoyment that you derive from your stargazing experience.
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BARSKA 40070 Starwatcher Compact Refractor Telescope with Table Top Tripod And Carrying Case |
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The Barska 40070 Starwatcher Compact Refractor Telescope with Table Top Tripod and Carrying Case is an ideal telescope for the aspiring amateur astronomer. Ideal for students or those interested in learning more about the night sky, the 70mm objective lens can zoom up to 300x power... |
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Meade ETX90AT Telescope w/884 Tripod and Software |
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Amazon.com Product Description This telescope includes a free Autostar computer controller and deluxe field tripod with this ETX-90EC--a value of $349. And with the ETX-90EC, Meade brings a serious telescope into the price range of the casual consumer... |
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Meade ETX70AT Telescope w/882 Tripod and Software |
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Let Meade high-resolution optics and revolutionary Autostar capability take you on an automated guided tour of the Solar System, the Galaxy, and beyond. Now even the most novice amateur astronomer can locate and explore the planets, galaxies, and nebulae, as well as star clusters, asteroids, and comets, all at the push of a button... |
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Celestron 21061 AstroMaster 70 AZ Refractor Telescope |
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TE3) Celestron astromaster 70AZ scope |
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SkyScanner 100mm Reflector Telescope and Tripod Bundle |
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If there isn't a table at your favorite observing spot, we now provide our Orion SkyScanner 100mm TableTop Reflector Telescope bundled with a sturdy field tripod so you can scan the skies anywhere! The included field tripod is adjustable with a height range of 20" to 34... |
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Celestron NexStar 6 SE Telescope |
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The Celestron NexStar 6SE Telescope is a state-of-the-art design that allows you to view incredibly detailed celestial bodies. The patented single-fork arm enables smooth operating within the optical tube... |
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Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope |
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A powerful and capable telescope, the Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian is one of our most popular reflectors due to its elegant combination of precision optics, mechanical simplicity, and rock-solid stability... |
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Celestron 21045 114mm Equatorial PowerSeeker Telescope |
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I love bargains, so I was eager to try out Celestron's new Powerseeker 114 Newtonian reflector telescope. With its 4.5-inch mirror, Celestron's Powerseeker 114 gathers three times more starlight than popular 60mm refractors... |
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Celestron 21041 60mm PowerSeeker Telescope |
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Celestron's value priced PowerSeeker 60 is an affordable entry level telescope with some nice extras like a correct image prism and "The Sky" astronomy software included. The package also includes an Alt-Azimuth mount with adjustable aluminum tripod, high and low power eyepieces, a 3X barlow lens, and a 5 power cross hair finder scope... |
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Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Computerized Telescope |
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Amazon.com Celestron’s computerized NexStar 130 SLT adds affordable "Go-To" technology to a compact Newtonian reflector telescope. By using mirrors instead of lenses, the Newtonian optics of the NexStar 130 SLT produce an image nearly five times brighter than the NexStar 60 SLT refractor telescope... |
For the advanced amateur photographer, there are many choices and decisions to make concerning picture quality. First, there is your budget to consider. Then you have to decide what type camera would fill your needs. Vacation pictures and family album shots require only a point and shoot camera that fits in your pocket. Two hundred dollars will buy a decent camera that will take great pictures if you don't demand too much of it. Like wall sized photographs or digital art images.
If you like taking beautiful pictures and enjoy seeing them enlarged for the wall, then a DSLR or a prosumer EVF camera is needed. Professional photographers prefer the top of the line DSLRs that cost thousands of dollars but repay them many times over by doing their job. The two thousand dollar versions are quite bulky and heavy for the amateur photographer to lug around all day. An alternative is the micro four thirds EVF (Electronic View Finder) type. Weighing half of a DSLR, these cameras are nearly as good in picture quality as their larger cousins.
A point made by DSLR owners is that their prime lenses often sport a faster lens opening, making them able to capture low light pictures more easily. Since the doubling of the ISO setting on your camera effectively doubles the size of the lens opening, very little is lost in the way of quality. A good EVF prosumer camera show little or no artifacts or loss of detail at 200 or 400 ISO.
A good example is the new wide to telephoto (28 - 280mm) zoom lens by Panasonic Lumix GH1. It's widest opening is only F4.0, half the opening size of a F2.8 prime lens. But by raising the native ISO from 100 to 200 you are effectively can capture the same low light photo as the prime lens at the same shutter speed. As for the smoothing and blurring of backgrounds when using telephoto lens settings, it is true that the larger openings of prime lenses does this nicely. But the gaussian filter effect available in most image editors simulate this effect quite well.
If the minute appearance of artifacts concern you, there are many artifact removing software on the market. At the highest ranges of ISO (1600 - 3200) you can expect some loss of detail as well. However, the top of the line EVF cameras include sophisticated software that does a great job in retaining most of the lens detail at these lofty ISO settings.
Other characteristics that affect picture quality are distortion, trueness of color rendition, and cropping ability. All zoom lenses show some barrel distortion at the wide end and to a lesser extent, some pincushion effect at the telescopic end. The pincushion effect need not concern you too much because the usual subject material seldom includes straight lines that could make the distortion obvious to the eye. On the other hand, even a small amount of barrel distortion can be easily seen in architectural photos. There are some cameras that digitally correct for some if not all of this defect. If not, there are software programs that can correct for barrel distortion without affecting the quality of the image. One such is RadCor, a software that corrects for any distortion from specific makes of lenses and cameras.
While it is true that RAW images can produce extremely sharp images, most of us rely on the convenience of JPEGs. For this reason it would be well for you to pay attention to the type of engine used to convert the camera images to JPEGs (fine or regular). The latest in converter engines is the Venus Engine with dual CPUs used by the Panasonic Lumix GH1.This latter is affected by the number of pixels you have to work with, more being better. Of course, there is such a thing as too many pixels, having you end up with extra large image files that require a huge memory capacity fin your computer. The bottom line when choosing a digital camera is to examine the test photos and use the comparisons with other cameras to help make up your mind. There is no substitute for quality.
About the Author: A retired portrait and wedding photographer, I enjoy writing, how to articles, helpful articles on photography and many other subjects. My hobbies include quartet singing, shop, bicycling and photography. Please visit my web site at http://www.photoartbyken.com. [Articles, Digital Art, Poetry, Original sheet music.]
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