Now for the record, Contrary to widespread belief, the magnifying power of a telescope is NOT its most important feature. It is the light-gathering ability which is of paramount importance. The aperture size, or diameter of the telescope’s main lens or mirror, determines how much light it will collect. Objects far out in space are very faint. As such, a telescope with a larger aperture will be able to show faint objects better than one with a smaller aperture. Telescopes of inferior quality are generally those advertised on the basis of high magnification, with little or no reference to aperture size. They are usually fancifully packaged, touting 300X power, or more. The best images are obtained at fairly low powers, through a telescope that collects a sufficient amount of light. Which type of mount should you use?

Essentially, there are two types of mounting systems; Alt-Azimuth, and Equatorial. Each has several different designs associated with it. The most rudimentary type is an alt-azimuth mount, whereby there are simple left-right, and up-down motions. It is more often used with telescopes intended for terrestrial viewing, but has proven very effective for astronomical telescopes. Perhaps the best example of an excellent alt-azimuth mount is that of a Dobsonian mount. It is a simple box-like design which allows for easy movements of larger reflecting telescopes.

An equatorial mount is used with telescopes intended almost exclusively for astronomical viewing. One of its axis is to be aligned on the celestial pole. As the earth rotates, this axis can be turned in the opposite direction, allowing the object in the eyepiece to stay in view, without drifting. This can be achieved through the use of manual controls, or even an electronic motor drive.

If you need assistance in choosing the right telescope, visit our observatory or call us to personally speak with one of our knowledgeable astronomy staff members, or e-mail us at lutzobservatory@yahoo.com Each of our staff has several years experience as amateur astronomers, and genuinely enjoy helping anyone interested in this awe-inspiring hobby. We offer a vast selection of telescopes to fit virtually any budget, or level of experience.

Looks like you are ready for a book Sherrie. Saw the Myspace page too. Whats up with all the crap at CN?

Crap

Who cares weather or not Loren works part time at Universal. Somebody wrote about a refractor an the other posters went ape over it at CN, posting a picture of Loren at work. Who cares weather he works part time at Universal Studios. It's like these guys got nothing do. That Mark guy as a business owner should know better then to get himself in some sort of an altercation on line at various forums crank emails. Loren has two jobs, so what. Who cares!

Sherrie here is the guys website who took the picture.


URL http://www.steves-astro.com
Contact Contact through website
Location Cambridgeshire
Info Fighting the clouds in rural Cambridgeshire
Lastupdate 2008-05-04 08:57:17 (380)

Having way way too much fun fellow trolls.

Loron Knowlen's activities on other forums is a lot of fun since he likes to shake up the astronomy community with new ideas along with his thoughts on various products. I have read many of the reviews an enjoy them all.