Top 3 Telescopes Types, Explained: Telescope Basics 1 of 6

Hosted by David Fuller of "Eyes on the Sky," this video covers the the three basic types of amateur astronomy telescopes: Refractors, reflectors and compound telescopes. It gives an overview of each one, as well as comparing and contrasting the advantages and disadvantages of each type of design. An excellent primer for anyone wanting to understand more about telescopes.

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[DeuteriumTech]

8 years later and this video is still very useful! Thanks for this series!

[ChicagoAstronomer]

i work with David in urban Astronomy and I must say...he has raised the bar and now the standard for all astro vids.

Don't ever stop man....!

[triffidgrower]

Unbelievably, there are people (like me) who need the basics laid out in this style. Now, I'm still interested and will watch another one of your clips. Thankyou, very

[UncleTerry]

I'm re-watching these short videos as a refresher to telescopes and astronomy . I find them entertaining and easy to follow along to.

[Eyesonthesky]

Hey, thanks for the questions. I don't do a lot of astrophotography myself, mostly because I"m not very good at it, and it takes way more time (and patience!) than I have most nights. I'd suggest checking with some of the astronomy forums like Cloudy Nights or Stargazers Lounge and ask there. The people who do that more often will have great suggestions based on your needs and budget. Cats can do fine at visualizing faint/small objects, it's just a matter of working within it's limitations.

[jonathanarcher]

Just now getting back to my lost love... astronomy... I am lown away by the quality of Eyes In The Sky episodes... but I refuse to think this is a non-professional production. The first episode I found explained in detail and pragmatic terms "the equatorial mount"; that was about two weeks ago, now I finally bought my scope (still putting it together) and using Mr. Fuller's videos to guide and prep me... need to catch the collimation episode.

The point is: we (fledgelings) can be very thankful to have this guy host the web site and put these videos together. He obviously prepares, and cares deeply a out the quality of his products... which we benefit from... anyway enough brown-nosing. Awesome, cery educational. Thank You.

[FollowTheSunDown]

THANKS MAN! you have inspired me to look into a lost hobby i had as a child, and understanding the basics of telescopes makes it all more simple

[Pipe-organ-recordings]

Hi David Fuller - I want to say your basics videos are really excellent short and to the point. Thank you for taking the time to do them.

[alinaaziz]

This really helped me understand how a reflector and refractor telescope works for my physics test tomorrow! Thank you! Fingers crossed I do well!!

[tangoinsurance]

Thank you friend, I am new with this adiction, and looking for what telescopes is best for me, you help me a lot, my english is not good but I understood all because you speak very clearly. Thank you again, I'll be looking for more videos from you. Jaajaja now you have a new amateur astronomer fan with 52 years old. TKS

[GaryMcKinnonUFO]

Very helpful, thanks. It's Sunday so i'm going to watch these all in a row :) Liked and subbed.

[Eyesonthesky]

I like reflectors because they provide the most aperture for the money. I don't mind the cooling / diffraction issues, and I like that fact that they do not cause chromatic aberration. Coma can occur in shorter focal length ones, but it doesn't bother me, and better eyepieces can overcome that. My favorite telescope is a 6" f/5 reflector on an German equatorial mount, so if you have a $600 or $700 budget, that's my recommendation. If it's less, a 6" or 8" Dobsoninan is a good alternate.

[garywayne]

Your a natural teacher! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with all of us. I just got the Celestron Nextstar se8, WOW! is it ever impressive to an amateur like me! I am trying to figure out how to get my Canon d7 camera and video hooked up to it. I can't wait to see Saturn, Neptune, Mars and all the other wonderful stars and planets in our galaxy. I'm like a 45 year old kid...

[Eyesonthesky]

You're welcome - glad you enjoy them, and thanks for the nice comment! Be sure to check out my weekly videos where I show how to find objects in the sky too.

[keepinuhonest]

You might want to mention in the Cons for Reflectors and Catadioptrics that collimation or alignment of the secondary and primary mirrors is required periodically for best performance. It is not too difficult but not usually required on the Refractor.

[kharnakcrux]

well that sure explains a lot.   i've mounted a Tasco binocular on a wooden with C clamps.   crude, but effective enough to see jupiter fairly ok.

[TheSecretAgent]

this is really great, and helpful, but i think it would be even better if you visually showed what the type of optical differences the telescopes had... for example--if there is less light, does that mean it's dimmer? if so, show me what that might look like

[wayangede]

How to add magnification the telescope?is changed the eye piece with smaller lense?or ??

[Eyesonthesky]

Thank you for the nice words; I appreciate you taking the time to post a comment. :-)

[lifetime]

@eyesontheskyDOTcom thanks but $600 is too much for my bodget i was thinkng something from 200 and less, what do you thinks about this telescope is called Celestron AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector Telescope, here is the description about it, whats your opinion? thanks!