Telescope Buying Guide: What to Avoid

Video Transcript

"So now that we know some of the positives to look for in a telescope, it's important that we give you some idea of what not to look for in a telescope as well. Bad astronomy, if you were. I was going to grab a sample to show you here in the showroom, but I don't have one. So let me just kind of walk you through it a little bit. As you're walking into large discount stores or warehouses, you see telescopes that boast claims--very inexpensive telescopes, too--that might boast claims of 250x, 350x, 400 magnification. Understand that these are all bogus claims and the telescopes are not capable of such performance. Even with the big guy I got right here, I'm not going to do 200 magnification too many nights. The seeing conditions just won't allow me to do so. Also the tripods are typically the wobbly, weak spots in the package. Very wobbly. I find a lot of times that those first scopes, those scopes will often discourage people as rather encourage you for astronomy. That's really a crying shame that things like that happen, because you'll see reputable dealers putting out such telescopes. So some things to watch out for is a wobbly tripod, any telescope that boasts 200, 300, 400, 500 magnification is bogus. Don't buy that one as well. Also, don't be deceived by pretty pictures on the boxes. Many times you'll see large pictures of Saturn or Jupiter... even at 200 magnification in a telescope this size, Saturn is not much bigger than the nail on your pinkie finger. The difference is you see more detail with a scope this size. You'll also see glorious color pictures of deep sky objects. The eye just really doesn't pick up color, you're seeing photographies taken by astronomers to make those objects look more appealing. So when you see all the fantastic images and the different colors and the brightness, you don't get to see that through the eyepiece. Those are only for... only taken images from Hubble, or from, like I said, amateur astronomers taking photographs. So, another good reason to get a good magazine, a good book, something to resource what you would actually see, and don't be deceived by those pretty pictures. Don't be deceived by the excessive claims of magnification. Best to contact somebody that's used a telescope a little bit and can give you some real advice."