Your child is currently interested in astronomy and he wants to have his own telescope. If you want to buy cheap telescope, then read this article. The first basic rule is to not buy the telescope in a department store.

You need to get the best telescope for your child, even if it relatively cheaper than the regularly priced gadgets. By going to catalogs or stores, then you are not sure of the quality you are getting.

You can buy cheap telescope from the actual manufacturers of these gadgets. They offer discounts on some of their models.

In fact, you can also get a percentage off some of them just by purchasing these online. This allows you to save more and spend it on other accessories.

If you buy cheap telescope, make sure that the package you get also has the additional features that are normal to the telescope. Examples are adapters and cords. The adapter will let you use the telescope for a long period of time.

Usually, telescopes are ran by batteries. At least with the adapter, you can use this for as long as you want. With the cords, you can also bring the telescope from one place to another.

If you want to buy cheap telescope, don’t do so during Christmas. This is what they call “Christmas trash.” If you notice, every fall, thousands of useless and cheap telescopes are up and about. They are front and center in toy stores and department stores.

You might think that this is the best deal for you but that is not necessarily the case. If you look closely, some of them are cheap and wobbly and the magnification is not at all that good – at least not as good as the recommended cheap telescopes.

Remember that there is no substitute for aperture. Get only the best. Things may be equal from the distance but size matters. The larger it is, the better. This is the rule of thumb. Only a couple of scopes can do what a top notch telescope can.

You can get the same thing if you buy cheap telescope but you know what you are looking for. At least, you can check the specs and features of the telescope that you are thinking of buying.

If you are having a hard time to buy cheap telescope, believe that you will eventually find one. There is just the right telescope for you.

You must know what you are looking for and you’re set. Think of the investment you can do with a telescope.

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Weather and climate Orbit level

Low (around 800 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there? About 40

The satellite recently destroyed by China was one of the thousands of disused (or “sleeping”) weather satellites in low- Earth orbit. Satellite-borne instruments have allowed researchers to track weather patterns, changes in sea levels and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. When the Orbiting Carbon Observatory ( below) lifts off in 2008, it will be the first Nasa spacecraft designed to make precise measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide from an Earth-orbiting satellite. Ability to track retreating polar ice, shifting patterns of drought, winds and rainfall and other environmental changes is “at great risk” because of faltering efforts to replace satellite- borne sensors. “Nasa has prioritised its missions, starting with a manned flight to Mars, then the establishing of a permanent base on the moon. Examining our own planet sadly comes last,” says F Sherwood Rowland, an atmospheric chemist at the University of California.

Broadcast Orbit level

high (35,000 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there?

Thousands

If the Earth were flat, you could pick up broadcast television thousands of miles from its source. Satellite television solves the problems of range and distortion by transmitting broadcast signals from space. Television satellites such as the one used by British Sky Broadcasting lie in geosynchronous orbit, meaning that they keep pace with the speed of the Earth. Most TV satellites are approximately 35,000 kilometres away. If you happen to have access to a yacht in the Caribbean, close to the Equator, they are easily visible and resemble small shooting stars. Satellites are increasingly used in the US to deliver radio signals. Bob Dylan did wonders for satellite radio’s profile when he took to the space airwaves with his own show last year. Data transfer and communications

Orbit level

High (up to 36,000 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there? More than 500 Almost two-thirds of active satellites are used for communication. “Because most communications satellites orbit up to 36,000 kilometres above the Earth, they would be more difficult to target than those with medium-Earth orbits,” says Dr Laura Grego of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Many commercial high-orbiting satellites are built to last. “The loss of those would be economically crippling,” Grego adds.

Natural disaster monitoring

Orbit level

low (800 kilometres above Earth) How many are there

unknown

Within hours of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans in August 2005, images taken by satellites known as the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (such as that pictured) were delivered to help rescue efforts. The constellation is five remote-sensing satellites launched by the Algerian, Nigerian, Turkish, British and Chinese governments. DMC satellites provided vital imaging of the after- effects of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. Space exploration

Orbit level

High (up to 1.6 million kilometres above Earth) How many are there?

Unknown

Since the launch of Hubble ( above) in 1990, it has become one of the most important instruments in the history of astronomy. Seventeen years on, its future is uncertain; it has already surpassed its 10-year life expectancy and its technology is failing. In the wake of the Columbia space shuttle disaster, Nasa decided a repair mission was impossible. It has since reconsidered its position and has given the green light for a final Hubble servicing mission to be flown by Discovery. While nobody wants to see Hubble go, space technology is advancing rapidly and a number of ground- breaking telescopes are scheduled for launch in the next few years. The James Webb space telescope is one. Named after a former Nasa administrator, it is scheduled for launch in 2013 and will use its infra-red technology to peer through dusty clouds in search of the first galaxies that formed after the Big Bang. Equipped with a 6m mirror, the telescope will orbit about 1 million miles up. Emergency communications Orbit level

low (800 kilometres above Earth) How many are there?

17 large groups

News journalists and militant groups might well agree on the importance of satellite communication; from the mountains of Pakistan to the streets of Baghdad, international calls can be made at the touch of a button. There are two major types of emergency communications satellites, Thuraya and Iridium. The Iridium constellation is a group of 66 satellites. The system was supposed to have 77, and so was named after iridium, which has the atomic number 77. Atomic number 66 is represented by dysprosium, which translates as “hard to get in contact with”. Iridium is in the business of emergency calls, so the name dysprosium was rejected. The Iridium network is unique in that it covers the Earth, including poles, oceans and airways, although US management means calls to and from North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Libya and Sudan are embargoed. Foreign correspondents travelling to remote parts of Africa and the Middle East tend, therefore, to rely on Thuraya ( above), a single geostationary communications satellite above the Pacific Ocean.

Military Orbit level low to medium (500 to 13,000 kilometres above Earth) How many? Hundreds Reconnaissance satellites, or keyholes, have been orbiting the Earth for over 30 years. Used to take photos for military operations, they circle the globe around 500 kilometres above its surface. Little is known about the full power of these satellites, as the governments that operate them usually keep information about them classified. They resemble a larger version of the Hubble Space Telescope, only they are peering down at us, rather than gazing out. Military satellites, which are crucial in guiding smart weapons to their targets, orbit around 13,000 kilometres above Earth. During the fall of Baghdad, 83 per cent of communications between US forces were sent via satellites. “It would have a huge impact if a country could destroy those satellites,” says Pat Norris, chair of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s space group.

Navigation

Orbit level

Medium (19,300 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there?

35 to 50 GPS, short for the Global Positioning System, operates via a constellation of 27 Earth-orbiting satellites, of which 24 are active and three serve as back-up. The system was originally developed and implemented by the US for its military operations, but once it realised the potential for navigation, it soon opened up the system to the world. Each solar-powered satellite circles the globe at an altitude of about 19,000 kilometres, making one complete rotation every 12 hours. The orbits are arranged so that at any time, wherever you may be on Earth, there are at least four satellites serving you in the sky.

Earth observation

Orbit level

Low (700 kilometres above Earth)

How many are there?

Unknown

Thanks to Google Earth, QuickBird ( above), a high-resolution commercial spacecraft launched in 2001, has become one of the most famous Earth observation satellites. It can capture the largest images and has the greatest on-board storage capacity of any public- domain satellite, and takes colour shots in high enough definition to pick out the detail on the Great Wall of China. TopSat, a micro- satellite launched last year, flies at a height of 700 kilometres and circles the Earth once every hour and 38.5 minutes. At [pound]14,000, such satellites are affordable for even the smallest companies. Not only do they store satellite photographs, but they may be used in the future to locate mineral and oil deposits, assist relief teams during natural disasters, and even to spy on those who haven’t paid their council tax.

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Sir Isaac Newton is often considered as the greatest Astronomer and Mathematician to ever live. There is a lot of validity to this claim. This article looks at his famous reflector telescope and describes some of his discoveries.

A reflector telescope is one that uses a mirror rather than lenses to bend light and magnify images. Reflector telescopes, because they are easier to make and can be made in sizes much larger than refractors, are an invention that changed astronomy and our understanding of the universe.  The largest refractor telescope in the world is forty inches in diameter and reflector telescopes dwarf this in comparison. There are currently several reflector type scopes that are over four hundred inches in diameter.

Why a reflector is better than a refractor

If you are familiar with a prism or a rainbow you can understand why reflectors are superior to refractors. When light passes through glass the different bands (or colors) pass through at different angles and this causes aberrations or problems in the images. This is called chromatic aberration and it gives us distorted views of what we see through a lens.  In the time of Newton glass making and lens making was very primitive and the problems of chromatic aberration were not yet overcome. Today we can make lenses that have almost no chromatic aberration but we can’t make them very large. When a lens gets to be really large it gets very heavy and its own weight will distort the lens and ruin the image.

Newton’s telescope solved these problems. A mirror doesn’t pass light through it. It simply bounces all the light off the surface. There is no chromatic aberration at all. And because you only need to bounce light off the surface you can place the whole mirror on a supporting structure or base which takes a lot of the weight off the mirror. This way you can build much larger mirrors without any distortion.

It is commonly thought that Newton invented the first reflector telescope but it isn’t true. Credit for making the first reflector goes to and Italian Monk, Physicist, and Astronomer named Niccolo Zucchi. He published a book on Optics in the 1650’s and it is this book that inspired Sir Isaac Newton to build his own telescope. Zucchi created his first reflector around 1616 while Newton completed his first (and famous) telescope in 1670.  But while Zucchi did make some new discoveries with his telescope it didn’t work well and was difficult to make and to use.  It was Newton’s telescope that worked really well and that brought the art and science of reflectors into the world of science.

The real genius of Newton’s Telescope

All of that stuff is remarkable but there is something much more important in Newton’s Astronomy and in his telescope.  He didn’t after all, discover moons around Jupiter like Galileo did, or plot the return of a comet like Halley did. But what he did do was tie in Mathematics, Astronomy, and our understanding of the universe using his telescope and his theory of universal gravitation.  He proved mathematically that gravitation was a two way operation and that while the earth pulled on a falling apple so the apple too pulled on the earth.  This was clearly seen, calculated, and confirmed in the motions of heavenly bodies which was refined and made possible by the new science of reflector telescopes which we can credit to Newton.

 Sir Isaac and his telescope carried on with the work of Copernicus and Galileo by furthering our understanding of the universe we live in and helping us to realize there are laws that govern the whole of the universe.  And this rule holds true for falling apples and for planets revolving around stars.

The actual telescope that Newton built still survives today and is in the care of the Royal Society of London. They keep it on display in London and sometimes it travels the world as part of an exhibit.

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William Herschel was possibly the greatest astronomer of the 18th Century. He made many discoveries including the finding of Uranus. But his biggest claim to fame was his ability to build telescopes. Over his lifetime he hand-built over 400 telescopes including a giant that was over 40 feet long with a mirror that was almost 50 inches wide.  He paved the way for many astronomers and telescope makers for centuries to come.

He first picked up the pursuit of astronomy as a hobby.  It quite possibly would have remained just a hobby but on one night in 1781 he discovered the planet Uranus and this discovery brought him a lot of fame and enough fortune to give up his normal job as musician. He went on to study astronomy and telescope making full time. He became so enamored by it and by the art of telescope making that he rose to the position of Kings Astronomer and during his lifetime he made telescopes and discoveries of celestial objects that shaped much of the modern science and pursuit of astronomy.

He was born in 1738 and he lived until 1822. During this time he and his sister Caroline devoted many hours and many nights to observing celestial objects and making ever larger telescopes.  His largest telescope was larger than a house, and while it was quite a remarkable instrument, it was cumbersome to use so he used a smaller telescope that was only twenty feet long for most of his serious discoveries and observations.

Some of Herschel’s Discoveries and Accomplishments

·         He discovered a new planet (Uranus) in 1781

·         He built the largest telescope of his time

·         He discovered two satellites of Uranus

·         He discovered two moons of Saturn (Mimas and Enceladus)

·         He discovered two new moons of Jupiter (Titania and Oberon

·         He coined the word asteroid from the Greek

·         He created an extensive catalog of nebulae called the Herschel Catalog which has over 2,500 listings

·         He discovered that most double stars were not optical doubles but actual binary stars that revolved around each other. This was significant because it was the first proof that Newton’s law of gravitation applies to objects outside our solar system.

·         By observing the motion of stars he also discovered the fact that our solar system is moving in space.  And he determined in which direction it is moving.

He built most of his telescopes and used them at his home in Bath England and to this day the home still stands and has been turned into a museum that the public can visit. It is called the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.

His sister Caroline spent many years as his assistant and she would take extensive notes while he observed through the telescope. Eventually she began making observations on her own and became quite a famous astronomer in her own right. She is credited with making many discoveries including eight comets and the M 110 Galaxy which is the second companion galaxy to the famed Andromeda Galaxy.

William Herschel lived in a time when it was not possible to simply buy a telescope. He was forced to build his own. Because of this he advanced both the science of astronomy and the art of telescope making. His largest telescope was the largest in the world for almost 50 years.  Eventually technology improved and it allowed other people to make even larger and better telescopes. Nevertheless Herschel holds a special place in the worlds of astronomy and telescope making as the greatest telescope maker of the 18th century and as one of the greatest observers of all time.

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Learn about radio waves, a special type of light that has a longer wavelength and less energy than the light we see. Find out how NASA uses radio waves to learn more about the universe and our own atmosphere with a giant telescope in Puerto Rico.

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Astronomy is thought of as something nerds do or those hidden away in towers with big telescopes and mysterious computations. However, you don’t need to be good at math a nerd or spend a long time learning to discover the stars. The ancients did that and learned a lot about their world that way. Given these times when money issues are foremost, it’s nice to know that there are simple things we can do to enjoy our world and learn more about it without having to spend a lot of money or do things that are too complicated to enjoy after all. It’s possible to have fun in your backyard with a little instruction and time, then get other folks around with you to enjoy it too.

We read how folks discover new planets and wax eloquently over stars and their speed, direction and relationship to one another. How many of us know that you can actually build your own telescope to appreciate those heavenly lights in the skies, those stars above us. That might even be a whole lot more interesting than watching the stars in other areas, those in television and the movies or in politics, those Bill Clintons, Sarah Palins, and Paris Hiltons, that all fade in time. Those stars in heaven won’t.

Joey Matheson in the town of Natchitoches, is a talented man, a retired clown from major circuses, who does odds and ends at a local church and teaches people how to build telescopes and enjoy looking at the stars. He is a Bible scholar also along with being an amateur astronomer, so in his own way he balances science and religion. Recently I spent some time with Joey as he explained the elements of the telescope. Looking at the heavens up close in the evening sky can be fulfilling and informative. Joey is not only adept with the telescope, he is also a master at explaining how it is used.

John Dobson, working in a monastery in San Francisco in the 1960’s, wanted to develop a telescope design that would be relatively easy to use. Joey has this type, which is called the Dobsonian telescope. The telescope originated with Isaac Newton. It consists of an eyepiece in the back, a secondary cage and mirror box. One looks through the eyepiece and sees the images that are brought through light that comes in and is reflected by a large mirror. Joey’s telescope is made for deep sky observing, for looking at galaxies, asteroids, and pinpointing stars. Through it one is able to see 18,000 galaxies.

The telescope helps one establish direction, iis used for navigational purposes and to establish the seasons for planting. Joey tells us that the telescope gives him certitude and understanding that there’s a purpose for everything in the relationship of one thing to another, in the earth and in the heavens. It has practical purposes as well as esoteric ones.

There are simple instructions the Internet for building telescopes and networks of people to talk with about them. Astronomy clubs are great groups to join because these folks are interested in nature and the heavens and like Joey see that purpose for everything under heaven.

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