How to get started with your first telescope

— -- As humans, we're limited by what we can see with the naked eye. While we're biologically suited to looking at things up close, our eyes can't zoom in to take a look at far-away objects. But using a telescope, we can expand the capabilities of our eyes to see some pretty amazing things.

On a good night with a telescope, you'll be able to look out and see the rings of Saturn or the red coloring of Mars. If you're lucky enough to catch a passing comet or find a stellar nebula, you'll be presented with sights possible only with a telescope.

There are a lot of different types of telescopes out there, some of which are really expensive — but don't be put off by all the jargon and details. Picking one that suits you is pretty easy. We'll walk you through the major points you need to consider.

Reflector vs. refractor telescopes

There are two types of telescopes: reflectors and refractors. At the end of the day, each will enlarge the sky and let you see some pretty cool stuff, but the design and use of each is a bit different.

Reflector telescopes work by gathering light and using mirrors to focus the light into the eyepiece at the end of the telescope. In a Newtonian reflector, the eyepiece is on the side of the telescope's tube, while a Cassegrain reflector has the eyepiece at the bottom.

A refractor telescope uses lenses to focus the light. Most of the time, you'll be looking through the telescope at the bottom.

Which type of telescope you want is probably more dependent on your wallet than anything else. A lot of people feel that refractor telescopes provide the better image, but they tend to be more expensive than reflectors.

Both types of telescopes often list information about their aperture size. This refers to the diameter of the main lens on the front of the telescope. When it comes to aperture, the bigger, the better!

Keep it simple

Beginning your stargazing experience by buying a $2,000, high-end telescope is like learning to drive in a Porsche. Be sure that what you're buying matches your experience. If you're starting off new to stargazing, you'll be perfectly happy with something $200 or so from Amazon.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that you don't want a lot of extras that could initially complicate matters. This includes the eyepiece. While some eyepieces provide 200x magnification or more, that's not going to be realistically good for a beginning stargazer. Aim for 25x or 50x for your first telescope. Any more than that, and you'll spend too much time and effort stabilizing and focusing your telescope when you could be looking at the sky and enjoying the evening.

And that brings us to our next point…

A sturdy stand

One of the most overlooked points in getting a great stargazing experience with a telescope is the proper use of a stand. Make sure that you know how to set up your stand properly and how to tighten and level it. Do this at home in the light before you take the stand out into the dark.

Perhaps more important then the stand itself, however, is where you put it. Find solid ground. If you're with a group of people, make sure that the telescope is a bit away from everyone. You'd be surprised how easy it is for someone to shake the ground just enough to knock your perfect view of Mars out of alignment.

Where to buy a good telescope