Dobsonian Telescopes

Dobsonian Telescopes

Dobsonians are popular as they offer a large-diameter objective for a relatively low cost – astro enthusiasts sometimes affectionately refer to Dobsonian scopes as “light buckets” for this reason. They’re excellent deep sky telescopes for viewing distant phenomena.

The larger the objective, the greater a telescope’s light-gathering power, and the better it can resolve far-off objects in the night sky. The size of an objective lens is given in inches – Dobsonian astronomical telescopes can range widely, with objectives as small as 3-inch or as large as 16-inch. Bear in mind that a larger objective will mean the telescope itself will also be quite a bit bigger.

Dobsonians use an alt-azimuth mount, moving along two axes and sitting on a flat base. This type of telescope mount requires you to manually point the telescope towards the subject you wish to view. Magnification is relatively low, and the alt-azimuth mount cannot follow objects along the sky like an equatorial mounted telescope can. Some Dobsonian telescopes are available with tracking, but these tend to be on the more expensive end of the price scale.

Many modern stargazing telescopes offer a great degree of smart tech integration, with compatible apps and programes that make it much easier to find specific night sky objects than it would have been in the past. If you’re looking for telescopes to see planets, a Dobsonian is also still a great choice – however, in order to get the clearest images possible, you’ll find it’s necessary to regularly collimate the telescope.

Collimation can be a bit of a scary word among telescope enthusiasts, but it’s easy to do once you get the hang of it, and will greatly improve your observing experience. Collimation refers to the process of aligning a telescope’s optics in order to ensure the resulting image is clear. You can think of it like tuning a guitar – something that’s necessary to do every so often in order to keep the instrument working as it should. There are lots of useful collimation guides online, as well as how-to videos on YouTube. If you take time to get to grips with it, you’ll get much more enjoyment from your Dobsonian telescope.

A good telescope for astronomy doesn’t have to be expensive, and a Dobsonian is a fantastic choice whether you’re a total beginner or someone who knows their way around the final frontier. A good sky watcher telescope can be the first step into an exciting journey into astrophotography, or just a fun way to spend time outdoors.