when buying a telescope do I need to make a choice whether i prefer to use

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David

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Daytime, only the Sun is available for viewing. This is a specialized kind of scope out of your price range.
 
Yes, and you might also want to decide whether you want to view planets or dimmer nebulae.

High magnification and small field of view are desirable for planet viewing, but the object viewed must be fairly bright. This would be a good choice for terrestial viewing as well, using an erecting prism attachment.

Low magnification and low F/ number ( large diameter objective ) are desired for dim objects like nebulae and galaxies.
 
I live on a farm in rural Canada. It has wonderfully dark skies, and also lots of wildlife: birds, squirrels, deer, moose, and bears. I use three quite different telescopes. For nighttime observing, I want large aperture to resolve planetary detail and pull out faint deep sky objects, and for this i mainly use an 11" aperture Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector (Celestron CPC 1100). For daytime observing of the Sun, I use a totally specialized instrument: a 40 mm refractor with Hydrogen Alpha filter (Coronado PST). For wildlife I have an 80 mm apochromatic refractor (Orion ED80), which I also use for quick looks at astronomical objects on bitter cold nights. Because of their wide field of view, I also use 7x50 and 10x50 binoculars a lot for nature viewing.

With a limited budget, you need to get the best telescope for your primary interest, and compromise for your other interests. Telescopes primarily for astronomy tend to have large apertures and narrow fields of view: nothing in the sky is much larger than about 2° in diameter. For terrestrial use, 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars would be my first choice because of their wide field of view and ease of use. Telescopes of any kind are of limited use in daytime because of their narrow field of view and awkward mounts.
 
both would be great but the day t?me would be good for the sun and n?ght would be for the stars

so...
? th?nk gett?ng a n?ght one ?s the best so you can v?ew more th?ngs l?ke galaxys, planets, stars, nebula and moon

so bas?cally you can v?ew lots of th?ngs

solar ?s only the suns flares or solar telescope for the sun spots
 
Whether you intend to purchase a telescope primarily for terrestrial use vs. astronomy will have a big impact on the type and features of the telescope.

For example, the mounting of most astronomical telescopes are design to have one axis parallel with the axis of the Earth's rotation. This then allows the astronomer to follow an object's aparent motion across the sky by moving the telescope along a single axis. A mounting of this type is needlessly complex and costly, and can be downright awkward for viewing distant landscapes or the practice court of the women's volleyball team at the local college.

Also, a telescope designed for astronomical use often creates an inverted image, or one that is backwards (swapped left for right). This isn't a problem for viewing Jupiter, but certainly isn't desirable for terrestrial use.

You can use either telescope for the other purpose, there will just be some compromises you'll have to deal with.

Regards,
Lee
 
Hi andy -

Yes, you should really decide on what you want. An astronomical scope is quite different than a terrestrial one, and there are significant differences even among the astronomical scopes.

Let's assume that you are slightly more inclined toward astronomy than bird watching (since you are on the astronomy site). Since you are sort of new to this, my suggestion (no, my strong recommendation) would be to look up your nearest local astronomy club on line and go to a few open observing sessions. You will receive a warm welcome and an opportunity to see what you can expect at the eyepiece and at the cash register. Since the range that you mentioned is sort of on the low end in terms of real instruments, it would be wise for you to fully understand what you can expect from any specific scope before you actually purchase it. It's sort of a lot of money to spend if you are going to be surprised by what you get.
 
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