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Small Refractor

Don't let those big scopes intimated you. A small scope has a lot of practicality that those big cumbersome scopes don't have. Once you learn your way around the sky, a small scope is a natural choice to compliment binoculars. They're very portable and easy to handle. In fact like many other hobbyist my first scope was a small refractor. I had spent many hours enjoying the heavens with one.

Once set up your most likely first targets will be the planets. If you are like most of us you will invite many friends over for their first planetary views. The planets bring some of the greatest rewards for a small refractor. Of course you'll want to revisit all the star clusters and nebula for a closer look. Now that you have an instrument firmly mounted for steady viewing you will spend a lot more time observing individual objects.

Amateur astronomy is really the art of observing. The 'seeing eye' is one which takes it's time to take it all in. This type of observing takes skill. With patience and practice you will obtain it. What your doing is training your eye to catch more detail. The more you observe the more you are able to see. Most experienced observers will see more in a small scope then most beginners will see in bigger instruments. When an experienced observer steps up to  a big scope they will see stuff that's practically invisible to others. Learn this art and your observation will be immensely more enjoyable.

Binoculars | Rich Field Telescope | What you can see through a small inexpensive instrument

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