Magnitude is exponential, so the jump from 12 to 13 is bigger than the one from 6 to 7, so the most advanced home telescopes can get to a magnitude around 16. Even the most basic telescopes can help you see stars with a magnitude of 12. Because of that, the magnitude is how easy it is to look at a star from Earth and what kind of optical device do you need to observe it.įor comparison, our naked eye can see stars with a magnitude around 5.5 and below (less magnitude = brighter).
The magnitude of a star is a calculation based on its distance from Earth and brightness that determines how “bright” it is in relation to Earth. Useful Magnification = Aperture x 2.5Īnother practical effect of aperture is to calculate the maximum limiting magnitude your telescope can reach. If you have your telescope’s aperture in millimeters Max. If you have your telescope’s aperture in inches: Max. In fact, if you do the math, you will see both formulas don’t really return the same number. We call it a rule of thumb because the real exact number is going to depend on things like the quality of the manufacturing process of the lens, so it’s really just an approximation. There are two simple rules of thumb that can give you an approximation of the maximum useful magnification that corresponds to a certain aperture. The maximum or highest useful magnification is basically how much your telescope can “zoom” in before the image becomes too blurry and out of focus. On top of that, the aperture will also determine another very important number for stargazing, the maximum useful magnification. The aperture determines the upper limit on the quality of the images you’ll see. No matter how fancy or expensive accessories you put on it, if there’s no more light (information) to improve your image, there’s nothing to be done. That means the aperture of your telescope is the main bottleneck that determines how good of an image you can actually get to. The entire optical chain that you are going to use (From the telescope to your eyeball) begins with the lens at the front of your telescope, and its diameter, also referred to as the aperture is what’s going to determine how much light is captured and enters the body of your telescope for processing it. Why is aperture important?Ī lot of people will tell you aperture is the most important feature in a telescope. Well, for this reason, we have created this article that will give you a visual tour of all the common telescope apertures so you can make an informed decision. But what do these numbers translate into in reality? What can you actually expect to see with your eyes?. One of the hardest things when you are doing the research to buy your first telescope is knowing what to expect and what the key differences are from one model to the other.Īrticles online talk about things like aperture, magnification, focal length, and other intimidating numbers that make it look like you need to be a rocket scientist to simply choose a telescope.
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