A dream of an amateur astronomer: A large Dobsonian telescope

For an amateur astronomer who doesn't focus on astrophotography, the most important are visual observations, i.e. to see as much as possible through the eyepiece of the telescope attached to the eyepiece. In order for the best images of faint, distant objects to reach our eyes, we need a telescope with a maximum large lens diameter. The reflecting device, or Newton's telescope, is the best option when we want to get the largest diameter at the best price. This diameter, or the thickness of the telescope, has the greatest effect on the image. People often buy toy telescopes, looking only at the advertised magnification. In each telescope you can actually get any magnification, but what about how the image will be of poor quality. The diameter is responsible for the brightness and resolution of the image. For example, an instrument with a mirror diameter of 20 cm gives twice as sharper and four times brighter images than a telescope with a diameter of 10 cm. Mirrors up to 40 cm in diameter are produced serially, but after exceeding 30 cm the price is growing rapidly. The Newton telescope with a large mirror is mounted on a stand called the Dobsonian mount. Colloquially, such instruments are called Dobsonians.

The world leader in the production of such equipment is the American company Obsession Telescopes. They produce great quality, folding constructions that fit in a passenger car and can be assembled and operated by one person. Unfortunately, such a telescope costs about $ 10,000. Fortunately, we have a manufacture in Poland that creates similar instruments. Taurus telescopes are great constructions for a much lower price. These telescopes, hand-made for a given client, gain fame all over the world. I would probably choose a 20-inch T500 from their offer. Links to websites Obsession Telescopes and Taurus telescopes can be found at the end of the article. Such a cannon in good conditions allows some nebular objects to see delicate colors that we normally only see in pictures with a long exposure time. The only drawback of these giants is their dimensions. A larger mirror means a longer focal length, and therefore a longer telescope length. This causes a small problem when observing objects at the zenith (vertically above us). Usually, a small ladder is needed to reach the eyepiece. It may seem funny to you, but it is. So for a big Dobsonian ladder obligatory!

Such large constructions over 24 inches (61 cm) in diameter are made for the greatest enthusiasts of exploring the cosmos on their own. An experienced amateur can even make a new discovery with such equipment. The greatest advantage of folding constructions is their mobility. We load complex parts into a car and we go far away from city lights. Construction of a stationary observatory makes sense only under a really dark sky, which unfortunately is less and less. In Poland, the Bieszczady Mountains dominate. There you can use the possibilities of such a monster. Already in the 12-inch telescope that I have, many of the objects viewed in the Bieszczady Mountains look like in the pictures, with the attention that they are colorless views. Our eyes have too little sensitivity to see the colors of the low-light objects thousands of light-years distant. All color photographs of the cosmos are the merit of photography with a long exposure time, where the matrix collects the light of a faint nebula for several hours! Thanks to such photos we can see the hidden beauty of the cosmos. Unfortunately, however, the knowledge of this is often a disappointment of the first telescope buyers, hoping for such colorful, fairy-tale views that begin to appear only in 20-inch cannons. I recommend going to some astronomical rally to be able to climb this ladder and see some distant galaxy with your own eyes. I guarantee that your approach to earthly life, which most of us are completely absorbed, will change.