Illustration by Jody Hewgill
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Guide to Tools That Bring the Stars Closer to You
November-December 2003
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Binoculars
What you'll see Saturn's rings, Jupiter's moons, lunar
craters, and the Andromeda Galaxy—so long as you have a good sky chart,
such as the one by Astronomy magazine's
website.
What you'll pay A decent set of 7x 50 binoculars should cost
about $100 to $200.
Traditional Telescopes
What you'll see More moons of Jupiter, more craters on the moon.
More of everything. But you'll need patience to accurately point the scope
at targets.
What you'll pay Don't bother with the cheapies. A good
entry-level telescope will cost at least $200.
"Go-To" Telescopes
What you'll see A lot more objects, because a
computer-and-motor-driven scope homes in on your target automatically. Line it
up with the North Star, punch the time, date, your location, and
"Mars" on a keypad, and the Red Planet appears in the eyepiece within
10 seconds.
What you'll pay Beginner go-to scopes cost $200 to $300 and
typically come with a database of about 4,000 objects. Pricier models with an
eight-inch lens or mirror—which collects four times as much light as a
four-inch scope—find about 10,000 and start at $1,000.
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