Beginner Dobsonian Telescopes

Beginner’s Decision – Buying or Making your own “Light Bucket”?

All astronomy telescopes have the same objective, i.e. to collect light from distant objects, bring it to a point of focus which is then magnified with an eyepiece. Therefore, the true power of an astronomy telescope is in its ability to collect light which is determined by its aperture size.

Dobsonian telescopes, with their large apertures, are commonly referred to as “Light Buckets”, and are excellent as a starter telescope for beginners to carry out deep sky observation.

About Dobsonian Telescopes

Instead of a tripod, the reflector optical tube of the Dobsonian telescope is mounted on a low, swiveling alt-azimuth base. The rising popularity of this telescope since the 1970’s was attributed to the San Francisco amateur astronomer, John Dobson.

Bulkiness aside, the simple swivel-and-point base makes the Dobsonian telescope one of the best starter telescopes to have due to its affordability and ease of use.