No Fuss Astrophotography Telescopes for Beginners

So, what is it exactly that makes a no fuss telescope no fuss? In this collection of easy to use telescopes, each model on the list contains these five qualities:

To truly understand the ingenuity of these telescopes, let’s break down these key characteristics that make them the most user-friendly systems on the market today.

The first aspect of a frustration-free system is the freedom from periodic alignment of its optical elements. With this in mind, refractors are arguably the easiest type of telescope to use. These lens-bearing telescopes don’t require the hassle of mirror collimation as seen in reflectors or catadioptrics, allowing you to capture beautifully sharp images straight out of the box. With refractors, the more lens elements there are, the better corrected the light will become, resulting in less aberration seen within the frames. Doublet refractors (2 lens elements) are often referred to as achromatic while triplet refractors (three lens elements) are frequently categorized as apochromatic.

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Thanks to the ingenuity from some of today’s most popular telescope manufacturers, having a telescope with all of these aspects is easily within your reach. They have done the homework for you, carefully crafting optics that deliver simplicity in use as well as superb performance. Whether you are a beginner looking for a user-friendly system, or an avid astrophotographer just wanting a simpler setup, here are our picks for the best no fuss telescopes for just about any experience level.

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Glossary

Chromatic Aberration

Different wavelengths of light travel at different speeds based on the medium it occupies. When white light is exposed to glass such in a telescope or lens, blue light, red light, and green light slow at varying rates. This change of speed causes each wavelength to focus at different points along the focal plane, resulting in color fringing seen within the images taken.

Coma

Coma is the comet-like appearance of stars near the edges of the frame. This occurs when light entering the optics focuses at different points around the corners of the image, causing an overlap of unfocused stars that present itself in a trailing manner.

Spherical Aberration

As opposed to converging at a singular focal point, light rays entering the edges of a lens focus at differing points than that of light rays entering the center of the lens. This results in sharp stars in the center of the frame while blurry, unfocused stars are prevalent around the edges of the image.

Backfocus / Backfocal Distance / Backspacing

All optical systems have a point at which an in-focus image is formed, and for astrophotography it is at this location that the camera sensor should be placed. When the telescope is used without corrective elements, this is done easily with the focuser mechanism; and so long as an image can be brought into focus, optimal optical performance will be achieved. However with corrective elements, oftentimes there is a certain distance that the camera sensor needs to be placed away from the rear of the corrector for optimal performance. This will be listed as the backspacing or backfocal distance for the corrective element.

Collimation

Collimation is the process in which the optical elements of a telescope are aligned to deliver the best performance possible. In refracting optical systems, lens collimation is performed by the manufacturer at the time of assembly. In contrast, reflecting telescopes contain mirrors that are often bumped out of alignment. As a result, these types of telescopes require periodic collimation from the user to ensure peak clarity and sharpness. Various tools are available for collimation, such as laser collimation, Cheshire eyepieces, and collimation caps, just to name a few.

Vignetting

Vignetting is seen as the darkening of the corners of the frame within an image. This happens when the camera sensor is not exposed to enough light, resulting in a shadow effect along the borders of the image. This issue presents itself for a number of reasons, though most commonly occurs when using incompatible sensor sizes and image circles, and the use of too small of filters for the imaging assembly.

Refractor / Refracting Telescope

A refractor is a telescope design that uses lenses to gather and focus light. While there are some exceptions to the rule, achromatic refractors use two lenses in their design, and while they are economical, achromats are only capable of focusing two out of three wavelengths of light. An APO telescope, or apochromatic refractor, uses 3 lenses to bring all three wavelengths of light to a single focus to produce an image virtually free of extraneous color.

Doublet Refractor

A doublet refractor is a type of telescope that utilizes two lens elements. Often referred to as achromatic doublets, the use of two lenses help reduce the detrimental effects of common aberrations by focusing red and blue light on the same focal plane. These types of refractors are popular with beginners as they perform well, are easy to use, do not require collimation, and are generally quite affordable.

Triplet Refractor

Triplet refractors house three lens elements that work together to eliminate common aberrations such as chromatic, comatic, and spherical. While achromatic doublets only correct for two wavelengths (red and blue), apochromatic triplets correct for three, allowing red, green, and blue light to become focused along the same focal plane. These types of refractors excel for visual use though are especially popular within the astrophotography community thanks to their superb color-correcting abilities.

Quadruplet Refractor

Quadruplet refractors contain a total of four internal optical elements that provide images free from chromatic, comatic, and spherical aberration. As opposed to triplet refractors, quadruplet refractors also correct for field curvature aberration, where the additional lens acts as a built-in field flattener to straighten out incoming rays of light. This flat field also means there is no need to calculate backspacing; as long as the imaging system can reach focus, stars will be sharp across the entirety of the image. The four lenses in these telescopes can be arranged in various different orientations, though most often adopts the Petzval design. This design features two lenses in the front and two in the rear, and is so often used that quadruplets are regularly referred to as Petzval refractors. Most of the quadruplets produced today are manufactured specifically for astrophotography, and do not allow visual applications.

Quintuplet Refractor

Quintuplet refractors are telescopes that include a total of five lens elements. These lenses can be combined in various different arrangements to deliver superb color correcting abilities. Common aberrations such as chromatic, comatic, spherical, and field curvature are eliminated when using telescopes of this design, making them optimal for astrophotography. The inherent flat field also eradicates the need to calculate backspacing, making them exceptionally easy to use.

Sextuplet Refractor

Sextuplet refractors are telescopes that contain six lens elements. These six correcting lenses provide excellent aberration correction, producing images free from coma, chromatic aberration, spherical aberration, and field curvature. Telescopes of this design have a built-in field flattener, and don’t require backspacing calculations as long as the imaging assembly can reach focus. These qualities make sextuplet refractors the ideal choice for astrophotographers wanting high quality, well-corrected images.

Septuplet Refractor

Septuplet refractors house seven lens elements for outstanding astrophotography performance. Aberration is virtually non-existent with this multitude of correcting lenses, providing images with heightened clarity and contrast. There is no backspacing calculation required from the user as long as the imaging equipment can reach focus, and the inherent flat field provides sharp stars from corner to corner.

Petzval Design

The Petzval design is an orientation of lens elements within a refractor telescope. This arrangement features a doublet near the front of the optical tube, and a doublet near the back of the tube, with air-spacing in between. The second doublet corrects for aberrations that the first was unable to correct for, such as comatic aberration and field curvature. As a result, refractors of this design are well suited for astrophotography, producing exceptional clarity and contrast within the images captured.

Rack & Pinion Focuser

Rack & Pinion focusers utilize a gear-oriented system to bring the telescope into focus. When the focusing knob is turned, the gears of the Pinion mechanism mesh with those of the Rack mechanism to move the eyepiece or imaging equipment into the focal point of the optics. By using gears, this type of focusing design is less likely to suffer from slippage as other focusers are prone to, and are one of the most commonly used in today’s most popular telescopes.

Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) Glass

ED stands for “extra-low dispersion”, and is a type of glass designed to specifically reduce the separation of wavelengths when light passes through. Coatings of magnesium fluoride, zirconium dioxide, calcium fluoride, and titanium dioxide help bridge the gap between the different wavelengths of light, providing a singular focal point for all wavelengths. This helps reduce chromatic aberration and in turn provides heightened optical performance. Also, the more coatings on the lenses, the higher the transmission rate becomes for brighter, more detailed views and images.

Image Circle

This specification refers to the area where an image is formed by the optics/ corrective element. This is useful for assessing whether a certain camera sensor size will be supported by the optics, or if vignetting/ poor performance will be seen in frame.