Eyepiece:

Eye piece is probably the next thing you would want to invest on, after purchasing a telescope.  Buying a good eye piece would be as much confusing as buying a  telescope, which is why you need to do sufficient home work before you get down to buying it.

Eye pieces come in quite a few diameters and not knowing which to buy, may definitely lead to some amount of confusion. The most commonly used sizes of the eye piece are 1.25″ and 2.0″.

Eyepieces not just vary in size and focal length but also in design. The cost of an eye piece depends on the complex functions it performs.

Telescope mount:

A Telescope mount is the next thing to buy, once you have bought the eye piece. The telescope mount is a stand kind of a thing, which supports your telescope and prevents that bother of having to support it manually.

A good telescope mount must be sturdy and must be able to bar the weight of the telescope. It should also be able to allow precise pointing of the instrument without having to adjust it every now and then.

Storage cases:

You have invested a huge amount of money for buying the telescope. You would obviously want it to be the centre of attraction when your friends drop in. But imagine how it would come across, if it had scratches all over and the lens was broken. Hence, you need to protect the telescope.

Storage cases protect your scope from dust, scratches and dents. A good storage case is padded with foam and sturdy. It would be able to withstand the shock when dropped accidentally causing no damage to the telescope within.

Protective scope covers:

You have decided to go camping and with to carry your favorite telescope to pursue your hobby of star gazing during your leisure time.  You would, obviously not want to leave your telescope out in the open, letting it to take it Mother Nature’s harshness of extreme sunshine and rain or even dust for that matter.

Protective telescope covers are used to protect the telescope from dust and rain. They need to be fastened with elastic to the telescope. They also reflect sunlight to a degree that the cool-down time when the scope is uncovered is short.

Batteries:

Batteries are an absolute must to carry along with your telescope especially if you are in the habit of moving along with your telescope very often for star gazing. It prevents you the hassle of finding a power supply in all the places you go and would make sure that your penchant for astronomy is a pleasant activity. Just make sure that the batteries are replaced or sufficiently charged before venturing out on your astronomy trip

These are the basic accessories that one must buy along with the telescope, not just to protect your telescope but also to have a pleasant and fun-filled star gazing experience.

Here is a list of advanced accessories that you can complement your telescope with:

Finder scopes:

What is the use of spending a boom in buying a telescope, through which you cannot see anything? A good telescope needs to be coupled with a good finder scope.

Finder scopes give a much wider field of view than a basic telescope. It helps in object location and alignment of the telescope. Finder scopes come in two optical configurations: straight-through type, and the right-angle finder.

A straight through type of finder scope inverts the image, but gives you the comfort of sitting down and viewing the image. This type of finder scope is preferred by the novice star gazers for the convenience it allows.  The right angle finder scope keeps the field of view correctly oriented, but locating an object through this telescope is a bit of a hassle.

Dew removal systems:

Dew removal system shields your telescope from the accumulation of dew. The dew drops are formed on your telescope when the temperature of the telescope is below the temperature at which the water vapors in the atmosphere condense as objects. This is referred to as dew point.

Dew removal system is directly installed on the telescope and is the most practical option to prevent the accumulation of dew.

Power supplies:

Telescopes do not function without electricity. Using batteries is one way of dealing with this; another option is having a dedicated source of power for the telescope. Some modern models have bounty of power for numerous all-night observing sessions and also include emergency features such as a white spotlight.

Focusers:

Focusers are used to hold your telescope’s eyepieces securely in place, irrelevant of the position of the telescope. Selecting a focuser is not easy because it does not come cheap. But compromising quality for cost is not suggested here.

A good Focuser is machined well with no sharp and pointy edges. It should provide plenty of movement to accommodate all your eyepieces. An ideal focuser should provide a mechanism that permits you to alter the “tightness” as you turn the focuser. It should also have the feature of two-speed focusing mechanism, that is the “coarse” focusing knob is gives you the option of establishing a near-focus position; and the “fine” knob which is used to obtain a sharp image.

Fans and coolers:

When you place your telescope out in the sun, the glass of the telescope which is used to make mirrors for reflecting can absorb a large amount of heat during the day. This is released as heat during dusk which creates thermal air currents that distort the image viewed through the telescope.

Fans and coolers are used to negate this effect. Fans gently draw air through the telescope to counteract any thermal effects and coolers ventilate inside the telescope.

These are some of the accessories that you can use along with the telescope to change your telescope into a complete system.