You know the basic accessories that you need to buy along with your telescope to protect it from dust and to store it properly. But a true astronomical experience requires more than just the basic accessories. In order to make your leisure activity to be a learning one as well, you need something more than just the basic accessories.

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.

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