The Golden Rule.
There is actually an optical limit to the maximum practical magnification ANY telescope can provide before the image begins to degrade. And this is entirely related to the aperture of the telescope. This maximum limit is known as
The Golden Rule
The Golden Rule is:
50X per inch of aperture
So, that 60mm (2.3”) telescope that Tasco boasts as punching out 525x, is actually limited to 120X. A 200mm (8”) telescope maxes out at 400X. And so on.
Exceed this optical limit, and the image goes to crap as the optics because the resolution limit of a telescope is a function of the aperture size. Of course, with the right combination of eyepiece and barlow you can push any telescope to outrageous “magnification”, but the image will not be useable AT ALL. It will be dim and a fuzzy mess. THIS is what Tasco is not telling you, and you are suckered into buying that scope because of that bullcrap implication that’s accompanied by those photos taken by spaceprobes…
I have a lovely 200mm (8”) telescope that I use just about exclusively to sketch the Moon and planets with. If I listened to what Tasco claims I should be able to do with its 60mm telescope, I should be able to rip 1750X out of the 8" scope! My 8” scope is 11X larger in area than that 60mm, I limit my max magnification to 400X, yet that Tasco can do 525X!?!? Someone is telling a porky here…
This is all I will say about maxing out your telescope. Eyepiece selection is another topic altogether, and not relevant to this article. Of course eyepiece quality is important, so all I will say about eyepieces is that BIG$$$ is not everything with eyepieces either. There are some very good eyepieces that are actually very modest in price. Like I said, this is another topic altogether. For now, learn to use the eyepieces that came with your telescope, obey the practical optical limits of your scope, and you will come to see that those very same eyepieces can actually do a commendable job!
Alex.