Telescopes Things to consider when purchashing a telescope Tip! Features of the Celestron cpc 8 telescope including advanced technology for quick alignment. Once your CPC8 Telescope's global positioning system (GPS - an internal feature) has established its position, all you have to do is find and manually slew your Celestron cpc8 to whatever three bright objects you find in the sky. When you go to purchase your first telescope, there are many things you should consider before buying it. Among them are portability, Maintenance, Storage Space, and Price. When you are not using your telescope, find a safe place for it to stay. You need a space that is dust and moisture free as possible. Cover your telescope, when not in use, to prevent dirt and dust from getting into it. If you live in the city and long for some clear skies at night to view, you may have to move the telescope to a better seeing area. Usually in the country or rural area, you can get a beautiful expanse of sky in which to use to view your objects. Make sure your telescope is easy to carry and will fit in your car. Another good thing is to make sure you know how to assemble it in the dark. The prices for telescopes vary these days from inexpensive to expensive and everything in between. They can range from the $2 toy store model to a few thousand dollars. So know what you are looking for before you buy. You may even try a used one to see if the type is really what you want. Depending on the type, here are some average costs for a few common telescopes: Small Reflectors - $250 to $1000, Achromatic Reflectors - $250 to $1000, Large Reflectors - $300 to $2000, Compound Telescopes - $1000 to $3000, and Apochromatic Refractors - $2000 to $10,000. Maintenance is upkeep of the telescope and its pieces. Probably the most common maintenance will be keeping the mirrors or lenses aligned properly. Also, the open ended telescopes are famous for collecting dust and debris. You may have to clean the mirrors and then realign them. The goal is to get the most viewing ability for what you can afford. Tip! Once your Celestron cpc 8 telescope has aligned itself in this way, its remote hand controller allows you to get direct access to every catalog of objects in the sky that are contained in its vast database. About the Author Terry Baeseman is a freelance writer, contributor, and editor of My Telescope Store and can be reached at My Telescope Store. My Telescope Store provides information about astronomy telescopes, binoculars, telescope accessories and more.