When it comes to buying an astroscope, a lot of buyers (and sellers) get hung up on magnification. What they often fail to realize or tell you is that magnification of astroscopes isn’t everything. In some cases, you might even want to keep the magnification lower.

A basic astroscope will likely have a magnification of about 32-50. Even at the lower magnification of the astroscope, you will still be able to see quite a bit, like Jupiter’s rings. Yes, the objects will all show up as very small in the astroscope but you will still be able to see them. When you get up to 50 magnification, then things will get larger. But keep in mind that the objects will also become dimmer as you increase the magnification.
If you live in an area where there is a lot of light pollution, then it is probably best to go with an astroscope magnification of up to 100. This is because the heat from a larger town or city can cause turbulence in the air as the temperature goes down at night. At a high magnification, the turbulence will make images get blurry and make a shifting focus. While the object may not be as large under a smaller astroscope magnification, at least you will be able to see the objects clearly. Of course, the amount of magnification that you choose also depends on your budget but also make sure you are factoring the price of other aspects, not just magnification of the astroscope.



