Telescope Power Calculators

Focal Ratio Calculator

Enter Focal Lenght (mm)

Enter Aperture (mm)

Telescope Magnification Calculator

Enter telescope Focal Lenght (mm)

Enter eyepiece Focal Lenght (mm)

Recommended Maximum Magnification

Enter aperature size (mm)

Maximum Usable Eyepiece (mm)

Enter focal ratio

Ah! The question on everyone’s mind… How powerful is your telescope? You would think this is a simple question to answer. Telescope power is just magnification right? Not exactly. It’s a bit more complexe than that.

Focal Length

Let’s look at some telescope math. Every telescope has a stated focal length, which is effectively the distance from the primary lens or mirror to the point at which it forms an image of a very distant object. In other words, it’s the distance that light travels within the telescope before getting to the eyepiece. Eyepieces have a focal length as well, expressed in millimeters. This number is important because it is used in some calculations.

Focal Ratio Calculation

The focal ratio is based on focal length and aperture. The smaller the focal ratio, the faster the telescope. Fast telescopes like f/4 or f/6 provide wider fields of view (FOV) making them most suitable for deep space observation. The larger the focal ratio, the slower the telescope. The FOV becomes smaller as the focal ratio gets larger. Telescopes with large focal ratio’s like f/8 or f/10 are most suitable for high power planetary work.

Here’s how you calculate the focal ratio: Take the focal length (in mm) and divide by the aperture (also in mm). Our 8″ (203.2 mm) Dobsonian with a 1200mm focal length therefore has an f/5.9 ratio. (1200 divided by 203.2 = 5.9). A bigger aperture means a smaller focal ration, hence a faster telescope.

Click here to calculate your Focal Ratio

Telescope Magnification Calculation

A lot of people will want to describe the power of a telescope with magnification, and that’s because they don’t know what they’re talking about! Telescope aperture is much more important because it influences the focal ratio explained below. Aperture refers to the size of the opening at the end of the telescope (the end pointing to the sky). The idea is that a bigger aperture allows more light to come in, and with more light we can see more objects, and we can see them more clearly. Magnification does come into play at some point, but it is not the most important aspect.

The magnification factor is based on the telescope’s focal length and the eyepiece focal length. The formula is simple: divide the focal length of the telescope by that of the eyepiece. For example, if I have an 8″ dobsonian with a 1200mm focal length and use a 10mm eyepiece on it, then I am viewing the sky at 120x magnification. If I use the exact same eyepiece on a different telescope, one that has a focal ration of 800mm, then I am viewing the sky at 80x magnification. Therefore magnification is really defined by the eyepiece AND the telescope you use it with. The higher the mm of the eyepiece is, the less magnification you are using.

Telescopes have a range of “useful” magnification. The department store scope that advertises 700x magnification can probably do just that on paper, except the eyepiece is so cheap you won’t be able to see anything at that magnification. Additionally, the maximum magnification is probably exceeded. A telescope’s maximum “useable” magnification is based on the aperture size in mm x 2. Our 8″ telescope translates to 203.2mm. Multiply this by 2 and that gives the maximum magnification of about 406x. Department store telescopes claiming 700x magnifications probably have a 90mm aperture, meaning their maximum usable magnification is actually 180x magnifications. That’s a HUGE difference from what is advertised so beware!

Click here to calculate your telescope magnification

Maximum Magnification Calculation

There’s also a minimum telescope magnification which is based on your telescope’s focal ratio. Now that we know our 8″ Dobsonian is an f/5.9, we can calculate the minimum magnification by multiplying that number by 7. In our case, 5.9 x 7 = 41.3 so this means that the highest mm eyepiece I should use with my telescope is a 41.3mm. Anything beyond that will exceed my telescope capacity.

Click here to calculate your maximum usable magnification

Maximum Eyepiece Calculation

Our 1200mm Dobsonian telescope with a 41.3mm eyepiece provides a 29X magnification. The maximum magnification I can do based on my aperture size x2 is 406x. This is the usable magnification range that our telescope can handle. Call it 30x to 400x to round off the numbers. What defines these capacities? Mostly aperture! And now you know why “bigger is better” since aperture has a huge role in defining telescope power.

Click here to calculate your maximum usable eyepiece

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