So it is critically important that you get just the right telescope for where you are and what your star gazing preferences are. To start with, let s discuss the three major kinds of telescopes and then lay down some Telescope 101 concepts to increase your chances that you will buy the right thing. The three primary types of telescopes that the amateur astronomer might buy are the Refractor, the Reflector and the Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. Constellations also have been important in culture and navigation long before we had sophisticated systems of navigation. Early explorers, particularly by sea, relied exclusively on the night sky to help them find their way to their destination. In fact, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and discovered America, he could not have done it without astronomy and the help of navigation of the cosmos, much of which is made possible because of the important constellations. - If you wanted to drive across the Milky Way, it would take you 100,000 years. But you can t get there driving the speed limit. You have to drive five trillion, eight hundred million miles per year to get all the way across that fast. - Scientists calculate that the Milky Way is 14 billion years old. The mount is the actual tripod and the wedge is the device that lets you attach the telescope to the mount. The mount and the wedge are there to assist you with a superior viewing session and to keep your expensive telescope safe from a fall. - An Altazimuth Mount refers to the tripod of the telescope that holds the device in place and makes it useful during a star gazing session. So it might be that once a year vacation to a camping spot or a trip to a relative s house out in the country that we find ourselves outside when the spender of the night sky suddenly decides to put on it s spectacular show. If you have had that kind of moment when you were literally struck breathless by the spender the night sky can show to us, you can probably remember that exact moment when you could say little else but wow at what you saw. If you know the night sky will be particularly exciting the night of a big family barbecue, plan to have some blankets out there. Then as everybody else is playing Frisbee, just lay out a blanket, lay flat on your back and start staring up into the sky with a binoculars. Like the old prank of staring at a far away spot to get people s interest, your kids will see what you are doing and what to know what is going on.