Red Dot Finder Scopes for Astronomical Telescopes
A red dot finder is today one of the most popular ways to quickly and accurately point a telescope at a chosen object in the sky. Unlike a conventional optical finder scope, it uses no magnification and no lenses - instead, it projects a small red dot onto a transparent glass screen that appears to float against the sky, showing precisely where the telescope is pointing. Simply bring your eye to the finder, align the red dot with the target object, and the telescope is on target. The whole process takes seconds.
Advantages of a Red Dot Finder over an Optical Finder Scope
No loss of orientation. An optical finder scope inverts or mirror-reverses the image - beginners can spend long minutes searching because stars appear to move in the opposite direction to what they expect. A red dot finder works with a completely natural view of the sky, with no image reversal of any kind.
Both eyes open. When using a red dot finder, the observer keeps both eyes open - one looking at the sky, the other through the finder. The red dot appears to overlap directly with the target object, making the whole process intuitive and almost instantaneous.
Ideal for moving objects. Tracking the ISS, passing satellites, or comets is considerably easier with a red dot finder than with an optical finder scope, where fast movement across the field of view can quickly cause disorientation.
Simple alignment. Setting up a red dot finder is something anyone can do in a few minutes - no tools required, no frustration.
Red dot finders are available in a range of designs and are compatible with the majority of telescopes on the market. The brightness of the red dot is adjustable, so the finder works equally well under light-polluted urban skies and at dark rural observing sites.
