Focusers
Focusers come in many shapes, sizes, and forms. Their job is to
hold the "Eyepiece" in the correct position for the image formed by the primary mirror to be sharply
formed on the retina of your eye when you look into the eyepiece. In order to do this they must
be able to change the distance between the image of the objective and the image on your retina
according to the focal length of the eyepiece in use. To accomplish this, either the main mirror
is moved up and down inside the telescope, or the eyepiece is moved up and down within a focuser
mounted on the telescope. In "Cassegrain" telescopes the eyepiece is usually fixed in position, and the main
mirror is moved. In "Newtonian" telescopes the main mirror is always fixed in position and the eyepiece
is moved.
The range of focal lengths for eyepieces is from 2.5 mm to
55.0 mm. This means a movement of 55mm or a travel of 2" is desirable. You can't
go out and buy a focuser for a Cassegrain telescope because the focusing mechanism is an integral
part of the telescope's design. For "Newtonian" telescopes there are a large variety of focusers
on the market.