There are three main types of astronomical telescopes - and these are divided into subgroups. They all have their different advantages and disadvantages and they are used in different areas of astronomy.
Refractors (Dioptrics)
- Achromatic
- Non-achromatic
- Apochromatic
- Newtonian
- Gregorian
- Classical Cassegrain
- Ritchey-Chrétien
- Schiefspiegler
- Schmidt-Cassegrain
- Maksutov-Cassegrain
Altazimuth (ALT-AZ) Mounts
- Altazimuth mount
- Dobsonian mount
- Equatorial mount
- German equatorial mount
- Fork mount