What is often cited as a typical trade-off when choosing a reflector over a refractor telescope?
Lower maintenance cost and larger aperture potential for the price.
When selecting between optical designs, cost and size are significant factors. Manufacturing large, high-quality objective lenses necessary for large refractors is extremely expensive and presents significant challenges in correcting chromatic aberration. Conversely, grinding large mirrors for reflecting telescopes is comparatively less costly, allowing reflectors to offer significantly larger apertures—and thus greater light-gathering power—for the same monetary investment. While reflectors introduce the need for periodic optical alignment (collimation) and potential spherical aberration if imperfectly shaped, their advantage in achieving large light-collecting areas affordably often tips the scale for deep-sky observers.
