Wondering What Telescope You Should Buy?

This guide gives you options at each price point depending on what your astronomy goals are and what targets you would like to see!

Note: I am not sponsored by any manufacturers

When people ask me what telescope they should buy…

I start by asking them questions to get a feel for what kind of stargazer they want to be.

Are they interested in just the Moon and planets?

Are they looking to see galaxies and nebula from darks skies?

Can they carry a large telescope or do they need something more manageable?

I’ll also match every telescope against my personal list of minimum requirements:

Does the telescope have at least 4 inches of aperture (about 100mm)?

Does the telescope come with a red-dot or bullseye finder? (no finderscopes!)

Can the telescope’s mount move effortlessly left-right, up-down and attach to the telescope with a vixen style dovetail? (No EQ mounts for beginners.)

Can the telescope balance precisely on the mount and stay fixed in place when released? (no camera tripods or yoke & rod mounts)

Can the telescope point straight up, and if it’s a refractor, does it include a 90-degree diagonal?

Note:

My recommendations are for visual observing only. I consider astrophotography a very different hobby, with very different requirements. A telescope’s ability to hold a camera has zero weight on my decision to recommend a beginner telescope for stargazing.

Kid’s telescopes around $200

Explore Scientific FirstLight 114mm Newtonian with Nano Mount

    • Super Easy to Use

    • Adjustable height

    • Can be used from toddlers to adults

    • Requires Barlow for good views of the planets

    • Inferior optical quality when compared to a 102mm refractor.

Orion Sky Scanner

    • Amazing little scope

    • Easy for young kids to point at the Moon.

    • Requires Barlow for good views of the planets

    • Tabletop design (difficult to use without a solid table)

Explore Scientific FirstLight 80mm/100mm Refractor

    • Easy to Use

    • Quality finder and eyepiece

    • Great views of Moon

    • Small Aperture (I typically recommend 100mm or greater)

    • No slow-motion controls

Beginner telescopes for those on a budget of about $300

StarSense Tabletop Dobsonian (114mm or 130mm)

    • Parabolic primary mirrors (not bird jonesed)

    • Kellner style eyepieces (upgrade recommended)

    • Requires a solid table to sit on

Sky-Watcher StarTravel 102mm Refractor

    • High Quality optics

    • Slow motion controls

    • Plossl Eyepiece

    • Recommend replace the finderscope with red dot

    • Replace 45-degree diagonal with 90-degree diagonal

Orion SkyScanner BL135mm Dobsonian

    • Great optics for the price

    • Dobsonian style that can sit on the ground

    • Red dot finder

    • Poor eyepiece

    • Low quality barlow

StarSense 102 DX (popular science edition)

  • Lots.

    • Slow motion controls

    • Great optics

    • Starsense is really, quite a lot of fun

    • Focuser cannot accept 2 inch eyepieces (not a big deal)

Beginner astrophotography setup for around $500

ZWO Seestar S50

    • All-in-one imaging

    • Small and portable

    • Focuser cannot accept 2 inch eyepieces (not a big deal)

Beginner motorized Go-To telescopes on a moderate budget ($400-$1000)

Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi (130mm and 150mm versions)

    • Great Optics

    • Very Portable

    • Great for Electronically Assisted Observing

    • Eyepiece could use an upgrade.

    • Cannot be used for high quality astrophotography

Celestron NexStar 6se

    • Cheaper and more compact then SE Series

    • Amazing views of the planets.

    • Not designed for Deep Sky Astrophotography

Visual Astronomy For those with a budget over $1000

Celestron Starsense Explorer 12" Dobsonian

    • High Aperture provides incredible all-around views

    • StarSense makes finding targets a breeze

    • Heavy

Celestron NexStar Evolution 8

  • All Around fantastic scope.

    • Great for planets

    • Controlled via a star map on an app

    • Rechargeable Internal power supply

    • Can be modified with a wedge for astrophotography

    • None

Note:

  • I am not sponsored by any manufacturers.

  • As we move past $500, I’m trying to choose telescopes that accept 2 inch diameter eyepieces.

  • For non-go-to telescopes for deep-sky viewing, this chart generally follows the: “get the largest Dobsonian you can afford” rule.

  • Mak telescopes provide wonderful views, but their high focal lengths make viewing large star clusters challenging. Finding deep-sky objects at high magnification is often a challenge with these telescopes when not connected to a go-to system. That’s why I’ve largely restricted this class of telescope to the first column. However, because these telescopes are quite compact, I often recommend them as portable telescopes.

  • Some Dobsonian telescopes have finderscopes instead of bullseye finders like Telrads or Rigel Quikfinders. If you get a Dobsonian with a finderscope, you’ll probably want to upgrade to a bullseye finder. This will make finding targets much easier.

  • The largest factor in determining how many deep-sky objects you will be able to observe is the darkness of your skies, not your telescope. However, based on subjective analysis, I’ve found that refractors tend to perform better under light polluted skies, compared with reflectors of similar aperture.