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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
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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?
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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
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Super Easy to Use
Adjustable height
Can be used from toddlers to adults
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Requires Barlow for good views of the planets
Inferior optical quality when compared to a 102mm refractor.
Orion Sky Scanner
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Amazing little scope
Easy for young kids to point at the Moon.
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Requires Barlow for good views of the planets
Tabletop design (difficult to use without a solid table)
Explore Scientific FirstLight 80mm/100mm Refractor
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Easy to Use
Quality finder and eyepiece
Great views of Moon
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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)
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Parabolic primary mirrors (not bird jonesed)
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Kellner style eyepieces (upgrade recommended)
Requires a solid table to sit on
Sky-Watcher StarTravel 102mm Refractor
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High Quality optics
Slow motion controls
Plossl Eyepiece
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Recommend replace the finderscope with red dot
Replace 45-degree diagonal with 90-degree diagonal
Orion SkyScanner BL135mm Dobsonian
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Great optics for the price
Dobsonian style that can sit on the ground
Red dot finder
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Poor eyepiece
Low quality barlow
StarSense 102 DX (popular science edition)
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Lots.
Slow motion controls
Great optics
Starsense is really, quite a lot of fun
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Focuser cannot accept 2 inch eyepieces (not a big deal)
Beginner astrophotography setup for around $500
ZWO Seestar S50
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All-in-one imaging
Small and portable
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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)
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Great Optics
Very Portable
Great for Electronically Assisted Observing
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Eyepiece could use an upgrade.
Cannot be used for high quality astrophotography
Celestron NexStar 6se
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Cheaper and more compact then SE Series
Amazing views of the planets.
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Not designed for Deep Sky Astrophotography
Visual Astronomy For those with a budget over $1000
Celestron Starsense Explorer 12" Dobsonian
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High Aperture provides incredible all-around views
StarSense makes finding targets a breeze
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Heavy
Celestron NexStar Evolution 8
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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
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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.