First of all, you don’t actually need a telescope to enjoy amateur astronomy. There is much to see with the ***** eye and with a good binocular, 10×50 is a perfect size. I’d strongly recommend Terence Dickinson’s book “NightWatch” (Firefly) as a great introduction to astronomy and observing the sky.

Telescopes come in many sizes, types, and prices. You generally need to spend at least $200 to get something that will satisy you for long. If your budget is small, I’d recommend a Dobsonian reflector such as these:

If you have more money available, you might consider these:

These are all telescopes that I have owned and tested personally, and you can’t go far wrong with any of them.

If you want to read more about telescopes, look at Phil Harrington’s “Star Ware 4th edition” (Wiley or the web sites below.

Posted by Geoff G, on September 13th, 2008, at 12:04 am. #.

This question comes up daily on Answers—— check out some of the other postings that answered this——– here is the usual advice:

1. Join an Astronomy Club and attend some star parties and look through the member’s telescopes and ask questions.

2. Go online to and ask questions in the Beginners Section- lots of good free advice here.

3. Normal recommendation is for a 4-6″ Dobsonian telescope ——- how ever I usually recommend a “push to” DOB like the Orion Intelliscope—–

4. Maybe a nice pair of binoculars in 10×50 would be a good low cost choice for a beginner——- and a free star chart downloaded from to use in learning the sky——— FIRST.

5. Magnification is NOT important—– I usually use something like 50x——– 150x in my LX90 8″ scope. Department store telescopes with advertising saying 650 power is nonsense!! Don’t expect to see any color in sky objects—— usually everything is shades of gray—– the pictures in magazines are taken by LARGE telescopes using time exposure CCD cameras! (Just the cameras cost $4000-$10,000 dollars!)

The formula for the MAXIMUM resolution of a telescope is around 50 times the aperture——- so my 8″ telescope absolute maximum OPTICAL resolution is about 8″ times 50= or about 400 power ——- I have never gotten it that high ——– skys must be PERFECT to do this!………. scope must be perfectly collimated(look that word up on the internet) and scope temperature must be perfectly stabilized to the night air temperature………… it will NEVER happen in real life.

Some good brands to check out are Meade, Celestron, Stellaview, University Optics——- and other quality scopes…. don’t buy yours from Wal Mart or Costco!…….. try OPT Corporation or Astronomics……… or a local Astronomy shop.
Clear Skies!

Posted by Boatman1, on September 13th, 2008, at 12:41 pm. #.

Telescopes are not the best option for a newbie astronomer, I suggest binoculars, 10×50 is a good size to start with, however you may find the slightly smaller 10×30 better particualrly if you go for the image stabilized variety.
Several good books exist on seeking out binocluar targets in the night sky, and the popular astronomy magazines (Sky & telescope Is one) always have a binocular section.
Also buy a good star wheel (planisphere) there are several designed for just beginers, (Orion Telescopes does one) with good, easily seen targets.
Good luck

Posted by descarte@sbcglobal.net, on September 16th, 2008, at 7:33 am. #.

Maybe none, You should find a armature club near you and join and use there expertise AND equipment until you know what you like to do most. Deep space, planetary, or what have you. Telescopes are just a tool to help you see more, and they are better suited depending on several factors for different objects. Usually a club will have several scopes and let you look with them even as a non member, and then you can repeat your questions to people that you know.

Posted by joseph k, on September 16th, 2008, at 5:56 pm. #.