how do i know what telescope to buy?

Answer 1

If you have no idea already, then I suggest you just get some good binoculars. Then learn your way around the night sky with star charts and binoculars and look at all the neat stuff you can see with just binoculars, like the Orion Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy, both of which are quite large and best seen at low magnification. The biggest problem beginners have is pointing the telescope at what they want to see, either because they have no idea where to point it or because they are using too much magnification (which requires much more accurate pointing).

Answer 2

It's just something that you will have to look into.