What is the best make and model of Telescope?

Question

I'm a novice astronomer. I've only recently started out when I got a smallish Scope for Christmas. Can anyone guide me on the best Telescope you can buy? I'm looking for something that will interact with my Laptop, and ofcourse Software. I'm thinking it will probably me motorised, but gosh I've looked at catalogues, and it get's more confusing the more I look at it. Any tips from Home Astronomers serious about the game would be much appreciated.

Also, If I wanted to build an observatory on my property, do I need a licence or permit to do this?

Many thanks :)

Many thanks to everyone for your answers.
I know it's a very broad question, I just thought I'd ask people with personal experiences, which telescopes ended up being best in their opinion.

Thank you Eri and injanier, I will check out thos sites, and I will do my best to find what's right for me.

Thanks again :)

Answer 1

There's no one best telescope; it depends on what you want to do with the scope. How much you're willing to pay enters into it too - you can easily spend $100,000 or more if you want to.

Starmaster ( http://www.starmastertelescopes.com/ ) makes excellent large dobsonians, available with computer control if you want. Or, a Schmidt-Cassegrain (or the similar Meade RCX) makes a good general-purpose scope.

As uncertain as you are, you would benefit from some hands-on exposure to telescopes. Seek out your nearest astronomy club, at http://skytonight.com/community/organizations and get to some star parties. One of the large regional star parties will expose you to a broad range of amateur equipment ( http://skytonight.com/news/3306276.html ).

Permit requirements for an observatory will vary with the scope of your plans and local regulations. Generally, an observatory would be in a similar category to a small workshop.

Answer 2

The best telescope you can buy depends on what you want and how much you can spend. Takahashi makes a $60,000 telescope for anyone who can afford it. The mount is sold seperatly at $99,000!

You probably want something in a more affordable range though.

Check out http://www.celestron.com
http://www.meade.com
http://www.astro-physics.com
http://www.takahashiamerica.com

They all make telescopes which may be to your likeing...many of them which can be used with a laptop. Most of the observatory level Mead's and Celestrons will be Schmidt Cassegrains though depending on how much you want to spend, Meade makes a Ritchey Chretien. Schmidt Cassegrains are very popular because they can be made large, affordable, and compact and they are very often used in home observastories.

My best advice to you is do your research if you plan on spending a lot of money.

You may want to ask around at your local astronomical society and see if you can try out some of the telescopes they have.

Answer 3

Kinda like asking what's the best car in the world. There are all kinds of vehicles in all sorts of price ranges. Decide what you plan to observe the most, if you can observe from your home or will you need to be able to move it to dark sites, do you want to do astrophotography, etc. Then set your price range and ask again.

In general, it is NOT a good idea to throw lots of money at a hobby you have only recently started.

Answer 4

Meade and Celestron make the highest-quality non-professional scopes you can buy. By non-professional, I mean you're not using it to do publishable research. My universities buy their 'smaller' (10 inch - 16 inch) scopes from them. I know they both make good scopes that can take a digital camera or CCD and connect to laptops - you'll want to check out their websites fore more info.

www.meade.com
www.celestron.com

Answer 5

orion is the best made