Which is the best telescope to purchase,what would be the best features to look for a first timer sky lover?

Question

I'd like to purchase a telescope for my 30 yr old son, would prefer quality, within a decent price range,we live in Arizona where the sky is always beautiful. He would be a first timer but he is educated, am I better off buying used? what accesories? Where can I go to research this type of item?I don't want plastic pieces, something he may be able to take with him totravel up in the mountains. thankyou for any advice you can share. MOMSRAGE4

Answer 1

There are lots of possibilities, depending on your son's interests, and what you consider a "decent" price range. A small dobsonian telescope is a good starter scope at a reasonable price (~$250 - $800). Meade Lightbridge dobs are built a bit better than the entry level ones and disassemble for better portability (~$500 - $1000).

For a more high-tech, computer controlled scope, the Meade LXD75 series (~$900 - $1400) is a good place to look. Various Schmidt-Cassegrains from Meade and Celestron ($1000 - $5000 & up) are another possibility. Astromart is a good place for used scopes, as it's used mostly by serious amateurs. Avoid eBay unless you really know what you're looking for - a lot of junk there.

The links below are a few places to browse, plus the Yahoo telescopes group where you can find some informed opinions about astronomical equipment.

Answer 2

You'd pay far less money if you did buy it used. In fact you'd pay 1/3 to less than half the original price. Most amateur astronomers take good care of their equipment and are honest sellers, but when buying used, and especially online, take the usual precautions. Make sure the person is a reputable seller and that the payment can be traced or disputed if something should go wrong. You will probably pay no less than $500 for something decent.

You can find used telescopes in the classifieds on www.astromart.com and www.cloudynights.com

Take the time to research telescopes online by typing in the types of telescopes I mentioned below into Yahoo, and check around local astronomical societies and star parties. Arizona has a lot of them! Surprises are nice but this is a serious purchase and it might be best you let your son in on it so he can decide on the type of telescope himself. Different telescopes are ideal for different things. People interested primarily in deep sky viewing need large aperture telescopes and these are typically Dobsonians. Those who are interested in deep sky viewing and astrophotography need large aperture telescopes that can track, and these are usually Schmidt Cassegrains. Some people just want to do planetary and star cluster viewing or astrophotography of these objects and want very sharp images, or want something small and hardy. These people would usually be best suited with apochromatic refractors. Refractors are the easiest pick up and go scopes but because they're the most expensive to manufacture, they typically are small aperture and so if your son wants to view galaxies this would not be a good choice. Any telescope is portable if you insist on taking it somewhere :-D

Good brands are Celestron, and Meade of course, and then depending on your price range and taste, Takahashi, Astro-Physics and TeleVue.

Accessories:

It'd be nice to supply your son with two fairly good eyepieces and a good 2x barlow. Some telescopes recommend certain eyepieces which the manufacturer has determined the scope performs best with but in general he should have a low powered eyepiece with a focal length around 25mm to 32mm, and high powered eyepiece with a focal length around 9-12.5mm
They should be multicoated or fully coated. All of the telescope companies mentioned above can supply quality eyepieces, as well as University Optics and Orion. TeleVue makes some of the priciest.

Filters can also be nice accessories, especially for those who want to view nebula. Lumicon makes many different types of filters and it's best if you visit their site to learn about them.

Many telescopes come with goto to help users find things. The downfall to getting a telescope with goto is that the goto system is fairly expensive and for the same price you can get a better telescope without goto.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Wow, cool present!

I recommend researching in magazines like Astronomy, and Sky and Telescope. Most libraries carry one or the other.

It's hard to recommend without knowing how much you want to spend. A nice portable telescope that's one piece and well-respected is called the Astroscan, sold by Edmund Scientific. It's priced from $200-400.

There are many other portable 'scopes nowadays that are very nice, if you want to spend $500-1500 to buy one.

I would only buy a used scope from someone who's been an amateur astronomer for a number of years, who loves the hobby and wouldn't want to rip someone off. Otherwise it might be hard for you to detect serious damage. If you can find such a person to talk to, that'd be the best resource. I'd look in the phonebook and/or on the web to locate astronomy clubs in your area.

Astronomy in the Arizona mountains ... wish it was me!

Answer 4

As with all things you get what you pay for and the higher the price the better the quality.

If possible get a reflecting telescope in preference to a refracting one.

Beyond a certain price don't just look at the telescope look at the mount as well.

Buy a copy of "sky and telescope" and see what is available and the prices etc.

Answer 5

the superb element you will possibly desire to do for him could be to get him a club in a community astronomy club or association. The contributors could be waiting to coach him many diverse telescope strategies and the thank you to apply them. Get him a famous man or woman chart, additionally so he can learn the constellations. that's extremely the 1st step in studying the sky. regardless of you do, do no longer purchase a telescope from Walmart or everywhere comparable. you will basically get slightly bit junk which will discourage him from pursuing his pastime. regrettably, you're actually not likely to discover a great telescope for basically one hundred money even with the undeniable fact that, you likely can discover binoculars at that fee. returned, nonetheless, i prefer to propose an astronomy club club to start with.