What is considered the very best telescope that is just for home use?

Question

I don't know how to compare the best brands. Thanks for any help. This is for a very special gift. I want the best but not too big for a library room.

Will the Instructs tell me which directions
to set it toward? Windows on every side. Thank you.

Answer 1

Most bang for the buck is Orion's 6 inch Intelliscope w/ computerized object locator. If you live out in rural area, it is good to go just the way it comes out of the box. If you live under city lights get their high contrast filter to squelch city light pollution.

It is $500 w/ computer. It is frequently on sale for $50 - $100 off that price.

This is a telescope that will get used and after all, that is always the best telescope to own.

Buy a "Sky and Telescope" magazine to see what is up each month. The computer tells you where to look. If you are looking thru a window, open it first. Window glass will make the image fuzzy.

Answer 2

Well there are a lot of different things to consider in purchasing a telescope. Generally bigger is better, the bigger the apature of the more photons you'll collect the dimmer objects you will be able to see. But the larger the telescope the heavier it will be and more difficult it will be able to move. If you are thinking about a telescope for indoors looking through a window at the sky, forget about it the glass of the windows will blur the image so you'll want to bring it outside. I would guess the next big question would be if the user would want to use it for astrophotography. If so you'll need to get one with e a equatorial or german mount. This will be a lot heavier then a dobsonian mount. Also if you live in a urban area with light polution then getting a really big scope likea 10"-er will be pointless as the dimmer objects will be hidden behind the glow of the sky.

Orion telescopes has a great tool on their website for choosing a telescope, and thier prices are very competative.
www.telescope.com

Celestron is another brand that's been around for a while a little more pricey then orion.
www.celestron.com

Meade prolly the most recognized brand of telescopes.
www.meade.com

~D

Answer 3

If you're thinking astronomy scopes, Meade and Celestron are good but you can get into scopes that run tens of thousands. A scope will not work through windows. The opening in the scope will see the window glass over a large area and the view will be fuzzy and distorted. If you're looking for something for astronomy, do't go under $300 or so.

Added: If your seriou about the best scope a middle top line of scopes are made by Takahashi. A resonable on will start at $2000 to 2500.

Answer 4

You really don't want to keep a telescope inside and look through a window. No matter how clear the glass is, you're going to get major distortions, plus reflection problems.
Besides, large amatuer telescopes are really too big to put inside. That's why most people build a dome - outside - to put it in.

Answer 5

I don't know about best, but I just heard about a new telescope that's supposed to come out this month. It's called the mySky personal planetarium. It cost about $400. It comes with multimedia,and GPS. It looks like a ray gun. It comes programmed with over 30,000 sky targets. The multimedia includes text, audio, and video presentations.

Answer 6

I did work for NASA and a few years bought a good telescope for my Grand Daughter . I was very disappointed because they live in a large city and the city lights blind us so we could hardly see anything.

Answer 7

Everyone has their own opinion, but most amateur astronomers agree that Celestron, Inc. build the best 'scopes for private use.