I am looking to buy a telescope for ~$1,000. What is the best value?

Question

I simply want the best view of the moon and other celestial bodies. Primarily for me -- but the kid might try to use it too!

Answer 1

The key element here is that you want the kids to use it. The answers so far have been dominated by one person recommending an SCT on an equatorial mount and another recommending a Dobson style mount. Both are good recommendations. However, on a $1,000 budget you have to be very picky about your equatorial mount. Many out there are not very good, and buying a good equatorial mount comes at the expense of your optics. A junky equatorial mount is pretty nightmarish to work with, in fact. I use the Super Polaris by Vixen, the Losmandy G11, and the Astro-Physics 900. The last two both exceed your budget by a wide margin. The Super Polaris by Vixen is a steal at used prices and the Great Polaris by Vixen is another good deal (more recent line). Beyond that, the pickings get thin, if reliability and good machining are part of your goal.

So, my personal preference for me--not my recommendation for you--is for SCTs on German equatorial mounts. There are two advantages to a German equatorial. One is, that you can easily have tracking. The other is, that if you do not have an electronic aid to finding objects--a computer, or a go-to system--the German equatorial mount is great because it makes you follow the logic of the sky exactly as it is presented in star maps. It will only let you move North, South, East, and West, exactly the way your maps are laid out. Your best bet to stay at $1,000 would be to get a Celestron 8" SCT (C8) used for about $500 and a used Vixen Super Polaris or Great Polaris mount for about $350-$500 more. That would be a good quality "equatorial combinaton." You can get C8s on modern Chinese mounts--with all the quality control problems--for about $1500. And I should point out that the short stubby SCT is a match "made in heaven" for a german equatorial mount. Refractors are too, but for any given weight, you will always get more aperture out of an SCT and have it ride well on a German equatorial mount than a comparable refractor, because refractors are boingy. The bigger ones are long and and add a lot of bounce to the observing, which is not good. Vixen mounts are made in Japan an the quality control is good.

Now, for the Dobson mounts--those are very simple and intuitive to use. Drag it out, put it on the ground, and fire away. This is a good, robust choice if you have kids and many adults like it even if they don't have kids. If you have small kids I would aim for a six inch telescope. If your kids are bigger, an eight inch telescope. Orion is a good choice because, if you pay extra, you can get a computer that will help you find things, their "intelliscope" series. Without the computer, it is called the XT series. As you climb up the expenditure scale, you can get dobson mounts with tracking, but by the time you get to this point you won't be asking here for advice. The XT series is not typically outfitted with tracking.

If you get an XT from Orion you will have some money left over to invest in eyepieces. I note that you can buy all of these telescopes on the used market for savings in the range of 25 to 50% off new prices and that it is penny-wise, pound-foolish not to pay $12.00 (one time lifetime charge) to join astromart. There is a beginners' forum for advice (where beginners are always told to get a dob).

There is another faction of people who just plain like refractors even though these are intrinsically smaller. Good refractors are really nice to have--I own two nice ones (worth together about 5x your budget), but the cheap ones are the some of the worst options in serious amateur astronomy, and you will be paying a lot more for less performance, and you won't have the money for a good mount that is the key to enjoyable observing. Because most people don't know, that the mount is more important than the telescope. The advantage of the dobson style is that the mount is built in, and very difficult to do poorly.

So good luck with your choice, if you were buying for yourself with a midlife crisis budget I'd say get the Nexstar C11 from Celestron ($3k) where you'll get a big chunk of aperture and some nice robotics to boot, but with kids you have their college years ahead of you, and you want a scope that you can let them play with and not freak out if something aberrant occurs in the behavior. You want them to enjoy the scope without mastering the involved rituals of using a German equatorial or even a robotic scope. So, I think, the Orion XT is the best choice, possibly the "intelliscope" version to help you find things. I'm not alone in this. The Orion XT is the "official choice" of my club when we hand out free telescopes to certain kids in our area. It is a cost effective and good quality line.

Good luck and clear skies.

Answer 2

If you are a newcomer to astronomy you are are on the good side to allocate $1000 for a usable telescope. A cheap (less than $600 all inclusive) will never satisfy you. Start with a list of "must have" features of your potential telescope plus mount. Easy transportability? Can be carried by one person to reach a dark observation site? Use for the solar system only (Moon, planets, Sun with a filter)? Use for faint deep-sky objects (Nebulae, galaxies, globular clusters)?
For the solar system a refractor (lens telescope) is better. For deep sky a reflector (mirror telescope gives you a better view per dollar).
Consider if you want a manual operation of your mount or a computer-assisted "go-to" feature to find planets and other objects.
When you have made up your mind about those main points search the Internet for telescopes and remember that not the magnification factor is the important parameter. It's more the portability, the stability of the mount, and the quality of the optics. Don't start with anything less than 3 in (76mm) front opening for a lens telescope or 6 in (150mm) for a mirror newton telescope. A magnification factor of 100 is enough.

Answer 3

If you want excellent views of the moon and planets, then you'd probably want an apochromatic refractor.

These are somewhat specialized for this purpose. However, because they are the most expensive telescopes per inch of aperture, and it's difficult to make large aperture refractors, they tend to be small. You will not be able to see many galaxies or nebulas with one.

New, you will be able to afford an 80mm apochromatic refractor. Used, maybe a 120mm one.

Reflectors and catadioptrics are nice alternatives. They are cheaper, and can be made in larger apertures. Large aperture telescopes allow you to see many galaxies and nebulas, as well as provide more than sufficient views for planets.

For $1000 you can buy an 8" reflector or schmidt cassegrain on a computerized mount, or a 10" dobsonian with accessories, or a 12" dobsonian, not to many many other types of telescopes.

You need to research what type of set up would be best for you based on your viewing preferances. I suggest you go to http://members.aol.com/siriusbc/telescopes.htm

Here you can learn a little more about telescopes.

Answer 4

My advice, based on fifty years as an amateur astronomer during which I've owned 24 different telescopes, is to get the largest Dobsonian you can afford and transport in the 6" to 10" range. These scopes are easy to use and transport, excellent on all objects, and give you the best bang for the buck. As a beginner, you need all the help you can get, which is why you should buy as large a scope as possible; size really does matter. Avoid equatorial mounts as they are hard to use, heavy, and often shaky. Good brands are Orion SkyWatcher, and Celestron.

Answer 5

>too many lights here anyway Kurt doesn't say a lot, but he did say that. I'm not a telescope expert..... If you live in or near a major or even minor metropolitan area, light pollution might be a real factor. That means you might no be able to see much no matter what scope you buy. Meaning you'll need to travel to use it. We also have issues at our house with sky visibility - there's just a fairly narrow window between our house, trees and other houses. Other people of more experience may quibble with my details, but they all know what I'm saying, too. Think about where and how much you can use it before you buy one, too.

Answer 6

If you don't have time to read everything I wrote, just visit the links below. In short, check reputable brands like Celestron, Meade, Orion, and avoid department store telescopes (also sold on e-bay, Amazon)

You may find a store or an astronomy group in your area, you can see there various instruments to see what best fits you. From what you say, this is probably your first telescope, so it is best to see what you can find around. You can also find many online resources on how to pick your telescope (see Sky and Telescope web site for advice; they also have lists with dealers and astronomy clubs; most telescope dealers also have advice pages on picking your telescope)

Under 1000, you can find even computerized telescopes. They are not "light buckets", but are easy to use and set up (Celestron NexStar and Meade ETX series). These allow you to point the telescope to a given body, or just to read the coordinates of the area where your telescope is pointing. There are also larger telescopes in this price range, but are heavier and more difficult to set up.

At a minimum, I recommend an equatorial mount with motor, so you can follow the body you are observing without having to push around.

Also, take into account that you'll have to spend some money on a set of eyepeices also; the telescope will come with one (25mm), at most two, eyepieces. Most nights you'll be limited by air turbulence to a magnification of about 100. I added a source with several articles you'll need to read to make the most informed decision.

Some resources: Orion Telescopes, www.telescope.com
Online dealers:
www.astronomics.com
www.telescopes.com (note the extra "s" compared to Orion's site)
www.optcorp.com

Answer 7

There are two styles that I particularly like.

Dobsonian
Schmidt- Cassegrain

Shop around. Probably the best value will be the "Dob". Lots of light and magnification for the buck.

Remember that magnification is obtained by dividing the focal length of the scope by the focal length of the eyepiece. Magnifications over 400x become less practical to obtain with a mobile piece of equipment. You might even want to look into "Go To" featured scopes with a database of celestial targets.

Answer 8

Go with as much Celestron as you can afford. The Schmidt's are rhe most usable. There are Dobsonians but they're incovenient to use.

Meade used to make good scopes and hopefully still do but their quality in question with the money they're spending to defend false advertising claims right now.

Answer 9

Lightbridge by Meade, biggest scope for the money, and very portable.

Answer 10

The best value is $245-$500. Check amazon.com for reviews and cheaper prices. It is a great site!!!!!!!