What is the best kind of telescope for under $100?

Question

im just looking for a simple refracting telescope but am wondering what the best kind is for under $100????

Answer 1

Without question, the best telescope for under $100 is not a telescope at all but a pair of decent binoculars. I was in amateur astronomy for 15 years or more before I could afford to buy a decent telescope - so I used binoculars. If you buy a cheap telescope, you will see the following:

1. The moon - it will be fuzzy and will jiggle around a lot.
2. The planets will look like blobs with no detail.
3. Deep sky objects will be impossible to find. If you do get a momentary glimpse, the mount will not allow you to keep it centered or even still in the eyepiece.

In short, this is about the best way for you to get so frustrated that you will chuck the entire hobby, and that would be sad.

I would highly recommend that you go to a dealer you trust, or check out Oriontelescopes.com on the internet. The suggestion to get a tripod is also a good one. Once you purchase these, go to an astronomy club meeting, buy a book or two, and spend some time learning the night sky. This will be satisfying in itself. Plus if you go to a club gathering, you will be able to look through 20 or 30 scopes at different objects and use the experience to decide what you really want in a scope, once you can afford to buy one.

Answer 2

Best Telescope Under 100

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What is the best kind of telescope for under $100?
im just looking for a simple refracting telescope but am wondering what the best kind is for under $100????

Answer 4

The best telescope under $100 is a pair of binoculars - 7 to 10 power, and 40 to 50mm objectives. Any telescope at that price is going to be marginal.

This one http://www.first-telescope.com/telescopes/Celesron_PowerSeeker_60_24_alazimuh_refracor.asp/catalog_name/FirstTelescope/category_name/69VSKLW303T19G1HBTBVVA79Q5/product_id/PS60Acomes comes with a totally useless 4mm eyepiece and 3x barlow, so the manufacturer can claim an unusably high magnification. The fact that they are doing this tells you they intend to sell these to people who are ignorant of telescope basics.

This one http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=383&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword= comes with a more usable eyepiece set, but shipping will put the price a little over $100.

Answer 5

Go to Edmunds Scientific

They had a close out for $120 that is a fantasitic by

A 3" refractor with equitorial mount.

That's like a $200 scope for $120

Other than that, Wal Mat offers a Celstion for $60 that isn't bad.

Answer 6

Its tough, but if you can find 1 try too get 1 that is second hand and you have to find a newtonian style telescope with a mirror diameter of more than 15mm. Get 1 with a stand that can be operated manually and not electronically like those Celestrons.

Answer 7

I just found a really good one for $119, can you raise your budget to under $125? There are lots of good ones in the $85-$125 range, I got mine at an Australian Geographic shop (it might be National Geographic where you live) and I saw a pretty ordinary one at Dick Smith's Electronics (I think that's only in Australia but just try any electronics store) for $66. All prices have been converted to USD from AUD.

Answer 8

You really can't get a decent one for less than $400 new. If your budget is $100, you'd be much better off getting a good pair of binoculars. Same power for the price you can spend, and much easier to carry around.

Answer 9

For $100 I would suggest buying a pair of binoculars and a tripod for that price range. Believe me you will get just as good results. A pair of binoculars is easier to find the planets with and are better than what Galileo had when he did his study of Jupiter. If you want to see more than planets find a College or University close to you that has star gazing nights they will have what it takes to see star clusters and nebulas with

Answer 10

Buy used.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=telescope+astronomy&category0=