what is a good telescope $400range and what store carries them?

Answer 1

a telescope is unlike any other purchase.

you cannot buy a brand new telescope that will be suitable for astronomy for $400 new from a regular store. a decent optical tube + a sturdy mount that will last you as you embark on amateur astronomy observing will set you back more.

if you are brand new to astronomy, you're best bet is to get a decent pair of 10x50 binoculars, a star chart, and a tripod and join your local astronomy club, where you can look through lots of members' telescopes for free whenever they get together to observe. joining an astronomy club will teach and reward you more than any expensive telescope will.

i cannot overstate the importance of joining a club. you won't feel like an idiot, or that you are the only one that doesn't know how planetary nebulae are formed (i saw the ring nebula, m57, a few days ago). you will be welcomed with open arms by a bunch of very friendly people very willing to share information and views through their telescopes :)

buying a telescope and not knowing what to do with it will result in frustration. period.

you're first frustration will come when you realise that the sky is huge and finding something in it is incredibly hard to do. learning your way around the sky, constellation by constellation is the first step to a rewarding amateur astronomy pastime/obsession.

some of the brighter messier objects can be seen with binoculars, and when you do upgrade to a telescope, you won't be spending $400 on it and will actually be able to put it to use and won't get frustrated by it and your own lack of knowledge. you will also never go out observing again WITHOUT your binoculars, simply because they offer some of the best views of open clusters :)

amateur astronomy is the exact opposite of watching tv; there is no instant gratification! once you've seen the craters on the moon, saturn and jupiter, you suddenly realise that you have an awful lot to learn...

if you MUST buy a telescope, get yourself to a specialist dealer and actually walk in the door and talk to someone. they will guide you. i did this and decided to wait a whole year in order to save up enough $ and it was the best advice i ever got regarding a purchase.

beware the black hole, though. my dealer has subsequently been visited many times...

Answer 2

Telescope stores. Look in the Yellow Pages under "Telescopes." There are stores specializing in telescopes and astronomy all over North America and Europe, owned and staffed by people who are amateur astronomers and know what they're selling. Stay away from discount stores like WalMart and Costco, and mall science stores, as most of what they sell is total junk. If there isn't a good telescope store nearby, buy from a specialized telescope store online, such as Orion, Oceanside, Riverside, Astronomics, High Point Scientific, Hands On Optics etc. All of the good stores advertise in the national astronomy magazines, Astronomy and Sky & Telescope.

Answer 3

See www dot telescope dot com

See www dot astromart dot com

By All Means join an Astronomy club near you before you buy a telescope so that you see the diferent kinds of scopes that exist and get the opportunity to choose (possibly) a good used one at great discount from the retail price. I cannot urge you to do this any more seriously. Do not buy a telescope from those "Wal Mart" or "K Mart" type places... There is no substitute for GOOD OPTICS.

Answer 4

Just to re-emphasize, in case you missed it !
DO NOT buy your first Telescope from places like ebay, amazon, department stores or, heaven forbid, on the shopping channel or similar places. Yes, you can find bargains there, but only if you have a lot of experience to be able to seperate the few good scopes from all the junk sold there.!
DO Not ever buy a telescope advertised by it's magnifying power, such as: 675 Power refractor. A sure sign of a junk scope.
The companies that have been redommended are very good and stand behind their products.
Just one more don't: Don't spend a lot of money on fancy electronics, spend your money on good optics instead!
Don't get me wrong, things such as goto,GPS etc. are all "NIce to have", ( and I have lots of them ) but they don't make your scope see any better.
..And make sure you go to at least one Star Party BEFORE you spend any money. These Parties are free and let you look through lots of scopes, you learn more in an hour at one of these parties than you will in a month of reading about it.
It is a definite bummer to find out after the sale that you bought the wrong scope.
Good Luck!

Adolph

Answer 5

I would suggest an 8" dobsonian mount telescope. Meade, Celestron and Orion all make dobs of this size and in this price range. The answer about binoculars also has merit. The binos will also serve you well over many years, but a good starter scope will really get your feet wet and your eyes full of really cool fuzzies!
Your best bet though is to seek out your local Astronomy club. They will be your best resource for everything relating to your interest in this fascinating field.
I hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 6

With that amount of money, I would buy a pair of astronomical binocs and get a tripod. There is so much to see with the wide field of binoculars! Even when you buy a GREAT telescope in a few years, you'll still be glad to have the binoculars alongside. They work well together.

Answer 7

The Orion SkyQuest XT8 is probably the best value in telescopes in this price range:
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=252215&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=09707

You can buy direct from Orion, or from their many dealers. Don't waste your time or money on eBay or on cheap goto scopes. The SkyQuest has excellent optics and a very solid mount, and has helped many of my friends get started in astronomy.

Answer 8

Best product in this range you can find if you spend some time on ebay.You can get good idea about this but if you want to speed result you can visit my blog at http://ufoblogger.blogspot.com .Just click on this link on left hand side you can find search for amazon as well ebay link this click & type what you want you get to telescope result.You can find all kind of documentary about planet ,space,ufo ..

Skywatcher
http://ufoblogger.blogspot.com/

Answer 9

Astronomy is not storebought. You make your own telescope.

Answer 10

Here's one...

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?itemID=116611&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C4%2C8&KickerID=911&KICKER