What telescope should I buy?

Question

My husband loves stars and planets and such. I really want to get him a telescope for under $200. I would like for him to be able to see more than just Mars and the Moon. Maybe even supernovas. I have no idea what to look for or good name brands. Please help!

Answer 1

ask an astronomer !
Here's the one who is helping me ..
http://asktheastronomer.blogspot.com

[e-mail]

Her name is Starr ,she'll teach you everything ! the right telescope , what's easy to learn what to learn while waiting for your telescope !
She'll teach you how to learn the night sky very easily .
in email she taught me neat stuff and how to be a good skywatcher !! and how to observe sattelites in your telescope.

Answer 2

The Starblast from Orion Telescopes (www.telescope.com) is $179. It is rated very well for beginners and very easy to use. You will be able to see The planets and the moon very well with it. Supernovas will be tough to see with a scope of this size. You can also request a free catalog from their website, which also has helpful information on this. Meade, Celestron and Orion offer some very nice beginner telescopes. Do yourself a favor and do not buy a department store telescope offering 300 to 500 powers. Telescopes like this will leave you wishing yo had saved a little more money for something more dependable, easier and fun to use. Do not feel scared on asking too many questions about this. I asked many questions for well over a year and went to many public nights at observatories and use many different styles of telescopes before I made up my mind on what to buy.

Here is a link to Sky and Telescopes, How to Chose a Telescope. It is very informative and will also have other links to some telescope dealers.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/equipment/home/3303926.html

Charles, are you interested in selling your underused huge telescope?

Answer 3

For under $200, the only things I can recommend would be:

1. An Orion Starblast as shown in the link below. Really a pretty good scope for the money. You can also get it on a tripod, but this mount is probably easier.

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=reflectors/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09814

2. A good binocular. These are also available at oriontelescopes.com

Now to be honest, if your husband is really interested in the night sky, you guys should go to a few local observing sessions of the nearest amateur astronomy club. Take a look through the scopes that are there (there will be several, and you will be welcome). It's usually not a good idea to pull this sort of gift as a surprise. I don't mean to mess up your holiday plans, but each scope is very different in what it is made to do, and you have limited yourself a lot by your price limit. I suspect he would get more enjoyment and use out of a Dobsonian with larger aperture - say 8 inches - this will allow him to see much more with only a little extra investment. You should read past postings on this same topic - they all end up saying the same thing - at least those with experience.

Answer 4

A cheap telescope is a very frustrating thing to use. The flimsy mount won't let you point it properly, and the optics may be fuzzy or have color rings around bright objects. This is the cheapest I can recommend.

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=refractors/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=24688

Decent mount and optics, $300. Orion is perhaps the best inexpensive telescope.

Whatever you do, DO NOT get a telescope advertised by power, like 300 Power! A sure sign of junk.

For $100 he could have a good time with these:

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-7249-Action-10x50-Binocular/dp/B0001A3N58

and:

http://www.amazon.com/Binocular-Highlights-Celestial-Telescope-Stargazing/dp/1931559430/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197102224&sr=8-2

Or these:

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=binocular_astronomy/~pcategory=binoculars/~product_id=09463

Once again, though, don't cheap out. Poor optical instruments are no fun at all.

I (very mildly) disagree about the Starblast. The mount is clearly inferior to the above scope, and I think a refractor is sturdier and more intuitive for a beginner. For a beginner I'd prefer a good pair of binoculars instead, but reasonable people will disagree about this one.

Answer 5

If you have no idea what to look for, it's VERY necessary to do research and, as mentioned above, look through some scopes. You will both see what different scopes do, and get realistic expectations of what you can expect to see through them.

Take your time, or you may end up with an expensive hobby-killer, that will ruin what could have been a lifetime of having fun and gaining knowledge. Even though it won't be a surprise, involve hubby in the process. He may go for something that you hadn't thought of.

Whether you get scope or binoculars, buy a fun star-hopping guide. "Nightwatch" by Terence Dickinson, or "Turn Left At Orion" by Consolmagno et al. are good ones.

Answer 6

Meade and Orion are two good companies to look for. Actually the type of stargazer defines the telescope but as it is for gift and you want something compact yet powerful then you can check out the following link.Hope that helps :)

Answer 7

I suggest something easily transported. I have a huge telescope in the garage that rarely gets taken outside because of its size and weight and the time it takes to set up.