any recommendations?- telescopes?

Question

for a beginner observer for observing celstrial objects especially planets and Andromeda.

yeah, already have some binaculars, but i want to move up to good pratice of telescopes.thanks though.

Answer 1

Planets, the Moon, and the Andromeda galaxy are great even through a decent pair of binoculars. You might want to start there.

Answer 2

Hold fire on the telescope and use binoculars for the first 6-12 months. Try 7x50 / 10x50 binoculars with Bak-4 prisms as they offer better light transmission and are light enough to hold for long periods without a tripod or support.

Binoculars have several advantages over 'scopes: they are ready to use whenever you want to do observing; there are no set-up or alignment procedures; objects are the 'right way up'; and they are better suited to some types of observing than an equivalent 'scope.

There are several astronomy books currently available which concentrate on binocular astronomy and astro mags also run articles on binocular astronomy.

Last but not least, contact a local astronomy group / society and get as much info as you can on the different types of equipment currently available.

Good luck and clear skies!

Answer 3

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. 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.

Answer 4

Most of the telescopes marketed for beginners in discount and department stores and on eBay are total junk: poor optics, shaky mounts, and very difficult to use. Join an astronomy club to see what real astronomers use, and to get good advice. Buy from a store, locally or online, that specializes in telescopes and astronomy.

These are the telescopes I most often recommend to beginners. They don't look much like traditional telescopes, but in fact they are far better: large, high quality mirrors and solid, easy to use mounts:
http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~VIEW_INDEX=0/~VIEW_SIZE=1000000
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?class1=1&class2=106

Answer 5

I have a Meade 70AZ-AR, which is a 70 MM telescope which is good for beginners it was about a 70 dollar telescope at Hobby Lobby. I also bought a 2X Barlow lense from Ebay for cheap. The Barlow doubles all your eyepieces powers, which is almost too much magnification for my Meade, but it is workable. I'm looking to step up to a bit larger telescope, the bigger the end of the telescope, the more light it gathers and the objects that you are seeing are much clearer and brighter. The meade I have... you can google "Meade 70AZ-AR" and see what I'm talking about, is great for beginners though, and for seeing nebulas and makes planets a little bit bigger. It's AWESOME for moon viewing!

Answer 6

The best advice is to find the nearest astronomy club and go to some star parties. There is no substitute for real experience in learning about telescopes.

The usual recommendation is to buy a dobsonian - http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes . The virtues of the dob are that it gives you the most aperture for the money and the mounting is stable and intuitive.

Answer 7

I'd get a reflector, it's easy and will give you the desired resutls.
10 inch newtonian reflector.
Possibly an 6 or 8, depending on your budget.

www.oriontelescopes.com

Answer 8

I bought my Granddaughter one and was very disappointed as they live in a large city and the light of the city lights just blind u so u can hardly see anything.