Best beginner telescope for the money?

I have six telescopes, ranging from about $500 to $6,000. As a beginner, you will want a smart telescope which can find the various objects you want to view. I recommend this SeeStar scope - it's unusual in that you don't view though the telescope, but rather you download an app to your phone or pad which gives you the image:



High Point Scientific

About 20 years ago I bought a $15 telescope for Eckard's. It's good enough to pick up the rings of Saturn and the Galilean moons of Jupiter. I've used it to view all kinds of stuff including solar eclipses and the transit of Venus across the Sun. I still have it, although I've put the scope on an old camera tripod which is way better than the one it came with. Get you a cheap one and a star chart app for your phone and go from there.

Remember, just about any telescope you can buy at the drugstore is better than the ones Galileo used to prove Copernicus' theory of Heliocentrism.

quote:

---

it's unusual in that you don't view though the telescope, but rather you download an app to your phone or pad which gives you the image:

---

That would seem like a buzzkill to me.

Agreed, cell phone pictures isn't what I'm really looking for.

you can get a lot of bang for your buck searching for "Dobsonian Telescopes." My brother has one that is about 6 feet tall and that sucker opens up the night sky. They aren't very expensive for what they can do, even in a package smaller than 6 feet.

Get a used one for sure

This article is a start.

During covid, I got the kids a Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ. This one sells for under $400 typically. We have a Celestron dealer near me and was able to see all the options in person and have an expert talk me thru it.

We went camping a lot and took it to observatories and had actual scientists teach my kids how to use it.

It features a mount for your phone that uses a mirror to guide you to whatever you want to see. The included accessories are enough for most needs, but you can get filter/eyepiece stuff on Amazon if you need it.

You can seethe rings of Saturn with this thing... I am happy with it, and the kids love it. We took it to the farm a couple weeks ago for the planetary alignment.

Spring for a nice carrying case. At first, I got a hard case but hated it. I ended up getting a padded case that is much better for carrying around. I also picked up a set of nice binoculars, because not all things require a telescope...

we have a 6" dobsonian. It gets the job done once you get the hang of it.
can make out the red storm on Jupiter and the rings but that's about it

I looked at Meade's site but there is nothing close to $600. They are all like 4k and up.