We’ve been live less than a week and already I’m getting email asking me what sort of telescope I would recommend for the first time buyer.
It’s actually easier to tell you what to avoid. Avoid anything with promises of huge magnification on the box. Avoid anything advertised with full color pictures of nebula and planets. Magnification isn’t as important as you might imagine with telescopes and those pictures taken by the Hubble are just there to entice you. You won’t get views that nice unless you are prepared to spend a few billion dollars.
As far as what to look for… apart from price (which I’ll get into at a later date) there are two issues at play here - size and convenience.
First off, you want as much aperture as possible. Aperture is the width of the optical tube - how much light is going into the tube and hitting the lens (for a refractor) or primary mirror (for a reflector). My telescope is a 4.5 inch reflector and on a good night I can see detail in the Orion nebula and the bands of Jupiter’s atmosphere. Sometimes even on the same night. I can see mountains and their shadows on the moon and sometimes, on a really dark night, I can see distant galaxies.
These days an 8 or 10 inch reflector on a Dobsonian mount (I’ll cover mounts at a later date) will set you back maybe $500 - $600. You’ll see plenty of detail on planets and a whole lot of wonderful deep space objects. It’ll keep you and your family entertained on many a dark night.
You can go even bigger for not much more money. But then the second factor, convenience, comes into play.
Ask any backyard astronomer what his or her favorite telescope is and they’ll tell you the one they take out every night. Sure a 12 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain on an equatorial mount gives you some great views of Saturn’s rings. But is the time to drag it outside, set it up, let the tube cool down and set up the electronic setting circles worth it? Not to mention the pain in the back from lifting all of that equipment?
So take your time. Attend a star party if you can and try out some different types of telescopes and ask around. A good place to shop online is Orion Telescopes. They have good prices and a wide selection. And don’t forget to ask questions.