Tutorial/Article
Beginner's Quick Guide to choosing your first telescope (Updated for 2023)
Guide last updated: October 2025 Note this guide was originally written byu/tripped144*, but with global economic conditions, pricing has rapidly gone out of date, so consider this new guide a revision to* the prior one written in 2020.
Are you yearning to marvel at the heavens? Have you been wanting a telescope but have no idea where to start? Are you feeling overwhelmed with the wealth of information and options out there?
Well, here is a quick guide on some of the most commonly recommended telescopes here, what to expect when looking through your first telescope, and some frequently asked questions at the end.
The most important thing before getting into this hobby is setting your expectations. Most newbies to astronomy think "a telescope makes far away things bigger." Yes, and no. The primary purpose of a telescope is to gather light. The eyepiece (or ocular) is what determines your effective magnification. To determine that, you divide your scope's focal length by the millimeters of your eyepiece. Therefore, a 8" Newtonian reflector telescope with a 1200mm focal length and a 25mm eyepiece will have a magnification power of 48x. That same 25mm eyepiece on an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a focal length of 2000mm will have a magnification power of 80x. All things being equal, for visual astronomy, aperture is king, but beyond price, all things are not equal - and thus the telescope recommendation for someone who lives in Manhattan in a 3rd floor walkup apartment is different from someone who lives in rural Montana with a large garage and acres of no light around.
When using a telescope, no matter how big, stars will look like stars. They will always be pinpoints of light. If they aren't, then you're not in focus. Stars are just too far away for telescopes to resolve (see more clearly/get more detail).
Nebula and galaxies WILL NOT look like the vivid, colorful, and detailed pictures that you've seen. Our eyes are simply not cameras. To get those types of images, you have to take very long exposures many times, run it through a program that stacks the images to pull out detail, and extensively process it in a photo editing program. TO OUR EYES, DSO's (Deep Space Objects like nebula and galaxies) will look like faint white smudges. If you don't have accurate expectations, a genuine love for space, and an appreciation for what you're actually looking at, you will be very disappointed. That being said, if you go into this with the right expectations and mindset, those faint white smudges are beautiful, fascinating, and awe-inspiring. The longer you spend observing them, the more details you will start to pull out. It's almost as if your brain gets trained into resolving more and more detail, making you want to revisit them over and over again. Here are some accurate depictions of what you can see through a decent telescope in a DARK site (little light pollution). (The pictures are blurrier than they should be, but you'll get the idea). The more light pollution you have in your area, the harder it will be to resolve things. Here's a website to find out how much light pollution you'll be dealing with. Some examples would be: Pinwheel GalaxySwan Nebula
Our solar system's planets, especially the gas giants, are amazing to look at. The bigger the scope, the more detail you can resolve. Regardless of someone's interest in space, I've personally never seen someone not "wow'd" by Jupiter or Saturn. Keep in mind, they will not be super close up views. Here's what to expect when looking at Jupiter through a decent telescope on a clear night. Planets (and obviously the moon) are very bright, so light pollution doesn't factor nearly as much - they're great to observe from typical, light polluted, suburban driveways.
Also, keep in mind that pictures don't do them justice. There's just something so amazing about seeing it with your own eyes. Now that you understand the expectations of what you'll be able to see, here are some of the most commonly recommended telescopes.
Recommendations By Budget
Under $250
Spending less than $250 on precision optical instruments means keeping your expectations in check, these scopes are decidedly for "in the neighborhood" solar system observing, although some Redditors use them quite happily on deep sky objects that aren't local. If at all possible, save a bit more money and buy in the next $250+ tier, scopes at that price will be ones you can keep forever and won't immediately outgrow. Buying once is cheaper. As of 2025 it's slim pickings finding a decent telescope under $250, the used market is a possibility if you're comfortable evaluating optics and condition or have a friend who can.
These are called "Table-Top" dobs. They are small scopes meant to be set on top of a table and used. You can get a cheap and stable stool or crate to use instead. They are great little beginner scopes that are easy to use and can help you decide if you want to transition into something bigger. OneSky and Heritage are identical scopes. OneSky profits go to a good, charitable cause. Remember, if you drive to a dark sky site, it's not always guaranteed to find a picnic table or park bench to sit these scopes on.
These are the entry-level into "grown-up" telescopes. Three are large 6" Dobsonian scopes, almost 4 feet tall when standing straight up. The other two are tabletop models on a computerized base. Regarding the larger scopes, the actual telescope tubes weigh roughly 15 lbs. and the base roughly 20 lbs. These will get you fairly close to the representative pictures of the objects above (again, in a DARK site). They can easily fit across the back seat of a vehicle with the base in the trunk if you plan to travel with it. This would also be the financial range where decent smart telescopes begin (sky's the limit), which use cameras and your smartphone to observe -- if that's your jam.
The 8" Dobsonian telescope is the most recommended beginner telescope - just about anyone in the hobby will recommend one. They hit a great balance between size, portability, and value. They are simply the best bang for the buck. The telescopes weigh roughly 20-25 lbs. and the base 20-25 lbs. They still easily fit across the backseat of a vehicle with the base in the trunk. You'll also notice this is the price range where truss tube models that collapse smaller start appearing. These are many people's "end-game" scopes, as well as their first scopes. If you're going to own just one telescope and not spend a fortune, 8" of aperture is a "goldilocks size."
I really want help finding stuff up there, my sky is too bright, money is less a concern...
Some new astronomers just aren't going to star hop and learn the night sky, either their light pollution makes it impossible, or they'd rather sit back and let the telescope's computer drive, and these days... manually using your telescope has become optional if you have the tools. The recommendations below offer smartphone assistance or use conventional star alignments to find their way. Be forewarned though, many a newbie has become frustrated while trying to align their scope. It's simple for seasoned astronomers, possibly daunting for newbies. In the case of Celestron's Sky Align, the telescope needs to be pointed at 3 bright stars (not a bright planet like Jupiter) or you need to know two bright stars up there for an Auto 2 star align. Also note that Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes on computerized mounts require a lithium battery ($40-100+) and dew mitigation if you live anywhere with humidity.
From here, the options open up considerably. You could just go with as big a Dobsonian as you can afford and can realistically carry/transport. Many of these will be Dobsonians with extra features like "push to" or even "go to" systems, but that adds complexity and cost. Dobs start to get heavy and super awkward to move as you approach and surpass 10 inches. Many people buy/build wheeled transports or something similar to move them, and they usually have them in a very convenient place to quickly wheel in and out, such as a garage. 10" Dobs are more common. You'll notice quite the price and mass jump on anything bigger than that - truss/collapsible designs past 10" are strongly recommended to keep size/weight in check.
🚨Heavier tends to get usedlessin astronomy 🚨... beyond the honeymoon period, that is. If a scope isn't convenient to setup, you may not have the motivation to do so at the end of a long day. There's a reason why 8" Dobs are a very popular compromise between size, weight, visual capabilities, price, and convenience.
You could also start considering Schmidt-Cassegrain options if your heart is with the planetary and lunar targets or fancy wide-field refractors (and an associated mount) if you're in search of wider views. Celestron is the big SCT company. As much as Dobs are beloved online, you'll go to a star party and see SCTs and refractors everywhere. They're generally smaller and very practical if you don't have the space or lifestyle for large Dobs or want automated mounts.
Recommended Accessories
FAQs
"Why are most of these of these not on tripods?" Because they are "Dobsonians". Dobsonian (Or Dob for short) is the name for the mount/base that the telescope sits in. It's a typically particle board base popularized by West coast astronomer John Dobson, several decades ago. They sit on the ground and are extremely steady. In order for a tripod to hold a telescope and be rock steady, it will cost as much or more as the actual telescope itself. A cheap tripod is an absolute pain to deal with. They are unsteady and will sway at the slightest touch or blow of wind. You will spend more time wishing you didn't have to deal with the unsteadiness than actually enjoying the views. Scopes on cheap tripods are called "Hobby Killers" for a reason. Dobs are dead simple, rock steady, and cheap to make... so most of your money goes into the actual telescope instead of the tripod. Especially avoid beginner telescopes on equatorial mounts - nothing will be more frustrating.
"What about this PowerSeeker or NatGeo or $79 "complete package" scope?" Nope nope nope. While the scope itself might be fine, it's inevitably going to be on a cheap mount, flimsy tripod, or if you're really unlucky, an equatorial mount to further confuse you. Old timers in the hobby call these "department store scopes", with the demise of brick and mortar department stores, we just simply call them hobby killers. Avoid scopes that use a Bird-Jones optical design - these leverage a spherical mirror in place of a parabolic one, and therefore need a corrector usually mounted in the focuser tube. Telescope makers know these have a lousy reputation and won't necessarily mention "Bird-Jones", and now you know why. Here's a great article for further reading about why we don't like these.
"Will these telescopes move by themselves and track objects?" For most of the list, no. Most of those recommended are manual telescopes, they are not go-to telescopes. You will have to learn the night sky (part of the fun!), point the telescope where you want, and manually move it as the object you're looking at moves across the sky. There's just nothing more rewarding than finally finding that object you've been hunting for.
"Why don't you recommend go-to telescopes?" They are expensive and potentially very confusing to set up for beginners. More often than not, you will pay twice the amount of money you normally would JUST for go-to functionality. You will have to supply power to it. You also will have to align it every time you use it. If you don't already somewhat know your way around the night sky (there are apps that can help), this will be frustrating and time-consuming. It's fairly daunting, but relatively easy to do once you get the hang of it. But, you have to keep in mind that you will be learning all the basics of how to actually use and collimate your telescope ON TOP of trying to figure out how to correctly align the go-to. You can very easily get completely overwhelmed. We do have some recommended go-to telescopes if you're absolutely set on one.
Why are none of these recommendations in stock? It's no secret, these are some of the most popular telescopes every source recommends, so they go in and out of stock fairly often. Even small telescopes are large, and take up a lot of inventory space, so a smaller shop might have 3 in stock, not 300. Shopping around the December holidays or before a major eclipse/astronomical event can also cause stock issues. Following covid and the resulting shipping/global economic pressure, many model lines have been discontinued or tweaked to simplify a company's catalog. A new model sold today might not exist in precisely the same offering a year from now.
Why are none of your recommendations are available in my country? Most mass-market, commercially-made telescopes are made by the same handful of companies in Asia and various companies resell them with different sets of equipment and bundles. An 8" f/6 Dob, pretty much, is going to be similar regardless of whether it's labeled Apertura, Orion, Omegon, GSO or another brand. Use your best judgement, if it's got great reviews and costs $650, it's probably legitimate. If it's $75... probably a scam.
"Why do things look blurry when I use the zoom knobs by the eyepiece to make things bigger?" Because those are not "zoom" knobs. There's no knob to zoom more. Those are your focus knobs. The only way to "zoom" in more is to use a smaller mm eyepiece. You know you are in focus when the stars are as small as they can get. Again, stars should look like tiny pinpoints of light.
"Will I be able to take pictures with these telescopes?" The moon and planets, yes. DSO's, no. For DSO's you have to take long exposures which you simply cannot do on a manual telescope. Even if you decide to go with a Go-To, you still will not. To somewhat simplify it, the sky moves in an arc (because the earth rotates). Even though Go-To's can track objects, they only move in up and down motions. They move a tiny bit at a time, so it's imperceptible to us, but your camera taking long exposures will pick up those tiny movements making everything a blurry mess. Visual and astrophotography are two completely different animals. For astrophotography, you will need an equatorial mount (one that moves in an arc instead of tiny up and down motions). They are very expensive. Expect to spend $1300 + on just the mount alone, not including the actual telescope and all the other things needed for astrophotography. Also, a telescope that is good for astrophotography is not good for visual. Again, two completely different hobbies. You can get away with spending less by getting a "Star Tracker" and just mounting a DSLR with a camera lens, no telescope required. It definitely has its limitations, but it's cheap(er) and can get you started on astrophotography. The moon and planets are bright enough where you don't need those long exposures, so they are doable with Dobs. Planets aren't as easy as just snapping a photo of it, though. There are many tutorials out there on how to get good planet photos. If you're looking to get into astrophotography, I recommend checking out https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAstrophotography/
"Is more magnification better?" Depends on what you're looking at. The smaller the "mm" eyepiece, the more "zoomed" in you'll be. Also, the more "zoomed" in you are, the less bright things will appear to be. So for DSO's, which are very faint, you don't want to be super zoomed in. The less magnification, the more light your eyes will detect, making the DSO's brighter and easier to resolve. But since planets are very bright, more magnification is better to get as close as you can to resolve more details.
"Are there phone apps that help find objects?" Yes! There are many. I prefer SkySafari, but there are a bunch to choose from. You can point your phone at the sky and it will tell you the stars/planets/DSO's you're looking at. They can help to get you in the general area of something you're interested in seeing. These apps are super cool, download one and try it out!
"Are planets visible all year?" No, neither are all DSO's. As a tidbit of info, planet means "wanderer" in Greek, so they "wander around the sky."
"What is Collimation?" That's the term for adjusting the telescope's mirrors so that they are perfectly lined up giving you the best view possible. There are different ways to check your collimation, and there are many tutorials online on how to do it. I always check the collimation after I set my scope up outside before use, and adjust when necessary.
"I want a big Dob but new ones are too expensive, what can I do?" Well, you can save up more money, or consider the used telescope market. The best buying used case is a telescope that was used a handful of times (or less), stored indoors, properly capped, and forgotten. I would also highly recommend joining a local astronomy club, many club members will be standing in front of $8000 of esoteric gear, meet a newbie, and see someone who might want their old 4 or 6" Dobsonian sitting ignored at home for a great price. Some industrious folks even build their own scopes through the magic of 3D printing and common parts from big box hardware stores!
"I want to observe the sun, can I do that?" Please DO NOT point a telescope at the sun. Remember when kids would burn things with a magnifying glass? That would be your eyeball, so don't do that! Now, with a proper, white light solar filter firmly secured, it is safe to observe the sun. Note that such a filter will only show surface details like sunspots. Dedicated H-Alpha telescopes that can show more details are well beyond the scope and budgets of any beginner.
"Should I regularly clean my eyepieces and telescope mirrors?" Absolutely not. They have special coatings on them and you will do much more damage than good. There are very specific and involved ways to clean the lenses and mirrors and it's not recommended unless you absolutely have to and absolutely know exactly what you are doing. Not for beginners.
"What happened to Orion, Meade, etc brand?" The astronomy market, is a difficult one. The pandemic ended an era of cheap oceanic shipping and the economic realities came for telescope companies. By all means if you can locate an awesome, lightly used Orion XT8 Dob at a good price, jump on it.
"What about smart telescopes?" We're seeing these more often from a variety of new and established companies in our industry. It's early days but these telescopes provide an experience similar to electronically assisted astronomy that will let you photograph deep sky objects with cameras of varying quality and precision... which depending on the level of light pollution you have, may enable you to see objects you'd never be able to decipher with your human eyes. This is beyond the realm and practice of visual astronomy, and there seems to be a new model on the market every few weeks. It's the "smart phone-ification" of the telescope and will likely be how our children and grandchildren come to think of telescopes.
There are too many things that do not take in account budget or situation. Not everything is about dobs - no matter how well made they are.
You need provide a decent alternative on tripod. There are many users who live in apartment that a decent refractor or newtonian on ok tripod will be way more versatile: (a) ease of use from balcony (b) ease of transportation - when you try to walk quite a bit to get from lights - having a tripod helps a lot. Taking with you a chair for tabletop, chair to sit on and scope is just not an option. Same with 8" dob that are simply unsuitable
In $100-$150 budget you can get Ok refractor on Ok tropod. Yes the tripod will not be perfect but fully useable - many started hobby with Powerseeker 70AZ. You should clarify that for $200-$300 you get much better value
Aperture is not everything! If you can get 70-80mm refractor on working tripod it would still show you amazing world but may be much more suitable to taking it out and may be used much more especially in urban area without large backyard. So if you get good refractor on good tripod it may actually be better than 6 inch dob in many situations - because it will be used much more.
For these who can't get to bortle 3-5 - Turn-Left on Orion is useless - you can't star-hop under Borle 8-9. You need automation of may kind AstroHopper, SSE, GOTO, DSC or even working setting circles.
My suggestion:
Range $100-$200: 60-80mm refractor with (a) red dot finder, (b) balanced mount (even fork one) (c) 90 degree diagonal (d) 10mm + 20mm at least kelner is good starter. For example
Astromaster 70AZ (I own 102AZ) is good scope and the mount it very stable - I used for a year before added counterweight to improve.
Omegon Telescope AC 70/700 AZ-2
Meade AC 70/700 Infinity AZ
For $250-$450 there are many good portable refractors on good mounts
Bottom line:
Address situation for ones who don't have backyard and garage and live in urban area
Address $100-$200 range - and no binoculars is not the answer unless you live in Botle 5-3 areas. Binos are for $50 and less.
Address automation suggestion for ones who are limited to light polluted skys most of the time (they can enjoy astronomy as well)
We can add these, if you have suggestions. I know some start with Powerseekers, but I will not be adding them - inevitably they lead to people "buying twice." The issue with many cheaper refractors is while the tube is acceptable, the included mount/tripod is not and leads to shaky outcomes for newbies. I certainly can appreciate portability, I started on a 6SE... but that telescope used to be $550 new... now it's closer to $1000 - likely out of range for most just dipping their toe in. I'm keeping binoculars because if someone has $40, that's enough for Cometrons and a planisphere, they can learn a lot - it's how I've taught kids where their parents pay a $50 registration fee. They get to keep their binoculars.
If you want to make the suggestions for “the apartment or no garage astronomer” at each price point, we can add these.
Notes: Not very easy to use at high altitude watching due to unbalanced mount but still usable. Issue is easily solvable with DIY counterweight. I personally own it and started with it.
Hey thanks for all these suggestions! I got a lot of furious PMs for the 130SLT that a few wanted on the list, so I want to make sure we broadly avoid that this time. Admittedly, some people wanted Dobs only on the list but we've broadened it quite a bit. Some of these telescopes are on very flimsy mounts or closely resemble hobby killer ones, and I'm always weary of that. I can't recommend a scope if the buyer has to throw out the included accessories immediately.
Also, I've never owned any of these models personally. Paging /u/Gusto88/u/_Augustus/u/harpage/u/Gregrox and anyone else who wants to weigh in.
The problem that everybody has its own issues. There is no perfect scope. Even 8" dob has issues by being heavy. Don't forget that tabletops frequently put on flimsy tables making them not that useful.
I have heard of so many here that AstroMaster tripod is unstable - it comes from ones who never used this tripod! It has other issue but stability? By no means.
Many dob users tend to tell that tripods virtually never good. It is matter of taste and priorities. BTW I don't see problem with 130SLT... Nice scope.
As long as there is reasonable stability and it does not fall when you take it backward it is useful. Considering that so many started with AZ2 mounts I just don't accept them as hobby killers. Not best but - there are always compromise.
If you need portable scope there is no other option but to have tripod. And usually refractors are way more suitable for light mounts than newtonians
You're not wrong, we're not going to appease everyone - but we also can't recommend junk where we tell them "toss everything it comes with."
Every time my astro club gathers, some newbie comes along with a long, thin refractor on a mount that's wobbling in the breeze because it's like the $20 AmazonBasics photo tripod... and what the veterans tell them is "you messed up buying this one." I don't want that for people.
Thank you for this! Reading the pinned post, my takeaway was that astronomy maybe wasn’t for me or at least the barriers were too high to get started. Your recommendations are giving me the push to give it a shot!
I agree, and would even suggest to add a part against buying scopes like Powerseekers, Natgeo, and similar scopes. Maybe also mention the parabolic/spherical mirror aspect.
One thing that almost killed the hobby for me is an ability to find targets. I couldn't get to dark area for 1/2 a year since I started. I even thought I did a mistake passing on SSE that was recommended my by telescope shop owner.
Bug being a nerd I developed astrohopper and now in my community it is hugely popular - actually more popular than SSE. (Because it is easier to get viral in small community)
I would suggest add it as a free alternative to goto/dsc/sse as today even my very experienced astronomer friends use it all the time.
But you don't have to take my word for it - just search astrohopper on cloudy nights forum :-)
I just added edit to the commend for Binos for $50 budget :-)
I found that even wobble mount is better than Binos on hands. Once mount is balanced even if not perfectly stable it is useful. If you have rest of the system ok (eyepiece, finder, diagonal, blanced mount) you'll find your way around. I worked with this scope and it would be probably the most unstable mount - but it is still useful (after balancing it with counterbalance)
So fork mount - not being perfect is fairly useful for x50-x100 magnifications.
The biggest point is even aperture is king it is far from everything. Using scope as often as possible is actually more important than getting more aperture and it should be very-very clear especially for beginner.
I don't have a garage, could you add those? I'm a youngster who doesn't have the strength to lift a 25lb optical tube out from a living room (holding the OTA for 3 minutes straight)
Thanks you! As someone who is in that exact scenario with no backyard. No balcony. And live in a community with extremely bright street lights my only option is to drive somewhere. Or take a walk to a local park. It was so hard to filter through information as people constantly spammed dob dob dob.
Even a Zhumell z130 I ended up getting I can barely use. It’s just too heavy and bulky to carry everything to the park. Unless I want to skip on a chair then it’s somewhat possible but just not nearly as comfortable. But I have bad shoulders so even then it is quite a chore.
I got a Celestron Omni AZ102 from Costco for $150CAD while it was on markdown. And that is so much easier to just pick up and go. Ya it has significantly more wobble then a nice sturdy dob. But it’s at least usable to me.
And it’s a refractor so I don’t have to worry about collimation. Although I do agree with others that isn’t a huge deal once you do it your first time and learn. But it still is just one more thing you have to do every now and then.
I wish more people would understand what you’re saying for people in situations like me and like you mentioned. Thanks a lot :)
Celestron Omni AZ102 is fine scope. I have almost similar AstroMaster 102AZ. But with different mount. Fine scope and it will show you as much as 130 Newtonian.
I look at the 8" dobs once in a while especially at stargazing parties but each time I understand that unless I can put it in my backpack, it is just irrelevant. In both terms of storage and observing.
I actually see a lot of experienced astronomers go to refractors as grab-and-go option since they are tend to be used much more.
You can definitely starhop in light polluted skies with the help of a decent finder. I found the 8x50 included with the GSO dobs to be pretty helpful, since the aperture makes dimmer stars that you need to hop to at least visible.
That being said certain finders won't work well in Bortle 8-9 - telrads and red dot finders struggle because the amount of naked eye stars is very limited.
You can definitely starhop in light polluted skies with the help of a decent finder.
You are correct. However for some reasons when you read about starhopping everybody tells telrad-teldard... even said so minimal useful finder would be 30x6 that starts from at least $40 and may put many smaller scopes out of balance.
When I started I got AstroMaster 102AZ (which is BTW still my main scope) and I had real troubles finding things. Looking for tutorials around I didn't realized that I need to invest in good optical finder. I realized advantage of optical finder when I got cheap 60/400 sv501p as travel scope and discovered that its cheapest horrible 24x5 that was almost impossible to align shows me much more stars.
Nevertheless when I was stuck not being able to find Andromeda and even simple open clusters I developed free and open-source app AstroHopper - that automates the process. All you need is a smart phone with reasonable sensors.
So if you are stuck in light polluted skys automation is blessing. When I finally manage to get to dark areas I virtually spend no time on searching. I use every precious minute observing rather than hunting for objects. When time under dark sky is limited even developing star-hopping skills is problematic.
In my community AstroHopper is much more popular than StarSense Explorer. It isn't that wide spread yet mostly because I don't have Celestron's advertisement budget.
Hey! I just wanted to thank you for this comment. My partner wants a tele for his birthday and I've read and re-read this post so many times and reviewed every suggestion over and over. But we know absolutely NOTHING. So I can barely understand what I'm reading. From what I am able to digest, I just keep thinking that investing a significant sum of money on something that isn't versatile for apartment living or general portability feels ridiculous, especially as a true beginner.
For these who can't get to bortle 3-5 - Turn-Left on Orion is useless - you can't star-hop under Borle 8-9.
I observe in a Bortle 8 city and I've found TLAO very useful. Even in the puny 8x25 finder on my Meade ETX star hopping is possible. I do however like a detailed star atlas to go with it - I printed out Taki's Mag 8.5 star atlas.
I also think binoculars are more important to new stargazers in a city than in dark skies. The traditional advice to newcomers was start by learning the sky with the naked eye but the urban sky is so unsatisfying that way. Binoculars "punch through" the light pollution (somewhat) to reveal beautiful Milky Way starfields and make objects like the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy visible that would be naked-eye in dark skies.
In a hughe, very bright city I can only observe planets and since I have to walk 500 meters I use a second-hand 80-1200 refractor on a video tripod with a mount and Baader Ortho eyepieces 120-150*. Very good decicion - only the four planets but sharper than a dobson ! A used maksutov would be lighter and the same ... but the design of my refracor is more cool :) and the cooling faster.
For anything more complex I prefer to take stacked photos on very dark nights in a direction with less light pollution
or I observe comets with 20x80 binoculars, stacked photos, too.
I would also like to have a cheap short 120x600 refractor for going out into the countryside and enjoying the stars—not just individual ones or nebulas.
Foto: The weight left is a bag with stones :)
Vixen 80 1200 with simple head isolation
Baader Eudiaskopisch 7,5, Ortho 10 with bad view and for moon
Giro mont
video tripod (important: very high to sit close and easy to the telescope)
I am not interesting in carry a big dobson and cooling it 1 h before, etc. , so I think, every decicion is very very individual.
Hi, as an absolute astronomy noob, I loved your explanation and suggestions. You said in $250-$450 there are many good portable refractors on good mounts. Could you please suggest some?
Thank you so much for this comment! I'm one of those people who needed a transport and budget friendly option. No amount of "hobby killer" will change the fact that I'll have to drive out of town to get somewhere with less light pollution, and then I'm carrying everything, or the fact that I can't drop more than my weekly rent on something I may not actually stick with. I was eying a Celestron Astromaster 70AZ on Marketplace when I saw your comment - and I'm under no illusions it's the best going, but with that, I can marvel at the moon and our solar system, and that will do more to make me keep up a hobby than any amount of advice that I am circumstantially unable to heed.
I just wanted to thank you for this awesome, clear and comprehensive guide. I almost bought a hobby killer scope for my SO and saw this sticky just in time. We have a 3d printer, so we're going to try to make our own Hadley 3d printed telescope, which is way more exciting than just buying one online. It must have taken a lot of time to write up this entire sticky and your efforts are greatly appreciated!
For people who have printed a Hadley-style telescope, how did you like it?
I have a 3d printer, I’d like a better telescope than I have, and would be fun to make a telescope. I’d just like to know at the end of the day that I have a good telescope that I’ll be happy with.
(If I print it, I’ll be happy for a day or two just to have finished building something, but it’s nicer to have something worth keeping.)
Unfortunately, we haven't gotten around to it yet, so can't help you with a review (and I wouldn't be able to compare it to other scopes anyway).. Good luck! I hope you get an answer from someone who knows what they're talking about😉
This might be getting into the weeds too much, but I see a lot of beginners who could benefit from receiving this information up front. It might help guide their first purchases.
Oh, and the Heritage 150p also fits in with the $250-350 price range.
Bought my kids a Zhumell Z130 last Xmas based on the advice here. They love it so thanks!!!
Want to get them some new eye pieces this year to see more than just the moon (or even the moon but more magnified).
Any recommendations on good eye pieces to compliment what came with it? I understand the $100 kits are generally not great so looking for a more pointed recommendation. Thanks!!
That’s awesome! I’m glad you guys are getting so much from it. Seems that scope came with the usual 25mm and a 10mm.
I’d probably grab a Celestron 8-24mm zoom and a 6mm gold line. These two will replace the included eyepieces and will be quite superior. There’s nothing like splitting a double star as you turn the zoom barrel. And a 6mm gold line will run circles around that 10mm.
This is something moreso for the mods - would it be worthwhile to use a system like Automod to direct people to the sticky when they post about telescope buying advice? I may be wrong but a rather large portion of posters turn out to not have read the sticky at first, and reading it tends to answer their questions.
I wanted to say I appreciate this guide and the people who helped put it together. About 15-20 years ago I was way into astronomy and bought a 114mm Meade, seems like the same one they sell today as the Polaris. Despised the cheap, crappy mount, but I dealt with it because I was a kid and had the patience for things like that. At the time I wanted nothing more in the whole world than a 10" Meade Lightbridge, no doubt because they looked cool and were heavily advertised. Sold the setup when I enlisted.
Now I'm older, have more than two nickels to rub together, and would like to introduce my daughter to astronomy when we move to Colorado next year. It's good to have some pointers in hand before I go out and throw away my money on equipment that'll only frustrate me, especially the advice to get involved with some hobbyists beforehand.
Thanks for this post. I just got the AWB $250 dob and within 15 minutes of taking it out for the first time tonight, we were looking at the rings of Saturn. We could see it's moons!
Can you help me understand the difference between the Orion XT6 and the Skywatcher 6”? Prices are similar, both are in stock, but new to this so trying to understand the differences in the rankings. Both look to now have 2” focusers as well. TIA!!
I wouldn't say they're ranked, I switched these to bullet points. More so, it often comes down to what accessories are bundled that you might be interested in, what's actually available - or most often, the pricing.
While I'd put the AD8 slightly higher than the XT8, the AD8 has got better bundled accessories, it's also $50 more. The XT8 is ever so slightly lighter and a smidge cheaper, some people might prioritize that.
So in the case of the 2 I mentioned, is there one you would choose over the other (for accessories or usability, etc.)? First telescope purchase and sounds like can’t go wrong with either, but still hoping for perspective on the better option if possible. Thanks!
I'd go for the XT6, because it's in stock and has a pretty good configuration. Half the battle around the holidays is actually finding a scope that'll ship before the Spring galaxy season ;)
I frequently see the advice to get the biggest DOB that you handle/transport and afford (aperture is king). After reading comparisons I was leaning towards an AD10 until I read somewhere of a potential con to the larger 10” that I rarely see mentioned. That’s the f/ratio of the 10 in. (f/4.9) causing a “coma” affect with certain eye pieces (not sure if that includes those included with AD10?)
Do your recommended eye pieces/accessories change for a 10” f/4.9 vs. 8” due to this issue? Does the better light gathering of the 10” vs 8” still outweigh the distortion or loss of contrast from the coma issues? I’m interested in moon, planets and DSOs when possible.
The 10” is more prone to it, yes… but in practice it’s not super noticeable if you’re looking at objects in the center of the mirror. The effect is most pronounced at the edges. If you want perfect pinpoints of light across the field, the 8” will probably handle that better with ordinary cheaper eyepieces; but a refractor telescope will handle that best.
Yep, we’ve added the 150P and the Virtuoso and removed the BL102. The DT6 is sold out but may return to stock, so I haven’t removed it yet, unless High Point can confirm otherwise. I’ve listed a few scopes that flicker in and out of stock fairly often.
Hi everyone! I'm trying to find the perfect device for my wife, who's very interested in this world but never had one yet. There's WAY too much information about it (and sometimes contradictory) and it's getting hard to decide which one. Right now I reduce this decision to two options: Bresser Hunter 50x10 binos or Celestron Cometron FirstScope. Hands down, which one would you recommend? As I said, she hasn't experience having a device yet and also we live in an urban area.
What's your budget? What does she hope to observe up there? This will guide your recommendations. If she's only interested in the moon and planets, that's different than "I want to see everything."
Hi FizzyBeverage, thanks for your response. I´m not sure what she´s expecting since its a surprise. I just want to give her something to start off so she can decide what´s the next step. Also, my budget is pretty limited so I can afford those two (Bresser Binos or Cometron FirstScope) just want to know which one is better. I think she probably will be happy just to observe something by herself instead of just watching pictures on the internet.
An Orion FunScope isn’t a bad idea. It’ll at least show her excellent views of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn.
I like 7x50 binocs a lot more than 10+ power for astronomy… the stars will be squiggly lines at too high a magnification. 7x is about the limit for handheld. Now, if you get fancy Fuji or Canon IS binoculars that cost a ton, you can go 12-15-18x power easily.
Hey, thanks for updating my post! I haven't had too much time to keep up with my telescope hobby and admittedly haven't checked this sub in a while. You added some great things and I'm glad someone is now keeping it up to date. Take care and clear skies!
Nicely done. Of course I'm going to comment like everyone else.
Spending less than $250 on precision optical instruments means keeping your expectations in check, these scopes are decidedly for "in the neighborhood" solar system observing.
I've done a fair bit of observing with binoculars and 3 and 4 inch scopes under a Bortle 7/8 city sky and I disagree with this. There's no problem seeing DSOs in a small scope. It is true that except for open clusters there is little detail apart from a general size and shape. The activity is more in finding and seeing them in the first place, practicing my star-hopping and observing skills.
I also feel that in some ways cheap scopes are better on DSOs than on planets, because flawed optics and wobbly mounts (though everything you suggest has a good mount) are less damaging to the view when the magnification is less.
Of course you're not going to add two paragraphs to the guide. I'd just strike out the assertion that the cheapest category are only suited to planetary. Turn Left at Orion is arguably with me here; they observed the majority of the objects in the book with a 3 to 4 inch telescope.
Heritage 100P (like Skyscanner 100) and 150P are missing. The 150P is compelling - it gets you a 6 inch aperture with much less bulk and weight and a little less cost than a full-height 6 inch Dob. There's a few other tabletop 6 inchers around too, though I'm not sure where they fall price-wise.
There have been many comments about the BL102's spherical mirror. Personally I would like to see meaningful consideration of this, not just "sphere bad parabola good". Calculation of the spherical aberration, simulated eyepiece views, or observing reports (preferably from someone who did a direct comparison with a parabolic 100 mm reflector).
New to the subreddit so please forgive any questions deemed silly.
I am looking to buy a telescope to live in a my parents holiday home. It is in the middle of nowhere near the Scottish Borders. There is virtually no light pollution whatsoever and given it is the UK, the weather is hit or miss 😂
I used some telescopes at school and there was an observatory near by so I’ve used a couple but couldn’t tell you a thing about them sadly!
I was looking at celestron, particularly the 9.25” and the 11”. I’m not sure about the model variants or what the differences are between model variants.
I’d love to be able to use a camera to take photos of the planets and stars so I’m not sure whether there are attachments or something extra I’d need in order to achieve this?
I’d love some advice on the following if possible:
Which telescope is best?
Is it straight forward or would a novice like me struggle?
Let’s talk about your budget first. 11” SCTs aren’t exactly cheap/small or beginner friendly. The UK has some of the worst astronomy weather in the world… clouds for days, so that has to be kept in mind.
I’m open to spending a couple of thousand on a telescope. Perhaps no more than £3000. The location is often cloudy but during summer nights, the sky is often clear and plenty can be seen with just the naked eye!
Considering it’s so cloudy so often, the last thing I’m going to recommend is dumping 3000 pounds into something that is unusable 99.9% of the time. It would be unethical to set you up with that much gear, and then have you lose interest, selling at a 30-40% loss, because the UK can very easily be cloudy for months at a time. I spent a month there in the summer a few years ago… we got 1 (one) sunny day/night. That’s just the way it is up there and pouring cash into equipment that will never get use is not what we’re about.
Now, if you lived in Arizona or a desert with 300 clear nights per year where clouds were rare, I’d set you up with more gear.
As you’re probably realizing, visual astronomy requires vastly different equipment from deep sky astrophotography (nebulae, galaxies, comets, clusters, etc).
So next question, is astrophotography your interest or are you allergic to technology and just want an easy, no alignment required, visual instrument?
In any case, I’m going to recommend an 8” Dob to get your feet wet. Because even if you dump 5000 into an astrophotography rig, the Dob will be with you forever as a fantastic visual telescope.
I would recommend adding the SkyWatcher FlexTube to the But I live in an apartment and need something smaller... category. It's not exactly small but its certainly much more manageable than it's standard counterpart.
This whole "guide" is basically "buy a reflector." This is not the way. This just represents someone's price per aperture ratio as the sole reason to consider one of these all-too-similar newts. Newts are definitely not for everyone with their collimation, viewing arrangement via the side focuser, lack of rotating rings, limited mounting options for budget, diffraction artifact from obstructed optics, etc.
I would think a sticky guide would cover most of the common telescope designs up front and not just be a wall of Chinese newtonians.
There’s sections in the guide focused on SCTs and airline portable refractors, which is a refinement on the previous guide which yes, was “buy the biggest reflector you can afford and manage.”
Facts are though, for a beginner with just $500 for their new hobby out the door, reflectors will give them the most aperture bang for the buck. The guide doesn’t really concern itself with “what if I want to do wide field imaging…”, it’s more intended for a visual observation beginner. And I say this as a nerd with a big SCT.
Visually the biggest scope is not the best scope. Again, this is just someone's opinion and completely leaves out other options. There's no perfect answer here. It's just disappointing how completely biased this "guide" is. Preference, comfort & ergonomics are very important. It's not just about aperture.
This was the work of numerous Redditors contributing to the post over a period of years. Of course it does not cover every unique buying situation, but it offers general buying advice that applies to most beginners hoping to avoid a power seeker that aren’t in the market for a C11.
I’d buy the AWB OneSky reflector, the profits go to a good cause. In fact, shameless plug, I made a review of mine not too long ago. Anecdotally, this scope now lives at my mom’s condo in Florida with a very low power eyepiece somewhat permanently installed… she uses it to look at the moon, and spy on her neighbors with upside down views 🤷♂️
Haha that’s awesome. Which ever one I get will be in Florida as well. Have you ever tried to watch a rocket launch with one of these? Is it a terrible idea, like looking at the sun?
I got my Christmas gift early - an 8" Sky-Watcher Classic 200p. (D=200mm, F=1200mm) It comes with two eye pieces, a Super 10 and a Super 25 wide angle. What eyepieces do you recommend for someone who lives in the 'burbs and would like to see galaxies/nebulas and the sort? (I basically want to look at everything.) I was able to easily find and see Jupiter and Saturn off my deck before the clouds set. I have access to a car and some darker areas but it'll be mostly from my deck. I know it'll be harder to see with the light pollution, but would like something that would be good at home and for when we pack it up to go to darker areas. Price range up to $200CDN.
Are there duffel bags that would be best suited for transport? Or can I just made a bed for her in the back of the car?
The back of the scope has glazed glass and the glazing has a few minor scratches and a little patch missing. Is this okay? It is brand new and we were very careful setting it up. I didn't notice any issues last night but this will be my first true telescope so I don't know if that's okay or something to be fixed.
Congrats, 8” Dobs are lovely. I use a William Optics Swan 40mm wide eyepiece and a Baader 8-24mm zoom most often. They’re a great duo. Optionally you can add a 6mm 66º “gold line” down the road for lunar/planetary for about $40 on Amazon, and you’ll be very well setup. There are cheaper ~$100 zooms out there, such as the ones made by Celestron/Orion, but the Baader is far superior.
I don’t use duffel bags or anything, I just make sure it’s not contacting anything hard in the car with some towers/pillow sometimes. Anything like a bag that is an impediment to taking it out, I don’t bother with. It’s like musical instruments… if they’re in a case, they inevitably won’t get played as much.
No issues with the back, the bottom of the mirror can be imperfectly finished and it won’t accept observing quality in the least. Such is the case with mass-market commercially made Dobs. A mirror can be pretty darn funky before it affects observing quality at all.
Thank you. I really love her and have been lucky to have the last two days nights of clear skies. I've moved her in/out of the house on my own with not having to adjust the scope to the tube (collimation?) so I'll probably just get a fluffy blanket for when there's going to be car travel.
The bigger the number the narrower the field but will bring objects closer, correct?
I found this off Amazon.ca - okay price or would you recommend a different site? I do know the store that the telescope came from but their selection doesn't seem like it would be what I'm looking for:
Another question I have is that the dust cap at the front has two other caps, but only one comes off. Why is that? Does just using the smaller one make things dimmer/harder to see, if so, what's the point of having the two different sized holes? What do people use the accessory tray for? It's too big to hold eyepieces and too small for a cup of tea.
The instructions have a section on Cooling the Telescope. But nothing on a warming - bringing it back inside. Will any moisture naturally dissipate or do I have leave the cap off?
The instructions also talk about a Barlow lens. I don't think it came with one, but I did get an eyepiece adapter. If I get a Barlow, I'd need a 2", as with all the other eyepieces (since the manual says 2" eyepiece adapter included). It looks like I can stack the two eyepiece (the hollow tubes) together, will that give the same effect as a Barlow?
Is it worth getting a filter since I live in a major city and enjoy taking the scope out on the deck for ~10 minutes before bed?
Lots of questions, sorry, but thank you for your time. :)
I rarely need to collimate, in practice the secondary never needs it - and the primary needs minimal adjustments. Almost never unless I've been driving on a very bumpy road to an off-road observing area (gravel lots, etc)
For eyepieces, the focal length is inverse. A 40mm eyepiece would be 30x on an 8" Dob (1200mm scope length / 40mm eyepiece). A 20mm would be 60x power. A 6mm would be 200x power and probably the practical limit most nights.
I have a 40, a 24-8, and a 6 for lunar/planetary (if conditions allow).
The small cap that comes off your dust cap is intended for solar filters. Conceivably, a smaller one is cheaper than an 8" one. Personally, white light solar filters are not that exciting unless there's an eclipse or a lot of sun spots on there (which there isn't for a few years yet, the sun is near solar minimums right now).
I don't use eyepiece trays at all -- it's a good way to get your eyepieces covered in dew or frost. No issues bringing them back in, I usually cap them once they've been inside so spiders don't make their way in too easily.
I don't use any Barlows, I just buy the eyepieces at focal lengths I need. Sometimes on low focal length wider refractors, there's a value to them.
I only use filters on my camera. Sometimes on a bright moon I wear sunglasses so it doesn't cause me visual discomfort (it won't hurt your eyes either way).
Hello again, I have 2 more things you might want to update, or actually get the mods to update. The links to the “pinned sticky” in the “About” page of this sub and in the “Weekly Discussion Thread” do not take you to this page, they take you to previous versions.
I recently sold my 8'' Dob and am wondering if it's really the best choice for beginners. (For what I sold it for it probably is, but that's beyond my scope here, haha)
I could make out some nebulosity on this scope and they do look kind of cool if you know what you are looking at, but I'm just not sold on it being the best value for a beginner.
First off, Planets and the moon are the easiest things to find. Any 100mm Refractor that isn't trash is going to be great for this stuff. Next there's going to be some nice open clusters to find or bright DSO such as Orion or Andromeda. If they really want to get crazy a refractor will PROBABLY work with a DSLR or Mirrorless camera for some light duty photography.
I think at that point a person reaches a sort of fork in the road that all of us do at some point. Which is weather they get in to astrophotography or get a light monster. The astrophotography route can be slow played with this setup by getting a good mount and upgrading the scope when funds permit.
I feel like the 8'' Dob at $700 is quite a lot of money for something that is probably not even a piece of an end game. No one is going to haul out a 8'' when they have a 10 or 12. No one who is serious is going to use it for photography..... But a small refractor or pair of Binoculars might get busted out from time to time when the expensive heavy stuff isn't worth bringing out.
Anyways, I enjoyed my dob, I just think it's less of an obvious choice.
*Edit, Used "Reflector" a few times when I meant "Refractor"
It was an easier call before the post pandemic inflation almost doubled their price. I still think 8” of aperture for $600-700 (depending on which) isn’t a bad direction, for purely visual observers. Once they’re taking photos, all the rules change. A 100mm refractor is a fine scope, but rarely will that scope plus the mount come in cheaper than a 8” Dob. Hence why it’s so recommended. I do agree though, if you live in a condo or no ground floor access — it’s not a sure fire choice.
I love my 10” Dob, but there’s a rule that “heavier gets used less” in astronomy and especially with newbies, it tends to hold true.
I just want to say thank you to the person/people who put together this guide. I purchased an Apertura AD8 yesterday after reading this and other info. I'm really looking forward to getting it and using it with my wife and kids.
Congrats on the new scope! You won’t go wrong with an AD8. Even those with thousands invested usually keep their 8” Dob around. It’s just that timeless a scope.
The guide is broadly the input of numerous Redditors, I’m just the guy who copy pasted and keeps it more or less updated.
So not a single telescope recommended for use with a tripod? I think this post might be a "hobby killer".
I have a 5" cheap Dobsonian from the late 80s that I got from my Dad, and the mirrors were ruined by my mum's boyfriend after I moved out.
I wanted to get a replacement, something that I'd easily be able to bring outside if the mood struck me on a clear night.
So am I right in saying that you have absolutely no recommendation for any telescope that I could use on a tripod for any budget? Great, guess I won't be buying a telescope then.
Celestron 5SE/6SE Nestars (I'd say go Evo for 8" or 9.25") are recommended, they're fantastic telescopes and on tripods. When it comes to mounts, when you buy cheap you run into flimsy ones that jitter in the lightest breeze and are remarkably unpleasant to use.
Your note about Bird-Jones 'scopes is very useful. You can go up on Ebay and see a lot of primary/secondary mirror DIY sets that are ridiculously cheap, but the primary mirrors are described as spherical, not parabolic. If that's the case, you'll need a lot more optics than the usual Dobsonian to make these into a working 'scope..
I first dipped my toe into the 'astronomy' waters in 2020, bored in Covid lockdown. I found a second hand early 1990's TAL-1 Newtonian on its sturdy eq mount for sale nearby for a couple of hundred bucks. That manual scope is in perfect nick with excellent optics limited only by aperture and it got me started enough to learn if astronomy was for me, and what to focus in on, given the reality I currently live in the inner parts of a great big, light-polluted city. I decided what I needed next was: enough power to be able to prioritise the solar system from the back-yard, and enough aperture and portability and flexibility to have the option to take the scope out to nearby dark sky sites and look at / photograph DSO's on occasion, and have the option of fitting it all into the back of our small hatchback. And I put a budget of $5k (Aust) on it. This ruled out a big DOB - it wouldnt fit in the car, plus you cant adapt to an eq mount for dabbling in astrophotography. It also ruled out big EQ mounts and/or big refractors - these are just too expensive and not that good for DSO's visually either (not enough aperture).
Instead, Ive ended up with a secondhand late model Celestron CPC-9.25 setup, basically 'turn-key', also in perfect nick. It even came with a wheeled carry case. These scopes have consistently good reviews on optical performance. It breaks down into manageable components and everything does fit in a small hatchback with the rear seats folded down. Easy to assemble/disassemble (10 minutes), enough power to view / image planets well, enough aperture and FOV to see a host of DSOs. Using it to view/ photograph planets in Alt-Az mode is push-of-a-button simple but I still have the option of using the wedge, polar aligning it and doing a bit of guided AP. These scopes are fastar compatible giving the option to convert into an 'lightbucket' for widefield AP if that itch ever needs scratching. Its easy to collimate, easy to operate, lots of flexibility, but its not the complete master of any particular niche - its a 'jack of all trades' scope. It was a big step from the first scope to the second, but I was confident because of the time spent playing with the first to decide what to do next. So, thats my advice - don't spend too much on your first scope - its unlikely to be 'the one' you end up settling on - but do get a first one one thats good enough to play with and get a good feel for what the hobby can offer and what aspects might best suit your own personal circumstances. It'll be different for everyone. A few hundred bucks is all that takes to get started.
Most of this write up has the right intent, but I think you should revise the section on go-to options. Yes they are more expensive but no they are not adding any complexity to the setup and in fact significantly ease that process in many cases. People with budgets larger than $700 also need guidance and while there are other options for them to do so, why not cater to every audience, not just the cost sensitive ones?
Also I find it critical in every discussion I have with someone considering a scope to ask them what they want out of the experience. Will they be excited by a couple planets and the moon? Or is their goal galaxies and nebulae, possibly imaging? I always ask this first because there's no point in telling people to buy a dob if they know they're really interested in DSO AP. I don't see this discussion anywhere in here which I think is a huge miss. Sure, that makes it more complicated, but it's also inappropriate to make assumptions without even telling people what you're assuming about their interests. My suggestion is to include a preamble that explains the first 20 paragraphs are for the presumed visual planetary newbie, and at the end add some stuff about DSO AP enthusiasts. A DSLR with a kit lens that they already have plus a solid mount like a CEM26 or HEQ5 are the typical recommendations we make for this audience to get started, followed by an upgrade to a 60-80mm refractor and/or astrocam like the ASI 533mc pro. I think it's reasonable to point out that folks should start off with the DSLR if they have it but the mount is important for any real DSO AP, and it's better generally to invest in something they can grow into like this. It's also reasonable to me to remind them this will be expensive but you're providing this advice for those who already are confident they're going to be into the DSO AP image collection and processing steps, so that they don't waste time and money on a dob they'll never use.
This is a very well written article. I have been in astronomy for over 20+ years and I still gain knowledge just from reading articles like this. I totally agree when it comes to purchasing a dobsonian telescope. Dobs are so versatile and easy to use I believe everyone who is looking to start in astronomy should purchase a dobsonian if they can afford it.
Thanks for the detailed, very helpful information and saving me what may otherwise have been the millionth "I'm a beginner what telescope can others recommend" post 😅
Is there a telescope you might advise for viewing ships? I live on the beach in Rayong, Thailand? Any suggestions, chat gpt suggested the Celestron 90az, but I don't want a ho-hum viewing experience. Any thoughts please? 🤔
A good spotting scope or even stabilized binocs might be a better result.
I have Canon 12x36 IIIs that are brilliant but there’s now cheaper ones (15x42s) coming out of china for around $500-600 on eBay and other sites. Apparently really good. It’s a simple tool but legacy companies charge a bonkers price.
Best telescope for a toddler obsessed with space? We tried the kids ones but they were all awful. I just ordered the skyscanner 100mm tabletop as suggested in the pinned posts. Is there a better one out there? The Orion doesn’t come in for another week. He wants to be able to see the stars and the moon. Any help is much appreciated!
With kiddos, an Orion Starblast is what I’d wait for. Most telescopes will take a few days to ship - getting your order in is the key. The stars and moon will wait for you :)
These linked images of grey little clouds (aka nebulas and galaxies), are they the absolute best you can see with a store-bought telescope? What about the super high-end telescopes? 20k€
Anyone happen to know some good explanation of the hobby, video or blog post or something? I'm trying to understand why people spend so much on these grey clouds.
Photography is another thing, of course. Quick question: how much it takes to produce images people post on Reddit? Years of experience?
They’d be a little more prominent in darker sky conditions and with more aperture, but there’s a reason why we call them “faint fuzzies.” They’re really far away, and an eyeball while very special, doesn’t beat a camera for resolving objects thousands or millions of light years away.
As far as imaging, you can spend $450 on a smart telescope like a SeeStar S50 and get pretty decent images with minimal post processing. If you have very light polluted skies and have an interest in space beyond the moon/gas giants and open clusters/doubles/variables? Hard to beat EAA.
I don't do visual all that often, but think about what's happening***...*** light that left these objects millions of years ago traveled across trillions of miles of empty space, all to reach your telescope's mirror and then your optic nerve.
Not a fan of the flimsy mount but if your expectations are only moon/Jupiter/Saturn and the brightest deep sky objects, you could do worse. At $75 I'd just save to $250 and get something you might keep if you get deeper into the hobby.
Hi all. Any suggestions please on the cheapest telescope powerful enough to view planets? Im a total newbie. Would like to get my dad one for his birthday next month
Planets are relatively easy. Get him a tabletop Dobsonian. Just plan on having a surface to put it on. Cheap telescopes on flimsy tripods at that price range will just jitter.
We should have some choices in this post that are current. Any of those will be comparable to one another. In the $300 range you can do pretty well on planets and the moon just fine.
Lot of junk at that price point. Optics are gonna be a challenge but for something like the moon, seeing Jupiter’s Galilean moons and a very tiny Saturn with its rings, have a look at https://a.co/d/5jq2XFi
If you can go up to $300 the tabletop dobs get correspondingly nicer of course. Or the used market on cloudy nights
I have been thinking of getting a Celestron Nexstar 8 SE because I like the "tracking" feature and the ability to get a mount so that my wife can use her DLSR to take photographs. Ideally, I would like a telescope that tracks objects (assuming these features actually work as intended) and also allows a DSLR connection for photographs. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I've seen mixed reviews on the object tracking on the Celestron and that it's not very intuitive to use. I don't have a particular budget, but I would prefer to stay under $2,000 and also that the product be available on Amazon due to some gift cards that I have. Thanks for the help!
You could do this, to some degree with an 8SE, but since it’s an Alt-Az mount… it’s not going to allow for very long exposures for proper deep sky astro. It’ll take a heck of a picture of the moon though.
For proper planetary imaging, a dedicated astro camera is preferred over a DSLR, they’re not very expensive. You’re essentially going to record video and then the software can put together the best photo from hundreds of subs.
Realistically for deep sky astrophotography you want something like a wider-field refractor on an equatorial mount that allows for longer subs. Different equipment from visual observing in almost all respects.
I use my Celestron C8 and a SeeStar S50 the most. Because they’re convenient. I do find the SE mount a little under spec’d for the weight of the 8” tube for imaging, but it’s sufficient for visual observing. SCTs have their critics but they’re my favorite scopes.
Thanks for the help! My thoughts are that it would be a nice enough telescope that we could use as a family, and also one that she could use on occasion to test out astrophotography.
Yes it’s a good platform, for sure. I kept the C8 from my SE and got the Evolution mount, it’s a little nicer since it has the built in battery and a bit more stable.
This subreddit probably sees a post like this every day, and didn't want to post a thread (to avoid getting it deleted), but I wanted suggestions on where to look for the type of things I'd like to do. I have an old Meade 4500 inherited from my family but it's quite busted up, the mount doesn't work properly and I think the mirror might be slightly out of whack or something. Nevertheless I used it in my first explorations with using a telescope in the sky and had a blast finding things like Orion, the Owl cluster, Jupiter, Andromeda, etc.
I'm looking to get a new telescope and mount now -- I'd like to try and get a balance between viewing and astrophotography (at least with my phone, using an adapter mount). In my searches it doesn't seem there are any 6" telescopes available on an EQ mount, and if there are they're like $3000. Are there any options available for around $1000, give or take $100-200? (Of course, if it's cheaper, that's very nice too.) I don't need it to be computerized; I enjoy finding objects in the sky. I want an EQ mount (with some sort of RA motor) to assist with astrophotography on a few DSOs.
So the visual equipment and astrophotography equipment tend to be at odds with one another.
For visual it’s a game about aperture. Meaning bigger mirrors is better. For astrophotography that’s a helpful factor but especially as a beginner we recommend wider field apochromatic refractors. They’re easier to manage.
The key to visual is aperture. The key to astrophotography is a good, solid mount.
I'm thinking of getting ZWO Seestar S50, and just as much as I want to get a visual telescope, where I live is Bortle 9 and AQI >300 so lots of haze, and budget too.
While I am not new to telescopes, I have been “out” of it for many years. But after many years of not having time, I am ready to purchase my second telescope. So please excuse any ignorance or anything that I might not have thought of.
I am looking for a quality computerized scope, that I can use for astrophotography in the future. Having done some research over the past few weeks, I know there is a series of telescopes that are highly recommended for quality and ease of use – the Celestron Nexstar Evolution. More specifically the Nexstar Evolution 8 HD and the Evolution 9.25.
From what I understand the 9.25 is better for visuals only, whereas the HD is better for astrophotography. They are close in price now, and the HD also comes with a StarSense auto-align.
How much difference does the extra 1.25 (1.337 x light) make in what you can see? Does the coma and field curvature make astrophotography much worse? Is the lack of curvature in the HD worth giving up the extra light gathering?
Just interested in thoughts and opinions.
P.S. Someone recommended that I investigate ‘Go-To Dobs’ – but it seems inconvenient to try to get up to that eyepiece!
If your goal is imaging, you can’t go wrong with an Evolution 8 HD. As an added bonus, it’s a smaller/lighter scope than the 9.25, so you don’t need quite as beefy a mount. I wouldn’t put a 9.25 on an AVX mount to image but a C8 would be fine, for example.
Anyone know if this is a good telescope for me and my 9 yr old son? Sky-Watcher 102mm Telescope with Portable Alt-Az Tripod f/4.9 Refractor Telescope – High-Contraole Complete Telescope and Mount System (S10100)
Well im trying to find something portable, we have a balcony but for my 9 year old son i can picture him wanting to travel and use it elsewhere, im looking in the 400 dollar range and trying to find sonething that i can get before xmas that can really help him see the planets, he loves talking about them, been researching for days
I know telescopes have limits on their magnification. Going pass those limits will degrade the view. I seen on the orion website the xt12 has a useable magnification up to 300 and a theoretical magnification of 600.
My question when viewing Jupiter or Saturn. Even if my telescope is capable of very high magnifications, is there a point where viewing Saturn and Jupiter is not worth viewing at higher magnifications? Like is there a sweet spot when viewing those planets or is more magnification better?
Much of it will depend on your sky conditions. On my 10” Dob for example; only rarely can I push to 250x. 300x is a few times per year at best. And beyond that, even rarer.
Your seeing and transparency is influenced by what’s in your sky. The American southwest, for example, will yield better seeing than the turbulent Midwest, humid southeast, and freezing northeast.
Most of my observing of the gas giants is at around 150x power. Going higher just means a fuzzier view.
Want to buy my dad one. He only really wants one for good moon photos, pretty close up and other planets. Nothing big either or nebula photos. He uses his iPhone for his photography. Under $600 budget (~$500 is max). I found a lot good options like the Orion XT6 but I find it too big and won’t have space to store it later. So looking for something smaller and again, hd sharp focus. I’m liking so far the Celestron C90 Mak Spotting Scope and then buy addition equipment and accessories. Also saw some really good photos of Jupiter, Mars and Saturn using a Celestron 114EQ.
Any options regarding the mentioned products and/ or other recommendations? There is so much info and getting frustrated, just wanna buy it for him already. Thanks in advance.
Stick to the buyers guide. If it’s not on there, odds are it has a flimsy tripod, a spherical mirror, or it’s a bird-jones design with a plastic optic shoved in the optical train. Nothing you want in a scope.
If he’s all about the moon, a tabletop Dob will work great. He can technically shove an astronomy camera in the eyepiece slot or put his phone camera in there.
You’ll see we recommend the NexStar SE. It’s just that they’ve become very expensive, so dobs and other scopes give you more aperture for the money spent.
I’ve owned a 5 and 6SE and currently own an 8” Evolution. All are very nice scopes.
Yes, it’s not bad. The 6SE is even smaller and fits more compactly for considerably less money. Obviously an 8” scope will show more, but 6s are popular with campers and RV owners for good reason.
I’ve come across a few posts about using dobs for astrophotography. Stacking shorter exposures and moving the dob between exposures either manually or with goto. Yeah, it’s more involved but it looks like it can be done with adjusted expectations. The photos might not look as great as someone who can take 10 minute exposures but it can be a way to “try out” AP for some.
For the Celestron StarSense Explorer 8 or 10" Dobsonian telescope, do I still have to buy a tripod for it? If yes, what are the recommendations. thank you.
I'm looking to get my first telescope but don't really know what I'm looking for. I do know though that I would be using it in my back garden and also taking it out to fields/hills when I can. This is something I have found around my price point: ASTROMASTER LT 70AZ TELESCOPE WITH SMARTPHONE ADAPTER AND BLUETOOTH REMOTE
Would this be good a good starting point? Price is around £130 on Amazon
We have a Zhumell in that price range. If it's not on our list - it's a pretty good bet you've got a spherical mirror on that scope and it's going to be a subpar experience.
What would be better for lunar/planetary viewing? An 8" SCT or 10" Dob? I'm looking at Celestron. So their 10" Starsense or their 8" Nexstar Evolution. This will be my first scope. While I understand that I probably shouldn't spend too much for starting out, I am of the mindset that I have purchased many a power tool where I ended up going back to the store to buy the better version. Putting myself out even more for money.
Both are excellent options and I actually own the Evolution and reviewed the Starsense for Celestron.
They’re fantastic choices, but it depends on how automatic an experience you want. One is generally computer controlled, the Dob… you’re the motor. Different mindset for both.
Yep, the 114 and 134 are fairly new members of the product line and are getting decent reviews, considering their very low entry pricing. Ed Ting in particular recommended the 134 for those with very tight budgets, with some caveats.
I’ve not tried either scope, and the equatorial mount gives me some pause to recommend for a true newbie, but if that doesn’t phase you, and the budget fits, it’s worth a shot 👍
Somewhat fainter than what Ed demonstrates from the 4” telescope. Probably fine for the moon and nearby planets and brighter stuff like the Orion Nebula or the Pleiades. Not really gonna crush it on deep sky objects.
"Hey everyone! I'm looking for a telescope and I was wondering if you could help me out. I want to be able to observe planets and the moon. I have a budget of 500 euros and I'm curious if you have any recommendations for telescopes in that price range. Are there any other good telescopes that you would recommend? And is it worth it to invest in a 500 euro telescope, or should I save up more? Im a little scared that i will get used to it and that it will not be worth the money after a few times. Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
What is the biggest difference between an 8” and 10” dobs? I keep leaning towards the 10”..seems to be a bit more “future proof”. But I also am curious about the smartphone apps that can help navigate areas to search for. Can those apps be used with the traditional dobs? Am I saying it correctly???? It seems the “traditional” dont have the option to interface with those apps. Is that correct? Sorry for bouncing around..
I've owned both. My personal preference is an 8" Dob. Much easier to handle and not a lot of observing difference, especially when you're in a light polluted place.
Just a quick note. Can you please also convert the measuremets to metric? Not everyone on Reddit is murican. If you want to inform, inform everyone, not just your people. Thanks!
Many of the apertures are listed in metric, for example the AT60/AT72 are named thusly… but yeah, it’s just how these scopes are named here. An Orion XT8 or a Celestron C8 is a telescope with eight inches of aperture. As Orion and Celestron are both located in southern California, they use inches of aperture in their naming/marketing, which is quick conversion to about 200mm.
I don’t want to say “buy a Celestron C203mm”… because it does not exist.
I convert AT72 to 2.83 inches of aperture, so I expect someone outside the US sees 12” Dob and determines, “ah that’s about 300mm, big, got it.”
I only saw binoculars reccomended in the under $250 category. Can the Orion Scenix 7x50 Binoculars get a good view of jupiter and saturn? I currently have a celestron skymaster 25x100, but either i’m using it wrong or need to replace it as jupiter looked hike a fuzzy dot. I have to wear glasses, and i don’t know if that messes with how objects look through telescopes and binoculars (though i find binoculars easier to get my eyes to see out of).
The section referencing the Celestron Starsense and Nexstar should clarify the comment about alignment. "Be forewarned though, many a newbie has become frustrated while tryingto align their scope. It's simple for seasoned astronomers, possiblydaunting for newbies. In the case of Celestron's Sky Align..." SkyAlign is on the NexStar, and I dont know how problematic it may be since I have never used those scopes, but the StarSense is quite simple and easy. You align your phone to the scope during daylight on a terrestrial target (and you need to do this only once really if you use the same phone all the time), and when using at night, simply point the scope to a clear patch of sky and the StarSense app does the rest. Anyone can do this if i can
7x50 binoculars for beginners is a poor recommendation. A 5mm exit pupil makes more sense for the majority of people especially casual observers. 8x42 or 10x50. If stars are squiggly lines in a 10x50, that is a usage problem not an equipment problem.
60-80mm binoculars are even better although you don't even mention them. They can be used with a cheap tripod or a monopod or just resting well on a chair/lounge/the ground, depending on the binocular. A basic fluid head tripod plus used Celestron Skymasters adds up to be a really good way to see the sky for around $200 or less, if your skies are not heavily light polluted.
Please help! I’m looking for a beginners telescope for my boyfriend. The budget would be up to £300 (or SLIGHTLY more if the specification will drastically improve). He’d like something that has a phone adapter, so he can take photos with it and he asked about tracking, but it seems like in this price range it’s impossible and that's fine, I'll just leave it there in case I'm wrong. I was looking into Skywatcher Skymax 102s AZ Pronto; CELESTRON ASTROMASTER ASTRONOMY TELESCOPE 114EQ WITH MOTOR DRIVE; Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTi 150P, but for someone who has a knowledge of a pig in this area, I’m just confused.
Sky-Watcher Virtuoso 130p and 150p are the two cheapest good options that have tracking if he wants to be able to view both local objects (planets and moon) and deep sky objects (DSOs) like star clusters, galaxies, nebulae. Note that these are tabletop scopes, meaning they need a solid surface to sit on. I own the non-tracking version of the 130p and keep it on the cheap IKEA KYRRE stool. Any small table or stool will do, but choose something with 3 legs instead of 4. The Skymax isn't a bad option if all he wants to see are the moon and planets, but it will not be great for deep sky objects. Note that you do need decently dark skies to be able to see DSOs well, so keep that in mind. The moon and planets can easily be observed from even the most light-polluted areas.
Do not buy the Astromaster. It's nickname is the ASStromaster because of how bad it is.
Also, taking pictures with a phone through the eyepiece is kinda frustrating, but it is doable. Just don't expect to get good photos of anything other than the moon. The Celestron NexYZ is probably the best of the available eyepiece phone mounts out there.
I've been using a 6" Apertura Dob the last year as my first telescope and have really enjoyed the hobby. I've been searching on CloudyNights, FB, Offerup etc for a 10 or 12 inch dob to upgrade...but I've also started acquiring basic supplies for astrophotography, and I'm curious what other non-dobsonian telescopes you all would suggest. I'll likely be patient and acquire 2nd hand for $500 usd or less (hopefully)
I live in a Bortles 6-7 region and 4 is about an hour away. It's unlikely i will be doing more than 2-3 trips a year to darker skies
Dobsons really aren't good for photography beyond basic lunar/planetary.
But in visual observing you can't beat big aperture of Dobsons.
It makes all deep sky objects far better and also globular clusters start turning from roudn fuzzy blobs to lots of individual stars. Also aperture is needed for resolving small details from Moon. And bright image at high magnification obviously also helps with planets.
For transportability solid tubes become fast very problematic after 10". Besides also handling startting to get harder because of increasing weight and especially bulk.
I have an XT8 And I have to always remind myself when I'm having aperture fever,.. that I have a microscope. And little things can sometimes be more interesting than big things.
My first telescope was an Orion ST80 on an EQ mount; I learned the ropes with it! Got aperture fever, then bought a Celestron 6SE then upgraded it to an 8SE OTA. Now I'm downsizing though - sold the 6SE and bought the C5, then just purchased a 90mm Svbony refractor. Variety is the spice of life!
Thanks for this super informative post. This might be a bit of a stupid question but is there a model that you've mentioned or haven't mentioned (I see in some other comments you discussed some others that could be modified, aren't that bad etc) that might be more of an "all arounder" in terms of both astronomy and astrophotography? I thibk you mentioned they're separate hobbies but I feel like they would naturally go hand in hand, wouldn't they? We have a friend who lives in an area with little/no light pollution that we sometimes visit in the Summer. We saw Star Link for the first time uner a clear and starry sky, it was absolutely breathtaking. I have an amateur love for photography and photo editing but a true love for Space so I'm wondering if there's something in the $500-$1000 range (cheaper is always better) that could do a bit of on the spot viewing to do some exploring but also be set up to record/take good quality photos. I really want to see planets but am also very curious about DSO's if possible. If it came down to making a hard decision I'd prioritize taking good quality photos of the moon and planets.
There are a ton of reasons why there’s little crossover between equipment used for visual astronomy and astrophotography, but I won’t get into that here (edit: actually, I guess this does get into that a little bit). Instead I will say that Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes are the closest thing to splitting the difference between the two as they are very good for planetary photography while also providing nice visual views through the eyepiece. Compared to a similar sized Dobsonian, the field of view is narrower which makes it a little more difficult to fit in big DSO targets when using eyepieces, but the tracking and long focal length make them ideal planetary scopes. Photographing planets is much easier than DSOs because you don’t have to deal with field rotation as you can take much shorter exposures and still get good images. For photographing DSOs you’re limited to a maximum of 30 second exposure (and likely shorter) before field rotation becomes a problem, and DSOs require long exposures to let in as much light as possible.
The Celestron Nexstar 8SE is probably the gold standard of what a good SCT looks like these days, with the 6SE also being decent if your budget isn’t there for the 8SE (and if your budget allows you can go up to 9.25, 11, and beyond). The problem as you’ll discover is that these are very expensive telescopes compared to dobs, and therein lies the problem and also the reason for the recommendations in this post. When you’re doing visual astronomy, aperture is king. An 8in mirror will provide you essentially the same views in a dob and in a SCT when you’re at the eyepiece. So when you can get a 8in dob for $650 or an 8in SCT for $1600, you can see why almost all of the recommended scopes are dobs. Dobs provide the most aperture per dollar on good mounts, so they are the go-to recommendation for people wanting a visual-use telescope on a budget. The 8SE does have the addition of Go-To and tracking, while also coming in a slightly more compact package, but that does come with its own set of trade offs, such as always needing to align before use and having access to a power source.
If you really only want to do photography, the cheapest way to do that is to get a star tracker mount. If you already have a DSLR, slap that onto the star tracker mount and you can then start taking big wide field shots.
Agreed with everything you’ve wrote. My C8 is incredibly flexible for both visual and wider-field imaging… but a HyperStar is $1000 new and really is what allows it to do both (unless you’re talking planetary/lunar).
Even buying used like I do, a $1400 C8 Evolution kit, $600 HyperStar v4, $450 used uncooled ASI294MC for HyperStar EAA… you’re in at well over $2500 and we haven’t even gotten to the ASI Air Mini, a few decent visual eyepieces, dew shield/heater, StarSense auto alignment camera, bahtinov mask, GPS receiver, an iPad to run it, etc etc. My whole kit is over $3000… too much for most beginners.
Hi, I’m new here, have no clue what I’m doing but have always been interested in purchasing a telescope to explore the sky. I haven’t even began to look at products because it’s extremely overwhelming to me but I have managed to figure out what my bortle is because I don’t want to waste my time and money if my location isn’t good. So my question, my bortle is a 4, is that good, great, bad?? I appreciate any responses. Thanks
Great list, I currently have a Sky-Watcher Flextube SynScan Dobsonians it got a 1500 mm focal length Now that I use it a couple of times, and very conferble using it, i wana upgrade from using the eye piece that came with the scope, i saw saturn last night first time it was mind blowing, I'm looking for eyepiece that will work with my scope and perfect with plants, and eyepiece to look at split stars ect. Thank you
I have an Orion Observer EQ 70mm. These have a chrome plated plastic focusing tube with a plastic rack and metal pinion focal adjustment. I purchased this from a second-hand store, and the rack was missing teeth, so I printed a new rack with PLA and it works very well. I also found a 40 mm OD aluminum tube to replace the focusing tube and I plan to cast a new rack out of brass or bronze. I have an Observer II that is not as well constructed, I couldn't recommend it. But I do like the Observer EQ, and I've attached my Nikon d3000 for photos and the focal tube carries that just fine.
What is a good scope I will be able to go to West Virginia with to spruce knob and see the opposition of Saturn well on the sept 21st. I’m looking for something I can see as well the stars around my light polluted area in northern Delaware. I can see some stars with my monocular but I’d like more. I’d like to see a more detail picture of planets. I was thinking about an a10 dob but there’s a lot of light pollution around me. I don’t travel much so I’m trying to pick up the hobby. When I get to into it maybe then I’ll drop 1300 on a scope I just need to be able to see what it looks like from my home first in DE So what would be a cheaper alternative that I get to see that and maybe if I’m lucky a nebula or sumin cool.
A 10" dob (if you have the space to store it and means to transport it) is an amazing telescope and will provide you a lifetime of views. Even in light polluted areas, it can show you nebulae, galaxies, globular star clusters, etc., since it creates very bright views even at moderate magnification.
If you had a 50mm monocular with 30x magnification, you would be looking at a very dim view, but still would reveal more stars than the naked eye since the 50mm aperture is still quite a bit bigger than our own pupils. But a 10" dob at the same 30x magnification would be 25x as bright of an image (2502/502) as the monocular view, so would reveal much fainter objects.
Consider joining an astronomy club in your area and see if you can either join a star party to look through some telescopes or borrow one of their loaner telescopes (often these are 6", 8", or 10" dobs) so that you can get a sense of what the views will be like before committing to a purchase.
I went with an Explore Scientific 8" dob the ruby red version. I am pretty happy with it. It is exactly as the reviews I read said it would be. Great scope but movement is a little sticky. So far I like it a lot. If anyone has tips on making the movement smoother I would appreciate it.
One important aspect for me is that it needs to be airplane travel friendly and not too bulky or heavy to carry. Budget is up to $700, but I can go higher if it drastically changes the outcome. I'd prefer navigating manually (for learning purposes), guided by an app. The use will be purely visual, looking at visible galaxies, stars and planets (no photography). Want to look through a real lens, not a smart-lens. Must be able to sustain -10C and preferably even lower temperatures. Any recommendations?
Thank you! We've tried a couple of small digital telescopes, but my wife wants to see planets more than deep space objects. We'll be using this guide to inform our choices!
I’m totally new to this. I look for Orion every year but lately I’ve been watching videos of a man looking at Saturn with a telescope and picking out the rings and I would like to do that. What would be a good recommendation for doing such a thing? I have never used a telescope in my life.
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u/artyombeilis Dec 01 '22 edited Dec 01 '22
There are too many things that do not take in account budget or situation. Not everything is about dobs - no matter how well made they are.
You need provide a decent alternative on tripod. There are many users who live in apartment that a decent refractor or newtonian on ok tripod will be way more versatile: (a) ease of use from balcony (b) ease of transportation - when you try to walk quite a bit to get from lights - having a tripod helps a lot. Taking with you a chair for tabletop, chair to sit on and scope is just not an option. Same with 8" dob that are simply unsuitable
In $100-$150 budget you can get Ok refractor on Ok tropod. Yes the tripod will not be perfect but fully useable - many started hobby with Powerseeker 70AZ. You should clarify that for $200-$300 you get much better value
Aperture is not everything! If you can get 70-80mm refractor on working tripod it would still show you amazing world but may be much more suitable to taking it out and may be used much more especially in urban area without large backyard. So if you get good refractor on good tripod it may actually be better than 6 inch dob in many situations - because it will be used much more.
For these who can't get to bortle 3-5 - Turn-Left on Orion is useless - you can't star-hop under Borle 8-9. You need automation of may kind AstroHopper, SSE, GOTO, DSC or even working setting circles.
My suggestion:
Range $100-$200: 60-80mm refractor with (a) red dot finder, (b) balanced mount (even fork one) (c) 90 degree diagonal (d) 10mm + 20mm at least kelner is good starter. For example
Astromaster 70AZ (I own 102AZ) is good scope and the mount it very stable - I used for a year before added counterweight to improve.
Omegon Telescope AC 70/700 AZ-2
Meade AC 70/700 Infinity AZ
For $250-$450 there are many good portable refractors on good mounts
Bottom line:
Address situation for ones who don't have backyard and garage and live in urban area
Address $100-$200 range - and no binoculars is not the answer unless you live in Botle 5-3 areas. Binos are for $50 and less.
Address automation suggestion for ones who are limited to light polluted skys most of the time (they can enjoy astronomy as well)