When you as a beginner first think of stargazing, buying a really good telescope comes to mind. But a good telescope costs a lot of money. So for people who are on a budget, getting started with their stargazing journey with a good expensive telescope becomes very difficult. So, here are some telescopes which are good for getting started and will not break the bank. These telescopes are really good for kids to get started with astronomy.
National Geographic 114 by Explore Scientific.
This telescope is from one of the popular telescope manufacturers, explore scientific. It has an aperture of 114mm around 4.5-inches. Its focal length is 500mm. The focal ratio of this telescope is 4.3.
This telescope comes with two Plossl eyepieces. One is 25mm and another 10mm. You also get a 2X Barlow lens with this telescope. With the help of the Barlow lens, the highest magnification you can get with this telescope is 103X. The lowest magnification you can get with this telescope is 19X.
The optical tube assembly of the telescope is made of Carbon fiber material and is lightweight. The total weight of the telescope kit is 12 lbs around 5.5 kg. This makes this telescope a perfect grab-and-go telescope for kids to carry around.
The telescope has an alt-azimuth mount. The telescope kit also includes a telephone adapter and a red dot finder. You can easily click photos with this telescope. You also get the Stellarium. software and a star map with this telescope. The software is useful in navigating through the night sky.
With this telescope, you can see the moon and planets.
The focal ratio of 4.3 is considered a fast focal ratio. So the telescope will give a good deep space observation but the aperture of the telescope is too small. So, do not expect too much from deep space images. You will get decent images of the moon and nearby planets with this telescope. Overall this telescope is great to get started with astronomy.
For this price, the telescope offers a lot more features. So this makes this a perfect beginner telescope.
Gskyer 70mm telescope.
This telescope from Gskyer is a refractor-type telescope. It has an aperture of 70mm and a focal length of 400mm. The focal ratio of this telescope is 5.7. The telescope is small and compact. The telescope comes with two eyepieces and a Barlow lens. With the use of Barlow, the highest useful magnification you get with this telescope is 120X.
The telescope comes with an alt-azimuth mount which is very easy to use for beginners or kids. Assembling this telescope is very quick and easy. You also get a Smartphone adapter with a Bluetooth remote for taking beautiful photos while scanning the sky. With this telescope, you can see the moon & nearby planets. For viewing deep space objects the aperture of this telescope is very small. So don’t expect anything for deep space observation for this telescope. The short stand is perfect for kids to scan the sky for celestial objects. It is important to note that in places with a lot of light pollution, finding planets will definitely be difficult.
As this is a compact telescope it can be your grab-n-go telescope on the go. It doesn’t take up much space and is very easy to carry around. The telescope is ideal for kids to get started with astronomy. For beginners, there is a lot to learn with this telescope. The telescope has high ratings among its users. This makes this telescope a great entry-level purchase that comes at a much more affordable price than more advanced options.
Overall the telescope does justice for the price you pay for. If you want to buy a telescope for your kid or as a beginner you just want something to get started with astronomy. Then this telescope will be perfect for you.
Celestron – 80mm Travel Scope
This is also a refractor-type telescope from Celestron. It has an aperture of 80mm. Its focal length is 400mm and its focal ratio is 5. The telescope comes with two eyepieces. One is 20mm and the other is 10mm. The highest useful magnification of this telescope is 189X and the lowest useful magnification is 11X. The magnifications you can achieve are on the lower side. This is because the small aperture doesn’t gather enough light to make practical use of more power.
This telescope is mainly for kids and people who like to use it for hunting or bird viewing. The aperture lens has a coating for maximum light throughput. It comes with an alt-azimuth mount. This mount is ideal for kids to use. It is very easy to assemble this telescope.
The total weight of this telescope assembly is 4.1 lbs around 2kg. Celestron also provides a backpack with this telescope. This is very handy to carry this telescope to different locations and the telescope is very lightweight. It is a grab & go telescope. You also get a Smartphone adapter to capture the images of the objects.
With this kit, you get a Basic edition of Starry Nights astronomy software and the Sky Portal app. You can use these to plan and decide which bright objects to look for.
With this telescope, you can see the moon & planets. You will also be able to see the moons of Jupiter but they will look very small. Saturn from this telescope will look like a yellow dish.
You will not be able to see any deep space objects clearly with this telescope as the aperture is very small. Overall the telescope is value for the money you pay for.
So these are some of the telescopes which are useful for kids as well the extreme beginners.
If you are looking for a telescope specifically for astrophotography then you need to check this article. You can also find the best suitable telescope for you with our telescope suggestion tool.
