
Are you thinking of buying your first telescope? Or are you planning to give a telescope to someone? Buying your first telescope is exciting! But before you dive into the world of stargazing, there is one important thing you need to know.
Never buy a telescope without doing proper research and avoid purchasing it from department stores. Always buy from authentic astronomy instrument sellers. Whether you buy Online or offline.
People usually work there are knowledgeable and can guide you in choosing the best telescope for your specific needs. Online you can find dedicated astronomy instrument sellers like high point scientific. Even if you are buying from amazon make sure you are buying from the particular brand’s official store on amazon.
Why I am saying this is because astronomy is an expensive hobby, and buying a random telescope can often mean falling for clever marketing gimmicks. You’ve probably seen those telescopes in stores with boxes featuring stunning images of galaxies and planets. The truth: those images are not even taken with that telescope. Those telescopes are the worst. If you buy such a telescope, then that telescope will be collecting dust in a corner of your house instead of inspiring you to explore the night sky.
Investing in the right telescope from the start will not only save you money in the long run but it will also ensure that you have a good rewarding experience. With the right telescope, you’ll be motivated to use it frequently to explore the night sky. Remember, the best telescope is the one you’ll use often.
This is important because there is not a single telescope that can do it all. The first step of buying a telescope is knowing what you want to do with a telescope. Are you fascinated by the Moon and planets, like the craters on the Moon or the rings of Saturn? Or maybe you’re inspired by those beautiful photos of the deep space objects you see on Instagram and dream of capturing something like that yourself? Whatever your goal is, starting with the right telescope is important.
Types Of Astronomy
“This brings us to the two main ways to enjoy astronomy: one is visual astronomy and the other is astrophotography. Visual astronomy is all about observing celestial objects directly through your telescope. It’s the easiest way to start, just set up your telescope, point it at the night sky, and enjoy beautiful views of the Moon, planets, and even some bright deep space objects.”
“Astrophotography, on the other hand, is about capturing those celestial objects with a camera. But dedicated astrophotography is more advanced and requires equipment like tracking mount. It’s a rewarding journey but it will take time, patience, and practice.”
So for beginners, visual astronomy is the best way to get started. It is simple and budget-friendly. The most important thing for beginners is to learn about the night sky. Such as learning about the constellations, identifying planets, and recognizing major stars. By observing celestial objects directly through your telescope, gradually you’ll become familiar with the night sky and how the night sky changes with time.
Visual astronomy will not only sharpen your observational skills but it will also build the foundation for more advanced stuff such as astrophotography and once you get comfortable, you can decide whether astrophotography is the next step for you.
So, in this article, I’ll guide you through the best telescopes for beginners. And I will go in the order from cheaper to more expensive telescopes, so whether you’re on a tight budget or have a medium budget or even if budget is not at all an issue for you, you’ll find a good option for these few telescopes. That being said, let’s begin.
Celestron StarSense 114LT telescope
This is a reflector type telescope. This is the cheapest telescope you can buy which will offer great value for the money. It has an aperture of 114mm, around 4.5 inches. It is a very beginner friendly telescope and very easy to set up. You can see the moon and planets like Jupiter and Saturn with this telescope.

This one is a manual telescope, but it comes with a StarSense technology so it is very easy for beginners to navigate through the night sky. This telescope will cost you around $200 and I think this $200 should be your minimum budget as any telescope which costs less than $200 is not really going to be that good.
You can read the full review of this telescope in this article.
Tabletop Dobsonian Telescope
Usually Dobsonian telescopes are big and heavy. It is difficult to move them often. So, a tabletop Dobsonian telescope is a compact and portable version of the traditional Dobsonian telescope. It is designed to be placed on a flat surface like a table, desk, or sturdy surface.
Dobsonians are reflector type telescopes, if you don’t know what the different types of telescopes are then you should read this article.
These telescopes do not need any complicated alignment or setup. Just put it on the table or sturdy surface and set up the red dot finder just once in the beginning and that’s it. You can start pointing your telescope to your favorite target and start observing.
These telescopes come in aperture sizes from 80mm to 150mm. Many telescope brands like Sky-watcher, Zhumell, Orion and Celestron sell these telescopes.

I think the good choice for this telescope is to go for anything above 100 mm aperture that is above 4-inches of aperture. The best choice will be the 130mm aperture as you will get the best value for the money.
You can buy tabletop telescopes from any brand I mentioned but if I had to choose then I would go with the Skywatcher 130P Flextube, which has a 5-inch aperture. And my second choice would be Celestron. The optical tube of both Skywatcher and Celestron is similar but Celestron comes with a starsense technology. Starsense makes it easier to find objects in the night sky. Which is extremely helpful for beginners. But it comes with a cost as the celestron telescope is more expensive than a skywatcher. Skywatcher and others will cost you a little above $200.
You can see the moon, planets, and some bright deep space objects with this telescope.
Celestron NexStar 130 SLT
This is the biggest telescope in Celestron’s SLT series. This is a reflector-type telescope. The aperture of this telescope is 130 mm. It has a 650mm focal length and an f/5 focal ratio. The optics of this telescope are coated. so that maximum light can be transmitted to the eyepiece.

The focal length is only 650 mm, and the focal ratio is 5, which is close to the faster focal ratio. A faster focal ratio is good for observing deep-space objects. With a less focal length and a fast focal ratio, you can get a wide field of view, which is good for observing objects in deep space objects.
The total weight of this telescope kit is around 10 kg. In comparison to the size of the aperture, it is a very light telescope. The telescope has a computerized single fork alt-az mount. It comes with a database of more than 4000 celestial objects. In short, you do not have to worry about navigating through the sky with this telescope.
With this telescope, you can see the moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and their rings. You will also be able to see some bright deep space objects, such as the Andromeda galaxy and the Orion nebula.
An 8-inch Dobsonian
The Dobsonian telescopes are the best value for money telescopes. These telescopes offer you the biggest aperture for its price in any other type of telescope. But the biggest drawback of this telescope is its weight. These telescopes are heavier and limit the portability of this telescope.
So, if you know your telescope will be sitting in your backyard and you will not move it often then this is the telescope you should consider. Especially if you live in an area which is below Class 4 bortle then this telescope will give you more value. As it will show you the objects much clearer and better. Bortle scale measures the amount of light pollution in your area. If want to learn more about bortle scale then check out this article.
Usually the total weight of an 8-inch Dobsonian is 20 kg, 10 kg of which is of the optical tube assembly and the 10 kg is of the Dobsonian mount.

If the weight and portability is not an issue for you then this will be the most value for money telescope you will ever buy. You can also go with the 6-inch version of this telescope. The 6-inch version you can get in the tabletop model, which will cost you a little less. The 8-inch version will cost you minimum $500 and maximum $800. There are many options available in dobsonian such as Skywatcher, Celestron, Apertura and Orion.
You can also buy the truss tube dobsonian telescope. It has less weight compared to normal Dobsonian and it can be made compact after use so this telescope is slightly portable than the normal closed tube classic Dobsonian. If you buy the old type of classic closed tube dobsonian then it will cost you less, but if you buy a truss tube dobsonian then it will cost you slightly more. The Celestron 8-inch Dobsonian is more expensive than others as it comes with its StarSense technology.
WARNING
One thing I want to mention is that if you buy the truss tube dobsonian telescope whether this one or the table top model. Never use it to look at the sun. You have to be very careful while looking at the sun even with your normal telescope. The truss tube telescope is an open tube telescope and usually Solar filters are typically designed to cover the primary mirror. However, in open or truss tube designs, stray sunlight can bypass the filter altogether and it can enter from the side. So, unfiltered sunlight entering through these openings can reflect off the mirrors and reach your eye, causing severe damage, including blindness. So if you buy the truss tube version do not use it for observing Sun.
Celestron NexStar 8SE
This is the most popular telescope of Celestron’s orange tube NexStar Series. It is a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. This telescope is very beginner friendly and easy to set up. The telescope has an aperture of 200mm around 8-inches and focal length of 2032mm. Because of its longer focal length you can see the nearby object in much detail.
As it is a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope the weight of the telescope is not much and you can easily carry this telescope to dark sky locations. So if portability is huge for you then this is the telescope you can go for.
The telescope cost you more than $1200 and as a beginner if you are absolutely sure about pursuing this hobby for the long term then this will be the best telescope you can buy. You can read the full review of this telescope in this article.

If you want a smaller version of this telescope then you can also go with the 6-inch version. It will cost you more than $800. Everything is the same in 6-inch and 8-inch telescopes including the mount, the only difference is the aperture size of these two telescopes. You can watch the comparison video of these two telescopes here.
If in future you get more serious about astronomy and want to start astrophotography you can use this telescope with an EQ mount as well.
So if you have a higher budget and want a telescope for the long term which will offer you the best of both worlds of visual astronomy and astrophotography then NexStar 6SE and 8SE is for you. These telescopes cost you more, but you will not regret buying this one.
Final Thoughts
Now if you want to buy something else and want to do your own research, then one thing I would recommend is to avoid telescopes which come with equatorial mounts. EQ mounts are great but for beginners it will be really complicated to use. Also, the cheaper version of equatorial mounts are not that great and do not offer you much stability or smooth tracking. If you want to learn more about basic concepts of telescope like aperture, focal length, eyepieces, field of view then please check out this playlist. Watch this playlist couple of times so that you will never forget the basic concepts.
If you find this article helpful then check out other articles on our site to learn more about Telescopes and Stargazing.