Top telescopes for beginners

Best overall 3.

At All-Star Telescope we like to say that the best beginner telescope is the one that you'll actually use. It has to be easy enough to use and light enough to manage. We carry a great selection of beginner telescopes that will help you to explore the space around us. In the right seeing conditions, beginner telescopes can show the four large moons of Jupiter and the dark cloud belts in the Jovian atmosphere. And, yes, you can see the rings of Saturn, even under city skies! Under darker, rural skies you can hunt down glittering clusters of stars, and subtle clouds of gas, called nebulas where stars are forming. The distant Andromeda Galaxy is also well within reach with a beginner telescope.

Top telescopes for beginners

Looking to buy your first telescope but don't know where to start? We've picked out some of the best beginner telescopes on the market. The best telescopes for beginners are those that are easy to set up, won't stretch your budget and yet give you great views of night sky targets. But if you're starting out as a newcomer to astronomy, it can be difficult to know what to look for when buying your first telescope. Beginners face a seemingly daunting array of different types of telescope, different brands and different price ranges. It can be difficult to wade your way through the jargon of practical astronomy and work out which is best suited to your observing needs. There is one simple thing to consider when buying your first telescope, and that's making sure you get an instrument you'll actually use. After something specific? Jump to some of the best telescopes for beginners on our list via the links below. If your first telescope is too large and unwieldy or requires a lot of tinkering, you'll be put off. You may find it difficult to transport and your scope could be consigned to the garden shed or garage, never to be used again. Join your local astronomy society , attend a star party or find your nearest astronomy kit stockist. For more detailed help you can also read our guides to choosing your first telescope and how to spend your first night with a telescope.

Featuring a mm aperture, it gathers a significant amount of light, allowing clear observations of faint celestial objects like nebulas and galaxies. The larger aperture allows more light to enter, providing clearer and brighter views of celestial bodies like Jupiter, top telescopes for beginners, Saturn, and Mars. This review contains affiliate links and we may receive a commission for purchases made.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you buy a product through the links on this article, we may earn a commission. Gazing up at the stars can spark a love for astronomy in kids that lasts a lifetime. But the quest begins with a single step — choosing the right telescope. In the world of astronomy, telescopes are the magic portals that unlock the wonders of the universe. How we made our list of best telescopes for kids : The following guide was curated by the seasoned star-spotters at Astronomy Magazine.

This site contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. Selecting the perfect telescope as a novice stargazer can be a daunting task with the multitude of options available. It has an Altazimuth Mount that eliminates the need for complicated setups or polar alignments. This makes it a favorite for families or those wanting a straightforward, hassle-free stargazing experience. Its manual focus allows users to fine-tune their views, ensuring clarity and precision in what they observe. The finderscope, being a reflex type, aids in swiftly locating celestial objects. This, combined with the lens coating of aluminum and silicon dioxide, ensures the user gets the best possible light intake and minimal light scattering.

Top telescopes for beginners

Few things are as awe-inspiring as being under a clear night sky, looking up, and gazing at a seemingly infinite array of stars overhead. So we rounded up 14 telescopes, and, after months of holding star parties, we think the Celestron NexStar 5SE is the best telescope for a curious amateur. It gathers enough light for you to view the best features of our solar system, and it provides enough power for you to begin exploring deep-sky objects. In addition, this model has an electronic GPS database preloaded with almost 40, celestial objects, so after you calibrate the scope, it can scan the skies for you. This electronic telescope lets you program it to find objects in the night sky automatically, saving you the effort of reading star charts and manuals. This manual telescope a type some people prefer offers quality optics and design touches that far exceed its price. It works best on a tabletop. Though a bit unwieldy at times, this model can view dimmer objects in the deeper reaches of space. This inexpensive telescope integrates smartphone app connectivity in a clever way, opening up the skies for beginners.

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Lowest useful magnification: 29x. Known as fast radio bursts, these incredibly bright flashes of energy are thought to be related to dying stars called magnetars. Nevertheless, its robust construction and excellent features make up for this minor inconvenience. As a guide, your highest power eyepiece should deliver a magnification double the telescope's aperture in millimeters — for example, x on a mm telescope, x on a mm telescope, and so on. The conditions were favorable, allowing us to discern the atmospheric belts and the largest moons of the gas giant. The optical truss tube assembly collapses from its inch viewing length to 14 inches, and it weighs only 14 pounds. The Honda EUi is our favorite. No tripod, mount or polar alignment required: just set it onto a steady garden table or even a rolling trolley for wheeling in and out of storage. Best for portability 8. We timed how long it took to set up each telescope and have it ready for stargazing. Best budget telescope A decent budget telescope that's good for viewing the moon, but not a whole lot else. The latter is easily resolved with a careful selection of eyepieces, so we recommend investing in one of the best eyepieces to make the most of the Inspire AZ's optical system. Collapsed down, it's easily transported and set up quickly in a dark-sky location. We know how confusing buying your first telescope can be so in this section you will find a dozen of our most popular choices for beginners. Perhaps the only real complaint we can throw at the FirstScope is that is doesn't come with a finderscope — a tool that aids in aligning the telescope.

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These will serve beginners well. We've chosen the Celestron NexStar 4SE as one of the best telescopes for beginners for one main reason: It's incredibly easy to set up and allows you to get observing the night sky straight away. Functionality Great for a wide selection of astrophotography. For example, the most basic reflector telescopes have a Newtonian design, which means they have a main mirror and a smaller, secondary one to divert the light at right angles to the eyepiece from the top of the telescope. Open menu Close menu Space Space. Functionality Better suited to wide angle subjects. It basically looks like a long tube, potentially as tall or taller than you, with a sturdy, swiveling base. Dobsonians collect a lot of light, and they have enough resolving power to deliver breathtaking views of celestial objects. It combines the innovative StarSense technology that leverages your cell phone to navigate the sky, with a beautiful 5" optical tube. For decades, the Dobsonian stood as a DIY staple of amateur astronomy, usually constructed with two mirrors, a tube and a base. It's worth remembering that the NexStar SE telescopes consume a significant amount of power.