Beginner telescopes for space enthusiasts

Price: $300

At the first glance, it may look like a toy because of its red exteriors but it is far from it. If you are going to purchase your first telescope, then do not hesitate for a moment before making this product as your choice.

If you want to purchase a brand new then you have to pay $300 but if you want to save your money, then you can buy it from the used market at a stealing price of $200.

It surpasses the crop of cheap refractors costing much the same, but it has built in ball mount, is portable, perfect for kids, does not require a finder and is very stable. It requires no collimation and is very quick and easy to set up. It is made of durable plastics and the optics is sealed, making it child friendly. That is why this telescope is around for decades and known as an ideal for beginners. Every astronomer heard of this model and had used it once in his lifetime.

The telescope is produced by Edmund Scientific Corporation and designed by Norman Sperling and Mike Simmons.

USP: Built in ball mount and requires no collimation.

Pros: Excellent telescope for starters, durable and versatile, and gives good views of planets and moons.

Price: $99.95

It is a very fantastic telescope for a beginner with a very affordable price tag. It has a 76 mm (3”) aperture reflector that gives wonderful views of Moon, Jupiter, rings of Saturn and many other brighter Nebulas. A stable altazimuth mount and tripod provide smooth motion in both azimuth (left/right) and altitude (up/down) axes of motion.

It features an EZ finder II that makes finding celestial objects very easy, place the red dot on the object that you want to see and you are done. The telescope includes 1.25” telescope eyepieces, smooth rack and pinion focuser, Starry Night Astronomy, and reflector collimation cap. Reading all these features, I am sure that you already know that this telescope can easily give an affordable entry to astronomy beginners.

Once you will purchase the model, it takes around 30-60 minutes to assemble it. According to the company it should take 30 minutes, left depends upon you. Once you set up, then you will see and feel the all around performance of the telescope.

USP: EZ finder

Pros: Beautiful looks, easy to set up and use, lightweight and hands free viewing.

Price: $495.00

The large diameter and fast focal ratio of the telescope makes it ideal for deep space wide field observation of nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies. The Crayford Focuser in this telescope is a large aperture size that allows you to see more distant and faint objects, very smooth in operation and capable of fine adjustments.

The 203mm/1200mm (8") telescope has a parabloidal primary mirror to prevent spherical aberration and four arm, secondary mirror bracket with great support (0.5mm thick) to remove diffraction spikes and light loss.

It is very simple to use and assemble, and the collapsible design makes it completely portable. Thanks to the truss tube design, you do not have to disassemble the telescope during the use. The telescope has the ability to achieve highest level of magnification and is perfect for seasoned and beginners.

Apart from these features, the telescope comes from the company, Sky-Watcher that has achieved many milestones in the creation of finest optical products. Hence, you can definitely consider this product as an entry-level aperture for serious observation.

USP: Comes with 2 eyepieces.

Pros: Sleek design, easy to use, portable and has a good right angle viewfinder.

Price: $349.95

This is a powerful and capable telescope and is the most popular reflectors due to its excellent combination of solid stability, mechanical simplicity, and precision optics. It is a cost effective and big aperture Classic Dobsonian reflector telescope. It comes with 8” diameter reflector optics that allows you to view the details of Moon and all the planets in detail, and has enough light grasp to give you the view of faint Nebulas, star clusters, and galaxies. This reflector has a Dobsonian base that gives an ultimate stability and perfect balance for ease of use.

It includes a 2” Cray Ford Focuser that takes 1.25” and 2” telescope eyepieces , an EZ finder II reflex sight, a 25mm Sirius Plossel eyepiece, Starry Night software and collimation cap.

The manufacturer gives a limited one year warranty on the defects in materials and workmanship and clearly states that this product is not made for children of 12 years and younger in age.

This affordable model is designed for beginners who want take the best possible view of faint Deep Sky objectsUSP: Large reflector optics.

Pros: Affordable, stable and easy to use.

Price: $129.98

This one of the best telescopes for a beginner as it gives a perfect view of land based as well as sky objects. It is a Newtonian Reflector Telescope that has 4.5” aperture for excellent views of Moon, star clusters, Nebulae, galaxies and more. It features a CG-2 equatorial mount that allows you to follow the moving objects because it can cross the sky and has slow motion controls on both the axis. The telescope provides correctly oriented images that suits to both celestial and terrestrial viewing.

USP: Two-year warranty

Pros: Star Pointer finder scope, comes with two eye-pieces and pre-assembled tripod.