Best amateur telescopes for armchair stargazers

Star gazing is my hobby and space my passion. I often go through the Internet to surf for great telescopes which allow me to have a closer look at the stars and other endless things in the Universe.

Here I have compiled a list of the best telescopes for personal use. There are many scopes available but I find these most appropriate to whet a stargazer's appetite.

SkyScout

z2 69

Price: $399

Manufacturer/Retailer: Celestron

Celestron truly claims that the sky will not look the same with this most user-friendly telescope. All you have to do is to point the SkyScout at any star in the sky and click the target button. This GPS star finder telescope will tell you what object you are looking at. Its one click ready to use function comes packed with massive informative celestial database allowing users to locates over 6,000 stars, planets and constellations.

Major technical specs:

Graphic LCD display with red LED backlight

3"W x 1"H (78mm x 26mm)

Frequency response: 20 to 20,000 Hz

SD and USB slots

3.5mm stereo jack for headphones

Weight: 15.2 ounces

Bottom Line:

Its portability, one click function and massive informative celestial database makes it a must have.

Celestron CPC Series Telescope

z4 69

Price: $1,999

Manufacturer/Retailer: Celestron

This telescope from Celestron is a GPS enabled computerized telescope integrated with the Celestron Professional Computerized Series. Equipped with excellent CCD cameras, it's an astrophotographer's delight delivering extreme close-ups of surfaces of planets and even rings of Saturn. It comes with a whopping database containing over 40,000 celestial objects.

Major technical specs:

Magnification: max - 480 x, min - 29 x

Light gathering power: 843 x

Resolution: Photographic - 200 line/mm, Motor - 0.14 arc seconds

Display: 16 character LCD

Aperture: 203.2 mm (8 in)

Focal Length: 2032 mm (80 in)

Focal Ratio: 10

Bottom Line:

It's Celestron's one of the most portable and affordable astronomical telescopes. You can easily set this in your backyard, as it weighs just 42 lb. The best thing it offers is easy installation and alignment allowing you to focus on distant objects with ease.

Meade LX90GPS Telescope

z5 69

Price: $2,734

Manufacturer/Retailer: Meade

The Meade LX90GPS comes equipped with the built-in Sony GPS sensor and AutoAlign, allowing you to align the scope and capture best shots of over 30,000 objects in the universe. Users can update software installation by simply downloading upgrades, guided tours and timely objects like comets, satellites and new discoveries free. The scope's extraordinary 'Slew Speed' of 7 degrees per second allows users to see more objects in less time with precision.

Major technical specs: The technical specs differs as per the specified scope including - 8', 10' and 12' available verities.

Focal Length Focal Ratio: 2000mm f/10(8"), 2500mm f/10 (10"), 3048mm f/10 (12")

Clear Aperture: 203mm (8"), 254mm (10"), 305mm (12")

Go To Pointing Precision: 5-arc mins

Autostar computer hand control

Oversized primary mirrors

Bottom Line:

The Meade LX90GPS is the best piece for long exposure astrophotography. It's ability to communicate to satellites via the global positioning system along with the LX90 Schmidt-Cassegrain makes it worth the money.

Telescope Strength binoculars:

z62 69

Price: 1,699.95

Manufacturer/Retailer: Hammacher Schlemmer

This device has broken all records with a whopping 40X of magnification power taking you closer to the stars beyond your imagination. The telescope strength binoculars are equipped with BAK-4 prisms and hence ensure reduced light scattering and sharp, bright images.

Major technical specs:

40X magnification

Eye relief: 23.6 mm

Crafted from heavy-duty aluminum and steel

Completely waterproof for regular outdoor use

Bottom Line:

This device can be used both as binocular and telescope making it best for amateur stargazers.

Max Mount RCX400

z7 69

Price: $60,000 with MAX Mount

Manufacturer/Retailer: Meade

This one from Meade is meant for those who have some serious interest in astronomy and stargazing. To own this one must have a very fat pocket. The best feature about the product is the robotic Max Mount that allows you to control it from a remote location.

Major technical specs:

Robotic Max Mount

Controllable via PC, PDA, Cell Phone, Mac

20-inch aperture

Delivers crystal clear pictures of far off galaxies

Bottom Line:

The telescope is surely one of the best that has been featured in this list. For anyone who can easily give away $60k this one is a must have.

Jim's Mobile (JMI) NGT 12.5 Inch Newtonian

z8 69

Price: $4,100

Manufacturer/Retailer: JMI

This next generation telescope is a uniquely designed equatorial Newtonian. The NGT is a revolutionary instrument that has won awards and acclaims throughout the world.

Major technical specs:

Removable ring assembly allows greater disassembly with the largest component weighing 40 lb.

Sidereal, Lunar, Solar and King tracking rates with both Northern and Southern hemisphere operation

Dual control drive corrector with 0.3x / 0.5x / 2x / 4x / 8x / 16x correction

CCD autoguider compatible

Battery and AC power

Adjustable focal point

Snap-fit Serrurier truss rods

Bottom Line:

The awards and acclaims that this device has earned are enough to tell you about the quality of this telescope. Moreover its compact size and rotating nose assembly make it easy to use.

Orion Atlas 8 EQ-G

z101 69

Price: $1,399.95

Manufacturer/Retailer: Orion

If your interest in amateur astronomy runs the gamut from observing to astro-imaging, you need an instrument that's up to the task like the Atlas 8 EQ-G. This telescope is a host of some outstanding features and moreover its price tag will also not hurt your pocket much.

Major technical specs:

8-inch optics

203mm Parabolic Mirror

2-inch focuser

1.25-inch adapter

GoTo Controller

Bottom Line:

The device comes with a GoTo controller that means you can visit more than 13,000 celestial objects with touch button ease.

MySKY Personal Planetarium

z1 69

Price: $400

Manufacturer/Retailer: Meade

This one from Meade is truly a masterpiece. It comes with GPS capabilities and can tell you which object in the universe are you scanning. It also comes with a LCD screen so you don't have to strain your eyes by continuously looking through the eyepiece.

Major technical specs:

GPS capabilities

Can identify more than 30,000 astronomical objects

480 x 234 LCD screen

Easy to use and portable

Bottom Line:

Meade has surely made stargazing much simpler with this device.