Telescope for newbie

[vrdiver]

I'm after any recommendations for a telescope for a relative newbie (has done some astronomy courses, but never owned a telescope before.

A bonus would be the ability to connect to a camera to capture images.

Suggestions welcome, especially if they come with pros/cons about the telescope itself.

Many thanks
VRD

[Lootman]

Budget? Here is a dirt cheap one that might be good for a child starting out:

https://www.thegadgetsemporium.com/prod ... -telescope

Refractor or reflector?:

https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advi ... refractor/

Ignore the claims for magnification which are merely a function of the focal length of the eyepiece. High magnifications will not work on a cheap, small aperture scope.

Remember that the stand or tripod is as important as the scope, as you don't want the thing shaking as you try and view. I paid over a thousand for my stand. And how will you track a celestial object? Although they move slowly, they do move and you need a way of following its path.

And portability. Will it be in just one place or will you need to move it around, which can be a challenge for a large, heavy piece of kit?

What I cannot answer is the hooking up to a computer part. Some amateurs and almost all professional astronomers never look through telescopes these days. It's all done remotely so you don't have to freeze whilst viewing. But I am old school.

[tacpot12]

eBay should be a good option for this sort of purchase. The ideal seller is one who is upgrading to a better level of equipment, or someone who has bought good equipment but found the hobby less rewarding than they expected.

I believe there a local astronomy groups - you could join one of these and get recommendations from them, and possibly even land a bargain. They will have found ways to 'meet' during lockdown.

[Itsallaguess]

Suggestions welcome, especially if they come with pros/cons about the telescope itself.

Reddit have a really good sticky -

An absolute beginner's quick-guide to choosing your first telescope -

https://www.reddit.com/r/telescopes/comments/i0tzkw/an_absolute_beginners_quickguide_to_choosing_your/

Then their 'r/telescopes/' board will also be a great resource for anyone starting out -

https://www.reddit.com/r/telescopes/

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[PhaseThree]

Have you considered astronomical binoculars ?
I find them a lot more comfortable to use than telescopes.

[Garless]

First question, where do you live. The light pollution where I live means if I had a telescope it would be useless. I can drive into the cotswolds but lugging a decent tripod and telescope would be a waste of time so binoculars are the only portable option. BUT high magnification binoculars are equally useless unless you can hold them steady.

[mike]

Perhaps have a scan here - there are sections for beginners and more advanced topics

https://stargazerslounge.com/index.php