Best Telescopes for the Money [bestandroiddoubledinheadunit950.blogspot.com]

Best Telescopes for the Money [bestandroiddoubledinheadunit950.blogspot.com]

Space.com Editors have selected 12 Great Telescopes in 4 Categories. Are you a traveler? Student of the sky? On a budget? Live in a small home? Do you like digital tech? Or prefer an analog approach?

Credit: Space.com – Dave Brody

A photon leaps off the sun and, about 500 seconds later, bounces off our Earth. Light has been dancing and rebounding from faraway and nearby celestial objects for more than 13 billion years. It’s time you caught some of it for your very own.

That’s what telescopes do; they gather light. But which telescope you choose to collect that radiance will vary according to your needs and budget. Our editors have selected a few of the best options in four categories. Click on each to read a review of the telescopes in these groups:

Or see our Best Telescopes for Kids – Preschool and Up pages.

Now, let’s see which type of telescope is the best fit for your needs:

After looking carefully at a variety of telescopes, we selected the ones that have enough horsepower to drive many years of satisfying observation but that don’t break the bank. You can read our in-depth review of the best hobbyist telescopes here. See our top choices below:

Editors’ Choice: Celestron SkyProdigy 130

• Reflector / AltAz / Tripod / Go-To
• Easiest setup; totally self-aligning on the sky

Easy set-up, self-aligning and optically excellent beginner telescope

Credit: Celestron

 

The Celestron SkyProdigy 130 is the first consumer telescope to offer fully automatic alignment. Once set up, it takes just 3 minutes under the night sky for the scope to find itself. Then you can drive this high-quality Newtonian reflector using the wired remote keypad. The SkyProdigy comes with two 1.25-inch Kellner eyepieces (25mm and 9mm). The nicely machined focuser can also accept 2-inch eyepieces.

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Alternate Editors’ Choice: Orion SkyQuest XT8i IntelliScope

• Reflector / AltAz / Dobsonian
• Most “Big Bang” for your buck; largest aperture           

Much “Big Bang” for your buck, has this large aperture Dobsonian telescope.

Credit: Orion Telescopes and Binoculars

 

Orion’s SkyQuest is an 8-inch (203mm) Dobsonian telescope. It’s a big light-bucket with an excellent-quality primary mirror that’s great for hauling in the old tired photons of distant galaxies and nebulae. As long as you don’t intend to take long-exposure astro-photos, the SkyQuest is a fabulous tool. Also, be aware that it’s a bit of a kit: You must screw together the altitude-azimuth mount, fit-up the tilting optical tube and do a few more bits of assembly. But it’s fun to do and the result is a wonderful scope you can use for decades. 

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Editors’ Budget Choice:  Celestron NexStar 130SLT

• Reflector / AltAz / Tripod / Go-To
• Best overall value; nicest blend of needed features

This tripod mounted Newtonian reflector boasts wonderful overall value trhrough a great blend of needed features

Credit: Celestron

In our opinion, Celestron’s NexStar 130SLT gives best views of celestial objects of any telescope in its price range. It does not automatically align itself (as its close cousin the SkyProdigy 130 does) but it sets up quickly enough. It’s wired NexRemote keypad lets you fly precisely around the sky, or will autopilot you to any of 4,000 objects in its database. Given its low price, you may have budget left over to buy at least one good 2-inch wide-field eyepiece, for an astonishing “space-walking” visual experience. And, if you want to take portraits of planets and other denizens of deep space, this telescope will accept small cameras.

Read our deep review and comparison of these three hobbyist scopes.

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When it comes to skywatching on the go or from urban areas, a smaller, portable telescope might be more your speed to make observing the night sky a bit easier. You can read our in-depth review of the best portable telescopes. See our top choices below:

Editors’ Choice: Pentax PF-80ED-A (Angled View) – “Spotting Scope”

• [For photography, pick the Or PF80ED-A Straight-Through]
• Refractor (mount, tripod and eyepieces sold separately)
• Clearest and sharpest“grab and go” compact telescope

This is the sharpest and most rugged “grab and go” compact telescope we tested.

Credit: Pentax

There is not a better quality, rugged, portable telescope made than the Pentax PF-80ED. Use it at night for astronomy and during the day for birding, sports-watching or other activities requiring a close-up view. At 16.3-inches (41.5 centimeters) and 3.6 lbs. (1.6 kg), it hides in your suitcase or carry-on bag, ready for adventures everywhere. It won’t fog up. Rain and spray can’t hurt it. And Pentax gives you the industry’s best warranty. You’ll need to buy a tripod separately, and possibly a 1.25-inch astronomy eyepiece or two for skywatching.

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Also Consider: Orion ShortTube 80-A

• Refractor (mount and tripod sold separately)
• Most cost-effective “grab and go” compact telescope

This is the most cost-effective “grab and go” compact telescope: Decent aperture, fairly tough, lightweight and very good optics.

Credit: Orion Telescopes and Binoculars

The Orion ShortTube 80-A is many an eclipse-chaser’s favorite telescope; 3.1inches (8 cm) of aperture executed in extra-low-dispersion “ED” glass. Try pairing it with Orion’s heavy-duty model tripod and head for no-wiggle skywatching. For daytime terrestrial observing, add Orion’s “correct image diagonal” to keep your view right side up.

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Editors’ Budget Choice: Celestron TravelScope 60 – National Park Edition

• Refractor / AltAz Tripod
• Least costly for night-sky and daytime Earth views

At an almost unbelievably low price, this mini-refractor is ready to travel in it’s custom backpack with included tripod, eyepieces, finder-scope, flashlight and compass. Although the aperture is small, you’ll get satisfactory night sky and daytime Earth views.

Credit: Celestron

No room? No money? No problem! Celestron’s TravelScope 60 National Park Foundation telescope does a lot with (and for) a little. But this scope’s 2.36-inch (6 cm) aperture is large enough to yield 140x magnification with its included Barlow lens. And it comes, ready to travel, with its own tripod, moon filter, mirror diagonal (for upright views), compass, and clip-on flashlight; all in its own backpack. Grab and go.

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A Computerized Compact:  Celestron NexStar 4SE

• Catadioptric / AltAz / Tripod / Go-To
• Most fully featured Go-To portable

The most fully featured “Go-To” portable we tested, this Maksutov Cassegrain hybrid telescope aligns easil;y to the sky and tracks your celestial targets.

Credit: Celestron

Celestron’s NexStar 4SE is a Maksutov-Cassegrain catadioptric telescope; a folded light-path which keeps the dimensions small and your view large. It can even function as a telephoto camera lens. Small enough to take to distant dark-sky observing sites, this 4-inch (10-cm) aperture scope uses Celestron’s SkyAlign system to setup quickly and navigate to any of 40,000-listed targets. Most of them are stars, but there are still a lifetime of more fascinating phenomena to see. [Read our Full Review of the Hybrid Celestron NexStar 4SE] 

Read our deep comparison of these four portable compact scopes.

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For some skywatchers starting out, how easy a telescope is to operate may be a key factor when deciding what to buy. You can read our in-depth review of the best telescopes for beginners here. See our top choices below:

Editors’ Choice: Orion StarBlast 6 or StarBlast 6i “IntelliScope”

• Reflector/ AltAz Rocket-Box
• Simplest to use; gobbles big gulps of photons

This simple-to-use tabletop Dobsonian comes out of the box ready to observe. The “IntelliScope” computer guides you to manually move the ‘scope to objects on the sky.

Credit: Orion Telescopes and Binoculars

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Also Consider: Celestron COSMOS 90GT Wi-Fi

• Refractor / AltAz Tripod / Go-To
• Most innovative, future-proof and “digital”

(Note: This Cosmos-branded 90GT telescope has been discontinued by Celestron and will be replaced later this year with a newer model, so it may be hard to find.)

This innovative refractor sits on a mount that’s controlled from your Android or iOS handheld device.

Credit: Celestron

The Celestron COSMOS 90GT Wi-Fi takes its observing orders your Apple or Android smartphone or tablet via the free COSMOSNavigator app [App Store or Google Play]. This 3.5-inch (90 mm) refractor is our choice for planet watching. Just be a little careful not to bend the lightweight aluminum tripod.

Read our deep comparison of these two easy-to-work telescopes.

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Price will always be an important part of any telescope buying decision, and there are some great options to get the most out of an inexpensive instrument. You can read our in-depth review of the best inexpensive telescopes here. See our top choices below:

Editors’ Choice: Astronomers Without Borders OneSky 130

• Reflector / AltAz “Rock and Roll” Turntable 
• Best gift under $200 and helps developing nations

BUY the Astronomers Without Borders OneSky 130: Average price: $199.99

This clever pop-up Newtonian reflector gives you a remarkably large aperture and super-easy operation at very low cost. Nearly half your purchase price goes to support science education in developing nations.

Credit: Space.com – Jeremy Lips and Dave Brody

Give this OneSky telescope as a gift (even to yourself!) and you automatically make a donation to the nonprofit Astronomers Without Borders (AWB). Young science students a world away will benefit from enhanced education programs as you enjoy your astronomy hobby. We are all under one sky.

And you’ll be getting an extraordinarily good telescope; 5.1 inches (130 mm) of aperture, good quality glass, two “Modified Achromat” (Kellner) eyepieces and an innovative compact-expanding design. It’s a truss-tube Newtonian reflector on a simple-to-work altitude-azimuth mount, with a built-in handle. We truly love this telescope.

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Also Consider: Celestron Cometron 114  

• Reflector / AltAz Panhandle Tripod
• Least expensive “galaxy grabbing” deep-sky scope

BUY the Celestron Cometron 114 from Amazon.com: Average price: $179.95

If you can get under a dark sky, this petite Newtonian reflector can grab galaxies.

Credit: Celestron

If you prefer a tripod-mounted scope (you can’t always count on a having a stable table at a remote observing site) you will like Celestron’s Cometron 114AZ. Massing 8.4-lb. (3.8 kg), this nicely made reflector does a lot of things well. At 4.5 inches (114 mm) the aperture isn’t huge, but the Cometron benefits from its more expensive, larger siblings in the Celestron line and is a great first telescope. 

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Also Consider: Celestron ExploraScope 60AZ NPF Edition

• Long Tube Refractor / AltAz Tripod
• Best gift, or hobby-entry tool, under $100

This is the best “first telescope” under $100, whether given as a gift or purchased for personal use, this maintenance refractor will give years of enlightening skywatching.

Credit: Celestron

When money is tight, but you want to give the meaningful gift of the universe, we suggest the ExploraScope 60AZ from Celestron. It’s long refracting tube calls to mind Galileo’s own original telescope, which essentially founded what we now call “science.” The AltAz mount lets you intuitively use it for daytime as well as night. Just point and look. Like the short-tube TravelScope 60 reviewed above, this ExploraScope NPF Editions comes with two included eyepieces, a 3x Barlow lens, a compass and a useful LED flashlight on a carabiner clip.

Read Our Full Review of these three budget-minded telescopes.

Look, here’s the deep truth of telescopes: It does not matter at what price point you get into amateur astronomy. Telescopes gather light. And, yes, more light — or purer light — is better. But once you tune in to the reality that the universe is coming directly to you — to meet you wherever you are, as long as you look up — you will never be the same. Once you start observing with a telescope, you will likely never stop. 

May the photons be with you.

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