It costs nothing to enjoy the sights of the night sky. But if you want to peer into the depths of space and enjoy those sights in a little more detail, you’re going to need a telescope, which can be big investment. General guidance seems to be to use a magnification of 30 to 50 times the diameter in inches of your telescope's aperture. An aperture of 80mm is just over 3", so we are looking at magnifications of 90x to 150x. Great Entry-Level Telescope for Astronomy - Ideal for Adult Beginners to Start Observing the Universe - Great Quality and Power 20x-250x Conclusion, astronomy is an expensive hobby. But that doesn't mean you should wait 4 years to save your salary to buy something decent. In the meantime, get a 70mm or 80mm refractor on an AZ mount and use whatever tripod it has. Buy it from a brand with a name or expect low quality lenses and eyepieces. At this price viewfinders are crappy so get one with a red spot one and the one that has the better eyepieces. I'd recommend Celestron AstroMaster and Meade Infinity ones. No knowledge necessary!” the ads will say. Aside from the fact that most of us get into astronomy to learn stuff, that’s seldom true anyway. With a low-end Go To scope (which is what the computerized ones are called), you’re likely to learn quite a bit of computer debugging and maybe even mechanical repair skills before you even get your first look through one. Seriously, I have seen people spend their entire night fiddling with the electronics, trying in vain to get the computer to work properly, and never once getting to look at anything in the sky.

Have telescope, will travel… at least, you can with this one. It weighs just 1.5kg and comes with diminutive dimensions of 16 x 33 x 43cm (height x width x depth) so can easily accompany you on any trips where you might find yourself with an opportunity to set your sights on the skies.The Celestron NexStar 5 SE makes finding celestial objects easy and fun with its intuitive computerised finder. It can provide a tour of the night sky for you, using its 40,000 celestial object database which includes the Orion nebula, the moon, planets, and other solar system objects. It highlights the best viewable objects based on your location and also has a red dot finderscope. It’s worth borrowing a friend’s telescope, or popping along to a local astronomy club to try before you buy, as it were. This way you can also get a feel of what you like and don’t like, and start to get an idea about the best telescope for you to invest in. I have to say that we have loved both telescopes, they are very easy to assemble and use, the instructions are clear and the optical quality is excellent for what they are worth. I see the 40070 more for children and the 50080 more for adults. I personally recommend sitting down when using the telescope to be even more comfortable, you can adjust the height of the tripod and turn the diagonal prism to the side where you are sitting. The point about 0.96" eyepieces. Again, a good Kellner works very well. Sure, smaller field of view but just as sharp in the centre view as any of the Plossls I own. In fact my livery of eyepieces for my 8-inch ARE 0.96's Kellners and Orthoscopics. One is in fact a cannibalized binocular 20mm eyepiece that has a remarkable FoV 65-deg! and performs sharply to about 80% of the Field. Perhaps we need a manufacturer that can design a beginner scope with a sturdy equatorial mount.

Having taught Jr. Hi science for 27 years and being a member of our local astronomical society for most of that time, I fielded many questions from parents about what telescope they should get their kid for Christmas, birthday, or whatever. My advice -- get TWO telescopes! Actually, a pair of binoculars, which are really two telescopes hinged together in the middle. At the time I was teaching, the best value in a pair of binoculars suitable for astronomy would be a pair of 7x35s, which would also be a good size (weight wise) for a 12 to 14 yr.old to handle. That, and a decent, easy-to-use but comprehensive star atlas along with a constellation finder star wheel. There are a variety of lenses included and most importantly it comes with it's own collapsible tripod that fits into a 50cm carry bag. The tripod obviously gives stability during use but it's also lightweight for portability. learn the night shy. Sit down on a good night with a modest sky atlas or constellation finder and a pair of binoculars.Figuring out your surroundings is key – it’s no good getting a telescope that might not be suitable for your particular area, because you will only end up frustrated when you can’t see anything!