Beginner Star gazer

[GalaxyBoy]

One advantage of an astronomy club (during normal times anyway) is that you can join a group for the monthly observing session and see a wide variety of scopes in use. My club isn’t doing that lately but others might be with distancing, etc.

 

[COcheesehead]

I’ll second or third the recommendation to start with a decent pair of binoculars, preferably 7x50’s. That’s 7x magnification and 50mm diameter objective lenses. This time of year the Milky Way is especially awesome (in the Northern Hemisphere) running close to overhead with the center of the Galaxy visible to the south. Lots of star clouds and clusters to pick out. Get a set of basic star charts and start learning the sky and the constellations. You won’t know where to point a scope before you learn the “lay of the land” anyway.

There are apps now where you point your phone to any part of the night sky and it identifies everything,

 

[Fermion]

I got interested a few years back and bought a Orion 10" Dobsonian. It had quite good optics for the price (about $500 or so IIRC) and you could see Saturn rings, things like that...

BUT

It was big...about 5 feet long, and if you pointed it at Saturn, then turned to your friend and offered him/her a look, Saturn had moved out of the field of view (damn Saturn, never staying put when you want it to).

I sold it when we moved into the RV but now that we have some mountain property and are building a house in the nearby town, I have been thinking about getting a more compact telescope that auto tracks, a Schmidt-Cassegrain

 

[RobbieB]

You ain't gonna see no good sky in the city. Ya got to go away. At least 50 miles.

Go cheap, get the biggest Dobsonian you can afford and a star chart.

Pack that up and go where the light isn't and enjoy!

 

[Navigator]

I have a nice Dobsonian telescope that I never use because it is heavy and a lot of trouble to take in and out of the house. I find that binoculars are much more convenient. For handheld binoculars, 7 x 50 or smaller is a good size.

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah. I just gave my old ten incher to my brother in law for his kids to use. Easy to set up and nice and stable but 2 really heavy pieces. Superb viewing though. In astronomy bigger really is better.

 

[nap470]

I was fortunate enough to spend a few days on Wake Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean during my military days. Not during WWII, this was in the late 80's when I was stationed in Hawaii and we had limited facilities and people at Wake to support. There was zero light pollution and it felt like you were going to bump into the stars in front of you. An experience I have never forgotten.
I grew on a rural farm and loved gazing at the stars. It is still a treat to go back there and visit family and be amazed by the night sky. My 90 year-old mother still lives on the farm, now owned and farmed by my older brother.

 

[Animorph]

I started with a 6" Newtonian reflector on a clock driven equatorial mount. They should easily fit within a $300 budget, though I haven't shopped lately. I built it with parts from the old Edmund Scientific, including grinding my own mirror over the course of a year in the early 60's. Still works great, not too much of a hassle to move and set up, and you can see many of the deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulas that binoculars or smaller telescopes can't easily see.

Keep in mind the rule of thumb of about 5x your aperture in inches (300x in my case) is the maximum useful magnification for any telescope. So bigger is better for distant objects.

Comets are gigantic objects in astronomical terms, and binoculars and lower magnifications are better for that. You can get appropriate lenses for a telescope, but they tend to be pricier.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Earlier I suggested star charts in lieu of phone apps. No matter how low you set the brightness on the phone you will affect your night vision. IMHO it's better to use paper charts and a very dim red flashlight. There are LED lights marketed specifically for astronomy that have variable brightness that can be made extremely dim. I still have my paper sky atlases but I tend to make a list of objects for the night and print out custom finder charts using my computer. But that's not "beginner" stuff, I suppose.

 

[6miths]

Earlier I suggested star charts in lieu of phone apps. No matter how low you set the brightness on the phone you will affect your night vision. IMHO it's better to use paper charts and a very dim red flashlight. There are LED lights marketed specifically for astronomy that have variable brightness that can be made extremely dim. I still have my paper sky atlases but I tend to make a list of objects for the night and print out custom finder charts using my computer. But that's not "beginner" stuff, I suppose.

True. Star Chart and other apps can be very helpful but to my knowledge they have not fully addressed this issue. You can help yourself a bit by fiddling with the display settings on your phone or tablet. I would be happy if someone had discovered a workaround. Many, many years ago I remember jury-rigging a red Colgate toothpaste tube top over a penlight to come up with something that would produce light that wouldn't ruin my night vision.

 

[KonaTom]

+1 for binoculars first. I purchased a pair of Celestron 8x56 with a 6.1 deg field of view. Excellent for learning where the stars and constellations are, seeing the moon, etc. Don't get into the magnification trap as you want to see a wide field as brightly as possible. If you do decide on binoculars, try to get a pair with a decent field of view with good light capture (diameter of lens). Good coatings will also help crisp up the image. I eventually moved up to an 8" SCT to view Meisser objects and other celestial wonders. Also a tripod for the binoculars is a must. You can view the moon and constellations without one but and even then a tripod is nice.

 

[rkallingham]

Find an Astronomy Club near you

I moved out to the country recently away from the city lights. I forgot how incredible the night sky can be when you can really see the stars. I'd like to get a telescope, but I've never had one or studied astronomy (except 50 odd years ago).

I'm looking for recommendations on a beginner's telescope, preferably under $300.

Google for an astronomy club near your location. They may have a loaner scope program where you can try different telescopes. Attend some meetings (online) as there probably some members that have suggestions. Also google Orion Telescopes to look for beginner telescopes in your price range.

 

[albireo13]

Check out cloudynights.com.
A forum for star gazers. Lots of info.

 

[HeloDog]

In addition to a telescope or binoculars, you might want to consider a camera that can take long exposures (10-20 seconds) and try shooting nightscapes. This would be an especially attractive option if you already have a camera.

Here's a couple of images I took recently with a wide angle lens, a tripod and 10-20 second exposures. I live in northern New Mexico and we have very dark skies!

 

[ACCD]

Easy way to start

I took the easy way. Went Celstron NexStar computer scope. Great app so you can use your smartphone, tablet or even laptop to find and identify objects. Couple this with the automated alignment accessory and then sit back and enjoy. The auto alignment uses a "camera" to find landmarks to determine the scopes alignment with the sky, all fully automated. I use an adapter on the eyepiece to attach an old smartphone, using it's screen as a monitor. So easy, with the phone app, you just point your phone to a star or celestial object and bingo, the scope slews to it for observation. The scope automatically tracks an object which is really nice. It's amazing how fast the earth is moving and how quickly the moon will sweep past your viewfinder. Research Celestron. Great products, lots of support and forums with lots of options for various budgets..

 

[mcbraemer]

Whatever you decide to do, just do it, and enjoy!!

 

[hanginthere]

I moved out to the country recently away from the city lights. I forgot how incredible the night sky can be when you can really see the stars. I'd like to get a telescope, but I've never had one or studied astronomy (except 50 odd years ago).

I'm looking for recommendations on a beginner's telescope, preferably under $300.

Thirty years ago I purchased a Fujinon Bino that will do up to 800x with incredible visibility. But it was $800 even then and you have to have a tripod because its heavy, but you can get a mount for a camera too and we never leave for vacation w/o it. Great for mountaintops and other sights two. The decent opticals just cost. pt