kevbez1969 wrote:Hi all,
I'm just starting out in astronomy although i've been interested in it for a lot of years. I've finally decided to get my first telescope but to be honest i'm a bit overwhelmed by the amount of choice available. I'm looking at spending no more than £150 to start with and was just wondering what telescope/equipment you would advice that I get as my first purchase?
Thanks in advance,
Kev.
For £150 you might want to go for an 'all telescope' option, rather than spending a lot on sophisticated mounts. Here are a few examples. As usual there are different makes and models, and you may get them cheaper elsewhere.
An Celestron Astromaster 90AZ
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-astromaster-series/astromaster-90az-telescope.htmlThis has the advantage of optics which will enable you to use it for terrestrial objects as well as objects in the night's sky. It isn't optimised for astronomical work though.
A better astronomical refractor like this one is better for purely astronomical stuff. The basic alt-azimuth mount is tricky to figure out at first, but you would soon get the hang of it.
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-az3.html If you want a very basic Dobsonian for your price then there is this
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.htmlI've not seen one of these models in action, but it should work quite well. Some people find them a bit 'clunky', but they require no setting up.
If you want a purely astronomical telescope with an basic equatorial mount, then one like this would do the trick. Once the equatorial mount is aligned then following an object in the eyepiece is very easy.
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-explorer-130.html Some people find setting them up a bit of a bind.
There are hundreds of night sky object that you can see through telescopes like these. Basic features on the planets will be visible. Dozens of lunar features. The brighter nebula and star clusters. Plenty of double stars to be split. However, they are small telescopes, and you need to adjust your expectations accordingly.
I use an 11" reflector (Celestron CPC 1100) and a 3" refractor, (Sky-Watcher ST80) mounted on an equatorial wedge, housed in a 2.2m Pulsar observatory. I use a ZWO ASI 120MM, ZWO ASI1600MC and Canon 1300D for imaging.