9 Best Starter Telescopes For Beginners 2024

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Which telescope is best to see planets?

You don’t need a very big aperture to see planets as they are among the brightest objects in the sky. You will rather need a telescope with a long focal length and a high focal ratio to view planets with clarity. 

A telescope with a minimum focal ratio of f/8 is best suited for observing planets. The Orion SkyQuest XT4.5 Classic Dobsonian Telescope on our list is perfect for planetary observation.

2. What is the most powerful telescope for home use?

This will typically depend on what you want to see with your telescope and who will be using it. A good telescope that the whole family can use is typically a small, more affordable telescope with an aperture of at least 70 millimeters. These units usually have a straightforward model with an easily adjustable mount. Moreover, these telescopes are lightweight, portable, and generally can be used for terrestrial viewing also.

The Zhumell Z130 Tabletop Reflector is one such telescope that the whole family can enjoy at home.

3. How big of a telescope do I need to see Saturn?

Saturn is quite an easy target to view with the help of a telescope and most importantly you don’t need a very powerful telescope to view it.

Saturn can be seen clearly even with a small telescope with a 3” aperture at 50x magnification. This is enough to show you Rings of Saturn too, but if you want to see Saturn’s moons, you may need a slightly larger telescope with at least 5” aperture.

4. Which is the best telescope to view galaxies?

To view brighter galaxies and nebulae, you’ll need a telescope with at least a 6” aperture. The Celestron – NexStar 6SE Telescope on our list is an excellent computerized telescope that can show you great views of the galaxies and other deep sky objects.

5. How do you travel with a telescope? 

Most telescopes are very fragile as they have delicate glass components such as lenses and mirrors. Moreover, the elements in the OTA have to be perfectly aligned to produce decent images. So, it’s highly imperative to take very good care of the telescopes while traveling with them.

Before taking the telescope along with you make sure that you store it in a bag or case with the lens cover and appropriate padding around it. When traveling in the car, make sure that the box/bag doesn’t move around a lot. If you are planning to travel with your telescope by air, make sure that you take it as carry-on baggage in the cabin with you. Don’t ever transport your telescope with checked baggage.

6. What can you see with a 100mm telescope?

A 100mm or 4” telescope is an appropriate choice for beginners and intermediates. With a 100mm telescope, you can see the moon, Jupiter, Great Red Spot, four of the largest Jupiter’s moons, Saturn’s rings, the Cassini Division, Mars’s polar ice caps. A 100mm telescope can also show you decent views of the brighter galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae.

7. How much does a good telescope cost?

With telescopes, the more you are ready to pay, the better quality telescope you can expect to buy. For a decent size, a good telescope for a beginner can cost between $200-$300. You can expect to get a 4”- 6” telescope in this price range that can produce crisp clear images of the moon, planets, and brighter DSOs.

8. What’s the best telescope to see the moon?

Moon is one of the brighter objects in the sky so you don’t need a very powerful telescope to view it. A telescope with a 70mm aperture is good enough to show you great views of the moon. The Gskyer 70mm Telescope is a good beginner’s telescope that can resolve good images of the moon.

9. What’s the best telescope for astrophotography?

For a good telescope for astrophotography, you’ll need decent optics, an Equatorial mount that is capable of tracking the objects in the sky for a long time, and which is stable and sturdy enough to withstand the extra weight of a DSLR or a CCD camera. 

The Celestron CPC 1100 StarBright XLT is an excellent telescope that can be used to take long exposure images of the moon, planets, and even the faint deep sky objects.