What is the best telescope to get for $1000 or less?

I really like Celestron's computerized telescopes. Is anyone familiar with them? Which one would give me the most bang for my buck at that price range? Else, can you recommend a good one from another company such as Meade?

You could read through this thread here for a start:

Looking to buy a telescope, please help

I'm also looking for a really good pair of astronomy binoculars. Can you guys recommend one? Thanks again

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
You could read through this thread here for a start:

Looking to buy a telescope, please help

I just read that thread and the only help I got from it was, don't buy a used telescope from ebay. But that thread is about a $250 scope which is a totally different price range than $1000.

Well, if you can swing $1199, this Celestron NexStar 8" SE telescope looks pretty sweet:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

He made a video of some pretty incredible views of the moon he got with that telescope, check it out. I'd probably go for that one, just save up a little bit longer for it.

And you can even IM the ATS member who posted that if you have specific questions for a current owner, maybe ask him what other options he considered for example, he might have some good advice.

Depends on your level of knowledge and what all you are trying to look at, and what you have used before. I have a celestron reflecting telescope that I got, and am satisfied with it, as it lets me see distant planets and objects in the night sky, but my level is intermediate. If you are just starting, either a refracting telescope or a set of binocolars would be good. Just one thing about telescopes you need to do and that is zero it out with the spotting scope, so when you do start looking up in the sky it is easy to view things. With reflecting telescopes, it can get expensive if you have the automatic trackers, and the size of the telescope. The bigger the lenses or mirror, the more expensive it can be.

reply to post by genma


space.about.com...

all of the telescopes in the link above are in your price range, all amateur telescopes with professional qualities, and most can be hooked up to the pc, for easier browsing, i have the iOptron SmartStar and it is one badass telescope, lots of things ive seen through those lenses.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


i had a NexStar, it is a pretty decent telescope, i would still go with the iOptron SmartStar as that is what i currently use, and the difference in quality is noticable, the price is not that far off, actually its pretty much exactly the same.

Two types of telescopes to consider; reflectors and refractors. Reflectors gather light using a concave mirror, refractors gather light through a lens.
If you opt for a reflector buy one with a mirror no less than four inches in diameter. If you choose a refractor, buy one with a lens of no less than three inches diameter. A very important factor because the bigger the lens or mirror, the higher the light gathering power. This is not related to the magnification, which is determined by the eye pieces at the other end of the tube. Get one with 3 or more interchangable eye pieces ranging from low to high magnification. Generally lower powers for star gazing, higher power for planets and moon. The light gathering power, determined by the main lens or mirror is important because the bigger it is the more you will see in the way of distant stars and galaxies etc. You could also consider astronomical binoculars with main lens of three inch plus- awesome for the milky way!! Remember though that light gathering power and magnification are two different things, but both important.

Originally posted by MotherGoose
the difference in quality is noticable

I'm curious where you see the difference in quality? Image sharpness? the mount? The computer?

The moon video I linked to made using the celestron looked pretty sharp to me. In fact, it seemed the limiting factor to image quality was not the telescope, but atmospheric distortion, which could be reduced by going to a mountaintop, in fact that's why most professional telescopes are located on mountaintops.