How you should choose your first telescope.

There are a lot of things to consider before buying your first telescope. Many may vary person to person. But few parameters can be considered common to all. We will look at these parameters and try to develop a method to buy your first telescope. Some of these parameters are:

1. Are you a geeky\technical\scientific\probing person: If this condition is true then you are one of those people who will make the most out of your telescope. As you venture into astronomy you will like to keep logs and track objects in the night sky taking data and keeping a record. You expect more out of your telescope than just point and watch. for such types i would advise an Equatorial mount.(Types of mounts). An equatorial mount is more complex to set up. It offers more challenge than the altazimuth or the dobsonian. Fixing the mount, Counterweight bar, weights, balancing and stabilizing the mount will be few things which you will enjoy. If you read the disadvantages of Equatorial mount at this link, one of the disadvantages is you need to 'polar align' it and 'Less intuitive for beginning amateurs' both these points are ruled out. In fact what is stated as a disadvantage appears as advantage as these things provide more things to learn and greater challenge inusage initially. You can keep a time based log while tracking an object in the sky keeping track of its RA and DEC values at all times. Yes do not forget to write coordinates of your observation position. You can use google earth for it. Point it to your position and note down Latitude, longitude and elevation. Google earth will prove to be a good tool in astronomy, we'll see how as we progress.

Telescope Mounts, The Alt-azimuth (left) and the Equatorial (right).

However, if this parameter (You being a technical guy/gal) is not true the definitely you should go for the alt azimuth as it is simpler to point and assemble. Also no need of polar alignment, and also it is cheaper than the equatorial. No counter weights so easy to carry and more portable. However you are loosing the ability to track objects correctly and loosing some data too if you plan tracking objects.

2. Whats your budget\ Where are you located ? Budget is big factor when you consider buying a telescope. Fix a budget range and browse products on websites which lie in your range. Make a list of those products for analysis later.
Now about where you are located. This might not seem like an issue to you if you are in the United States or UK or other bigger nations but quite a problem if you are in less developed countries. I am in one. And i have ordered two telescopes till now from ebay. One of them did not get shipped, and as of today i am waiting for the other one to get shipped as three days have passed since i purchased. Also your budget will give you an inferior scope compared to what you could have got if you were in the US. Disappointing. So make sure you have searched thoroughly for authorized dealers of Celestron, Meade, Orion etc in your country, or ebay for a good deal.


3. Future plans for upgrades: If you wish to upgrade to a higher power scope in future then i would suggest a refractor scope. As it will serve as finder scope for you future high power scope.

Low power high FOV refractor as finderscope

4. Portability: If you live in high density city with Light Pollution you might wish to go out on weekends for a good view. If this is the case opt for a more portable scope.


5, Binoculars ? Many people suggest to buy a good binocular first before buying a telescope. Because a binocular gives you a wider view of the sky and its easy to locate objects. This is a good suggestion as a binocular can be good companion always with a good telescope. So why not buy a binocular first. However if you have done sufficient preparation and know enough about the objects in the sky, no harm in buying a telescope first too, make sure you have the resources ready in your head before you get a telescope or else even the best scope won't be half as useful.


6. Bigger aperture is better: Yes more light gathering capacity, better is the view and magnification. In the list you made in step 2 mark one star in front of all the scopes that have high apertures. Usually more than 4" is considered good. Refractors get very costly as their aperture increases, but they render sharper images giving more detail. So apertures above or equal to 90mm in refractors can be considered good.


7. The first telescope should come with basic accessories.


Good Starter Scopes List:
1. Orion XT8 Classic Dobsonian
2. Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ
3. Celestron Astromaster 90 EQ
4. Meade DS-2130AT-TC
5. Meade 90AZ-ADR

The Orion XT8 is a very large aperture on dobsonian mount. Very simple to operate and gives you large power at you disposal. However the dobsonian mount is another variant of the altazimuth mount. So tracking and data collection won't be possible, also the XT8 is very bulky. Moving it from backyard to house will also be troublesome. 
Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ is a good scope but has less aperture compared to Orion XT8.




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