Reflector or Refractor?Posted By Victor Kennedy |
There's lots of good advice here. I agree, the best bang for the buck is a 6" dob. However, small refractors, in my opinion, aren't useless. I currently have a Stellarvue AT1010, which gives great widefield views, and a C8, which gives higher magnification, narrower views. I use the AT much more. It's small and easy to get around.
Before I got the AT I had a Celestron Firstscope 70 AZ (alt-az mount). You can get the EQ model from Anacortes for $175. Its optics were almost, but not quite as, good as the AT's. With it I could observe the Moon, planets, and most, but not all, of the Messier objects. With a Baader solar filter (under $50) you can observe sunspots.
I have a friend who knows the sky far better than I do, and he learned it with a pair of binoculars; he got his first telescope (an 8" Newtonian) only very recently.
Before I got the AT I had a Celestron Firstscope 70 AZ (alt-az mount). You can get the EQ model from Anacortes for $175. Its optics were almost, but not quite as, good as the AT's. With it I could observe the Moon, planets, and most, but not all, of the Messier objects. With a Baader solar filter (under $50) you can observe sunspots.
I have a friend who knows the sky far better than I do, and he learned it with a pair of binoculars; he got his first telescope (an 8" Newtonian) only very recently.