Things to bear in mind

-Stars will look like stars no matter what size telescope you have, even Hubble cannot make them out to be suns.

-Most objects you will look at through a telescope will be faint fuzzy patches of light, only planets and the moon can be viewed in their colours without the use of expensive long-exposure photographic equipment.

-If you live in the UK or somewhere with a similar climate then rain/ clouds will prevent you from doing your hobby a lot of the time, try not to let this get to you.

-GOTO scopes sound great to the beginner, however if they are used with small apertures all it will point at is a patch of sky where the object is, but you wont be able to see it. You need a powerful scope to justify paying for a GOTO mount.

-Reflector telescopes will make everything upside down- it is how they work. This is not a problem in astronomy as there is no true ‘orientation’ however they are no use for terrestrial viewing.

Try to

-Learn the sky. As I said above, GOTO is all very well, but there is no substitute to getting a sky atlas and learning what is where. There are many constellations, and this can seem a little overwhelming to the beginner, so start out with something familiar. Ursa Major (the plough/ dipper) is a good place to start and can lead you to Bootes, Leo, and many other easy to recognise shapes.

-Join a society or club. Learn from others. Forums such a Stargazers Lounge is a great place to get free advice. Failing that buy magazines such as Sky at Night or Astronomy Now.

- Be patient. If you stay up until 1am, get the scope out, and it starts to rain then this is all part of the hobby. Just remember, there will be that amazing ‘break through’ night where everything seems to go your way.

-Lower your expectations. If you are expecting head on, colourful views of nebulae, clusters and galaxies then this is unrealistic unless you own professional equipment. Have an open mind and realize that you are privileged enough to be viewing something that few have the chance to, and in many cases viewing tens of thousands of years into the past.