Hi Everybody,
Firstly, apologies I'm adding to the list of people looking for advice on their first telescope. I have been reading through previous posts to try and get some information, rather than asking this question again, but it's difficult as requirements across the board are a little different for everybody.
I've tried to read into everything as much as possible, but it's almost as if the more I read, the more confused I become...
We live in a dark sky area, and have some amazing views when the sky is clear, so don't have the requirement to travel with a telescope. I'm ideally looking for something that can view planets, the moons craters and DSO's (Would love to view nebulae etc.) I have a budget of £500.
When I first started searching, I contacted a specialist site, and when giving the loose specification, they advised me to look at:
- Skywatcher AZ-GTI range
- Celestron Astro-Fi range
When I've been looking through, I understand the bigger the aperture, the better the intake of light. I also read that telescopes with a fast rating (f5 etc.) could be better for DSO's? and if we wanted good magnification we then concentrate on the eyepieces?
We aren't looking into astrophotography at all, so this isn't a requirement (Although if this could be utilised later down the line I guess that is always a plus!)
The telescopes that jumped out at me were the:
- Celestron Astro-Fi 5 Schmidt-Cassegrain
- Celestron Nexstar 4SE
- Skywatcher SkyMax 127 AZ-GTI Maksutov
If I remember correctly, I think these are mostly slow telescopes. These telescopes seemed to crop up with good reviews, but I'm not sure if I am falling foul of them being common telescopes so there are more advertisements for them? - There could be a hidden gem that I just haven't hit upon yet! (I am a bit of an over-researcher, and that can sometimes be a downfall!)
Any help would be greatly appreciated. In the world of telescopes, I know £500 may not be deemed a lot, but I just want to make sure I get something that can stand the test of time, have a rigid tripod and we can get some good views as much as our budget will allow (Aware we won't be seeing the wonderful gassy nebulae we see in images)