Beginner first telescope purchase advice

[Adam89]

So I want to buy a telescope for the first time and I have been overwhelmed with all the information I've found, some contradictory. I think a refractor would be best for me because I want something simple to setup and use but I'm open to other ideas if there is a better option. I am in the USA and my budget is $150-300. My main goal is to see Jupiter and Saturn with some detail. I know it won't look amazing or anything but I'd like to see some of the bands/great red spot and the rings of Saturn with some clarity. I probably won't buy another telescope for a long time. Would any of these three be able to do that or any advice on a first time telescope purchase? Also, any thoughts on an AZ mount vs. EQ mount for a beginner?

https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21048-PowerSeeker-80EQ-Telescope/dp/B0007UQNKO/ref=pd_ybh_a_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DFFNKG3YT00CJVDG1WZR

https://www.amazon.com/Gskyer-Telescope-Astronomical-Refractor-Technology/dp/B00WCG3UOS/ref=pd_ybh_a_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=DFFNKG3YT00CJVDG1WZR

https://www.amazon.com/Celestron-22065-Master-Refractor-Telescope/dp/B01E5DVONO/ref=sr_1_3?crid=BY1T2SRQ8TNI&dchild=1&keywords=120mm+refractor+telescope&qid=1609635727&sprefix=120mm+refr%2Caps%2C203&sr=8-3

 

 

[keora]

I can't give much advice because I'm a beginner. I bought this cheap and simple to use Celestron 114 AZ Newtonian telescope a few months ago:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/5067718

The eyepieces weren't very good so after getting advice here, I bought another two eyepieces which were better quality. My intention is that if  I like using a telescope I'll buy a better one later. It's easily portable at 6 lbs.

With this telescope, I can see Jupiter and Saturn on a good night. But they are just soft white blobs when seen through the eyepiece. There's no colour visible. The rings of Saturn aren't clear, you just see a single ring around the planet. And if it's a poor night for viewing you can see the sphere, but not the ring.

The telescopes you're considering look good. I notice that one of them weighs about 20 lbs. That's quite heavy to move around, especially if you keep it in a bedroom and have to carry it down the stairs into the garden.

 

[jonathan]

The refractor telescopes will show significant colour fringing on bright objects such as the moon, Jupiter and Venus, Saturn is a bit dimmer but it'll be small so you won't see it in any great detail through those scopes, might be able to make out the gaps between the planet and the rings (it will be very tiny) but most likely not the Cassini Division.  You can use something like a moon filter to reduce the glare and colour fringing, but the only way to really eliminate it is to spend a lot more money on higher grade glass as usually found in a triplet apochromatic refractor, or go for a different telescope design such as a reflector, Schmitt Cassegrain or Maksutov.

That's the thing about planets, they're tantalisingly close yet still surprisingly small (and technically still very far away in terrestrial terms).  You need a lot of magnification to see much detail at all, and I don't think $300 will be enough if surface detail is your goal.  You may see two or three cloud bands on Jupiter on a good night, the great red spot can be tricky at the best of times because it shifts and is sometimes pale so blends in with the surrounding cloud patterns.

If you want to get the best views for your money around your price point then ignore any telescopes that come with goto or even motor drive, but beware that planets will move across your field of vision quickly at high magnification, it might then be difficult for you to study the planets at length if you have to keep adjusting the telescope (which will introduce vibrations, taking a few seconds to settle each time).

I think maybe something along the lines of these two/three might be something you could get a lot of enjoyment out of:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-astromaster-series/celestron-astromaster-130eq-newtonian-telescope-with-smartphone-adapter-barlow-t-adapter.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html or https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

The latter two have a Dobsonian type mount which is cheaper to produce and easier to use than the Equatorial, but will make tracking planets a little more difficult.  A motor drive can be added to the Celestron EQ mount for a reasonable price, making tracking planets a lot easier.

Spend as much as you can comfortably afford on the telescope and mount, they will serve you well if you buy well in the first instance.  I would steer clear of a lot of those funky sounding brands on Amazon, they sound like cheap Chinese knock-offs to me.  Stick to Celestron, Skywatcher, Orion, or Bresser (there are others, best thing to do is check a proper astronomy retailer to see what brands they sell, such as the one I linked to above).

The main thing you need to get your head around with an EQ mount is that it's designed to track the movement of the sky as the earth rotates, so it is essentially countering that rotation (staying fixed on one point in the sky), this requires some initial one-time setup based on your location, then for each session you need to align the mount to the pole star so that the 'EQ' part can do it's job correctly.  The mount must also be level, often they come with a small bubble level but any levelling device will do if placed on the accessory tray in the tripod during setup (adjust the leg length to get the tripod level).  Precise polar alignment isn't necessary for visual use and won't be possible for smaller EQ mounts anyway.  Once it's setup and aligned then it should just be a case of tracking the target using one of the slow motion control knobs, periodically adjusting the other to compensate for any slight alignment errors.

Edited January 3, 2021 by jonathan

[Cosmic Geoff]

14 hours ago, Adam89 said:

My main goal is to see Jupiter and Saturn with some detail.

That requires a good quality telescope with a moderate aperture. The telescopes you cite are unlikely to be up to the task. Astronomy is not a cheap hobby, and a budget of $300 does not go far unless spent wisely.  Unless you are wedded to the idea of a "traditional" telescope (i.e.a refractor on a tripod), I suggest you look at Dobsonan or mini-Dobsonian (tabletop) telescopes. These will give you the most optics for your dollar, as nearly all the cost goes to the tube rather than the (very basic) mount.

Yes, you have to find things yourself and push the scope to follow them in the sky, but that is no worse than the ill-balanced alt-azimuth mounts in your links.