Greetings from India

[Shashwat Vashisht]

Hi everyone, I'm shashwat, a 15 year old amateur astronomer from India, looking to buy my first telescope soon and embark on this beautiful journey. Hoping to learn much here! 

Ps- it would be awesome if you guys could recommend me some good scopes in like 250-300$ (I am very interested in deep sky viewing) 

 

Thanks and regards 

[Earl]

I recommend a pair of binoculars before getting a telescope to learn the skies, then take it from there, as you learn more you find that the kit you originally wanted is not best for your needs there are lots of ifs and buts. You also get a very useful piece of kit for other hobbies.

[Floater]

Welcome. Good advice above. We all know the excitement and the rush to get a scope. But the best advice is not to rush.

Hope you have lots of fun. 🙂

[Elp]

Hello, this forums sponsor FLO have a beginner's telescope guide under the telescope option on their website. The tabletop type dobsonian gets recommended a lot, usually the skywatcher one, but learn the night sky a little first, even with your own vision as looking through a telescope without this prior knowledge or a stellarium at hand can be difficult.

[Tony Acorn]

Hi Shashwat and welcome.
Yes, this is a fascinating hobby BUT you can easily buy "stuff" that doesn't really do what you want it to - as others have already posted. I hope you are in, or have access to, an area with limited light pollution as most cities tend to be something of a problem.
Binoculars are very good in dark sky areas whereas they won't reveal that much when used in cities but if you buy a pair, don't go for anything too powerful and look for something that can be steadied on a tripod or similar.

[Emperor!Takahashi!]

Welcome!

Where in India are you located? I've done some observing from Kodaikanal and Nagpur. Indeed, location strongly influences which equipment might serve you well. If you'd like to share details about your conditions (e.g., light pollution, living in a small flat vs. a house with a yard), that will help others provide you with useful recommendations. 

Clear skies 🙂

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Shashwat Vashisht and welcome to SGL. 

On 26/06/2024 at 13:48, Earl said:

I recommend a pair of binoculars before getting a telescope to learn the skies, then take it from there, as you learn more you find that the kit you originally wanted is not best for your needs there are lots of ifs and buts. You also get a very useful piece of kit for other hobbies.

Agreed!

If you do purchase binoculars, ask if they can be mounted on to a monopod or tripod. Many brands now do or are capable. Depending on their weight, it may something as simple as an ‘L’ bracket or a trigger grip. Below are images of my 7x50 and 20x80 binoculars mounted on a trigger grip.

<— 7x50

<— 20x80

Edited June 28 by RT65CB-SWL

[saac]

On 26/06/2024 at 13:16, Shashwat Vashisht said:

Hi everyone, I'm shashwat, a 15 year old amateur astronomer from India, looking to buy my first telescope soon and embark on this beautiful journey. Hoping to learn much here! 

Ps- it would be awesome if you guys could recommend me some good scopes in like 250-300$ (I am very interested in deep sky viewing) 

 

Thanks and regards 

Hi Shashwat and welcome to the amazing community that is SGL.  I'm going to go against what has been suggested regarding starting with binoculars. I'm guessing that as as 15 year old expressing an interest in Astronomy you are probably taking science at school, possible even Physics. I'm going to assume then that you have an interest in technical aspect of using equipment ; you will have used similar while doing practical work in science in school. Therefore, my recommendation would be to again check out the beginner telescope section on our sponsor's site (SGL - click the banner at top). I personally think that at 15 years old you would be wanting a telescope that actually looked like a telescope and gives the challenge and joy of learning how to use it and acquire targets. Yes you may have collimate a Newtonian reflector but it really is not that difficult given the wealth of information available on the here and elsewhere on the internet. Or perhaps something like the Skwatcher 102 AZ.  Would you be importing the telescope or is there a dealer network available to you locally?  Perhaps you could visit a dealer and have a go at handling the scopes to see which appeal to you.   The other recommendation, as has already been suggested by others, and this one is free - download and get familiar with Stellarium. This is a digital planetarium which will show your the location of objects in your local night sky.  Come back with more questions please, it is great to hear of new people starting out. 

Jim 

 

https://stellarium.org/

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-skymax-102s-az-pronto.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-starquest-130p-f5-parabolic-newtonian-reflector-telescope.html

 

[alacant]

Hi and welcome

I wish someone had suggested one of these when I first became interested in looking at stuff:

HTH

Edited July 2 by alacant

[AstroMuni]

We have now scared the OP away 🙂 

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire 🙂