If you have spent some time observing the sky with your naked eyes and a pair of binoculars, you may be ready to move on up to telescopes. As in most things in life, you typically get what you pay for. If you are looking for better telescopes to start out with, one which might carry you from a beginner to intermediate stargazer, check out these telescopes between $1000.00 and $5000.00.
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TakahashiThe Takahashi Sky-90II Series Refractor has an aperture of 90 mm. It should provide years of excellent service and fantastic optics.
The CGE 925 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope is a versatile instrument with high performance features. It is one of Celestron's "top-of-the-line" astronomical instruments. As a 9.25-inch scope it is small and light enough that you can take it with you to most places.
With an f6.3 focal reducer or Fastar accessory, the CGE 925 also can use a wide variety of CCD or film cameras. And that means you can capture stunning images of the stars and planets for later viewing or exhibiting and for printing to share with friends.
The Vixen ED103S is an apochromatic refractorwith an equatorial mount and STARBOOK. It has fantastic contrast and 4" aperture, sufficient for viewing most of the planets and many stars. With its ED glass elements, chromatic aberration has been reduced to nearly undetectable levels, permitting a much more practical use of the higher magnifications than when using other achromatic refractors of seemingly identical specifications.
A Next Generation Telescope (NGT) is a uniquely designed equatorial Newtonian and this is one of the best I've seen. It may be a bit steep for most pockets, including mine, but if you can afford it, you'll have a fantastic viewing experience.
Discovery has some of the best optics in the business and high quality construction. This truss design is one of the easiest to transport and provides for great viewing.
If those larger telescopes are too much for you, consider this 11" model. Not only does it have many of the features of its larger brethren, its high quality optics are great for exciting night sky viewing.
This smaller Meade telescope could be the one you're looking for. With its smart GPS capability, it knows exactly where it is and how its aligned out of the box.
Here's a great out 0f the box experience. It uses GPS to know its location and alignment and you can start star gazing immediately.
With it's good sized aperture and small size package, this is a great scope for a grab and go.
The combination of great optics and a great mount make this easily portable unit a great choice.
