The Best Telescopes
This Old House Reviews Team
Using a telescope to gaze up at the stars on a clear night makes for a fun activity for the whole family. This review examines the best telescopes on Amazon.
If you’ve ever wondered what the celestial bodies you see in the sky look like up close, a quality telescope can help you and your children discover things about space you’ve never seen before. To help you select the telescope that’s right for you, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the best telescopes on Amazon. Here are our top five recommendations.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GUHOYE
Celestron NexStar 5SE Telescope
What We Like: This feature-packed telescope is able to identify over 40,000 celestial objects right from its computerized mount, so you can quickly and accurately find out what you see in the sky. With the fully automated GoTo mount that follows objects as they move and the free Starry Night software also included, it’s never been easier to track and identify objects. If you’re an aspiring photographer, you’ll appreciate the built-in wedge that connects with DSLR and astronomical cameras.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081RJ8DW1
Gskyer Astronomical Refracting Telescope
What We Like: This telescope gives beginners everything they need to start stargazing. This telescope’s 3x Barlow lens extends the focal length and increases magnification, making it so you can see deeper into the sky.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J15P2N3
Celestron Portable Refractor Telescope
What We Like: This entry-level telescope has lots of features and accessories. Not only does it provide high-quality viewing and multiple eyepieces for adjustable magnification levels, but it also offers an erect image star diagonal so you can view images in the telescope right-side up. Additionally, the pan handle and Alt-Az control with clutch provide smooth and accurate pointing.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087CT3L7H
SOLOMARK Store Reflector Telescope
What We Like: This telescope comes equipped with tons of extra features for maximum convenience, including a custom backpack, bonus bag, tripod, and smartphone adapter. The included 13 percent transmission filter boosts contrast and helps you discern more details on the moon’s surface. It also includes a red dot viewfinder that allows for convenient identification of objects that can also be used as a sighting tool.
Buyer’s Guide
When deciding on a telescope to purchase, here are some important factors to consider.
Aperture Size
Aperture, or the diameter of a telescope’s lens, is one of the most important things to look for when comparing telescope options. The larger the size of the aperture is, the more clearly you will be able to see objects. A common rule of thumb is to look for an aperture of at least 2.8 inches, or 70 millimeters, for best quality.
Portability
If you plan on bringing your telescope to different locations to see the moon, stars, and planets, you will need to ensure it is easily portable. However, buying too small of a telescope may mean you’re unable to see much. Finding a telescope that comes with features made for portability, such as a carrying case or backpack, is important if you plan on bringing your telescope on the road, but be aware that some portable telescopes have smaller apertures or fewer features.
Experience Level
How much experience you have using a telescope is an important thing to consider when purchasing one. Many telescopes are built for children and beginners, which avoids difficult setup and complex features, but you may not be able to see as many objects. Other telescopes are built with experienced stargazers in mind, which can have features such as GoTo mounts or electronic touchpads.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can you typically see in a telescope?
Telescopes allow you to see stars, the moon, certain planets, star clusters, and more. How much detail you see the items with can depend both on the strength of your telescope and the positioning of the stars at the time you are looking into the sky. Another factor can be how clear the weather conditions and how much light pollution there is when you are attempting to see objects.
What magnification amount is best to clearly see objects?
While aperture is typically more important to seeing objects clearly than magnification level, it also can be an important factor. Magnification levels of 50 times the aperture level in inches are typically best for image quality. Be wary of telescopes that boast exceedingly high magnification levels such as 600x, as they can often cause blurry, indecipherable images unless they have a proportionately wide scope.
What’s the difference between reflector and refracting telescopes?
Reflector telescopes typically use an internal and secondary mirror to focus the light of the eyepiece to create an image. Reflecting telescopes can be ideal for seeing far galaxies and nebulas.
Meanwhile, refracting telescopes use lenses to focus the light into the eyepiece. These types of telescopes can be particularly effective in capturing views of the solar system and bright deep-sky objects.
Why Trust The This Old House Reviews Team
This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
The This Old House Reviews Team provides overviews of select products that are top-selling on Amazon and/or popular in consumer searches. Our team evaluates the products based on industry research, consumer reviews, pricing data, hands-on testing in select cases, and other objective criteria unique to a given product line. Unless otherwise noted, these product reviews are intended to help inform buying decisions for DIY or other non-pro users only. Editor’s picks are made by members of the This Old House Reviews Team.