Best Telescopes Under $300

ULTIMATE BUYING GUIDE FOR 2020

FEATURES OF A GOOD TELESCOPE:

The strengths and weaknesses of a telescope are defined by a few different factors. Understanding how they relate to each other needs a bit of practice, but generally speaking, you want to try to find out the following info about your telescope:

APERTURE:

The ability of the telescope to gather light. The larger the primary optics, i.e. the larger the lens or mirror, the more light is captured.

This is probably the most important feature of a telescope, regardless of its size, price or build type. Because of the way a telescope works, every single inch represents a great difference as the aperture affects all other specifications. The bigger the optics, the better.

FOCAL LENGTH:

The distance that the light that enters the telescope travels from the objective primary optics to the focal plane, i.e. the point where that light reaches focus. The focal length stands in relation to the next important quality of a telescope.


FOCAL RATIO:

This represents the speed of the optics. Fast focal ratios (f/3 to f/5) are used for getting a brighter image with a wider field of view and that is why they are used for observing the deep sky. Slower focal ratios (f/6 and above) are better for observing our solar system (the Moon and the planets that surround us) or planets in general, as well as observing binary stars.

MAGNIFICATION POWER:

This feature is often used as a marketing trick since having a lot of magnifying power doesn’t mean a lot if your telescope lacks other features, especially a high aperture.

Imagine this: zooming in on a lower quality image will not be very helpful and you won’t really be able to see anything any clearer, but zooming in to a high-resolution image can be useful. For beginners, magnification should be one of the last criteria to consider.

Pro Tip: If for any reason any of the important data points are not listed, you can often calculate them:

Don’t know your focal length?
Determine it by multiplying the focal ratio by the aperture. If you have a 6″ (152.4mm) f/5 telescope then 152.4 x 5 = 762mm focal length.

Don’t know your focal ratio? Determine it by dividing the focal length by the aperture. If you have a 762mm focal length and an aperture of 6″ (152.4mm) then 762 / 152.4 = 5 or f/5 focal ratio.

REFRACTORS VS REFLECTORS:

While there are some hybrid models and some very unique telescope models, most telescopes fall under one of two categories: refractor telescopes and reflector telescopes.

REFRACTORS:

Refracting telescopes use lenses to gather light, and those lenses refract, or bend, the light.

Galileo was famous for using refractors and many think that he was the first one to develop the first refracting telescope, while others think he might have gotten the device from regional merchants.

These telescopes sometimes suffer from lens sagging, but only when they get extremely big. The Yerkes 40-inch refractor is the largest refracting telescope in the world.

REFLECTORS:

Reflecting telescopes use mirrors to gather light, and the mirrors reflect the light. Reflectors were developed by Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century.

Curved mirrors can bend light and make parallel light rays converge to a focus. This focus is directly in the path of the incoming light, so there are several ways of making images from the mirror visible.

WHICH TYPE TO BUY FIRST?

This question is a very broad one and quite difficult to answer without knowing what you want to use the telescope for. For those who are starting from zero, we suggest that you get a small, portable telescope outfit from a well-known brand (Celestron, Sky-watcher, Orion). Generally speaking, reflectors are easier and cheaper to make in large sizes that collect can a lot of light, i.e. have a bigger aperture. Scroll further below to find out about our suggestions!