Interested in astronomy

[matty406]

Well, I've always been fascinated by the cosmos, and recently my interest has become greater.
So what i want to do is to observe the heavens, using Stellarium as my guide, from my bedroom window (my vantage point ).
So i put it to you, the people of the USB forums: what would be a fairly priced, decent quality telescope for an amateur? Also, what type?

I already have some things i really want to see, like Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and a star cluster near the Orion constellation.

I'll appreciate any help you throw.

[atomic7732]

If you've got 300-600 dollars, a Celestron Nextstar (5") aperture gives a nice view of Saturns rings, Jupiter's moons, and... Well, not to spoil it, but mars is kinda blobby, but I only used a focal length of 25mm eyepiece, so it could be better. Venus is too close to see well. But if you get one, the moon is awesome (never look at it full moon, it's bleh), always view the moon when the terminator cuts the moon.

It's nice, I don't like the AutoAlign feature, it doesn't work, well, but once you get the hang of it, you can scope things in nice and easy!

Here is one of them

[Dan Dixon]

This discussion titled: "What's a good backyard telescope?" should be helpful:
http://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/c43u6/reddit_whats_a_good_backyard_telescope/

Let us know what you decide to get.

[Dan Dixon]

Here's another discussion on Reddit about getting a telescope:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comments/c5bvi/forgive_me_if_this_is_the_wrong_place_to_post_but/