We provide all the information necessary to buy a high-quality product confidently—even if it costs more than other models.

There are five planets visible to the naked eye, but one of those, Saturn, is too close to the Sun to be visible this month. Of the others, three are currently visible in the evening sky. 

In spite of their complicated appearance, equatorial mounts really aren’t all that complicated nor are they much more difficult to use than an alt-azimuth mount.

Observing the Sun is one of few astronomy activities you can do in the daytime.

Observing the planets is probably the first thing you’re going to want to do with your telescope, as the planets are easy to find, bright, and visible regardless of light pollution conditions.

Astrophotography, unfortunately, is a bit of a money pit. Not only is the gear expensive, but the overall quality of your images and the versatility of your rig is pretty much directly proportional to how much you spend.

Almost any telescope needs a finder.

For astrophotography, an equatorial mount is critical to achieving accurate tracking for sharp, long-exposure images.

If you plan on looking through your telescope, eyepieces are pretty important.

Basically all telescopes ever made fall into three types.

Buying your first telescope can be confusing. This guide will lead you to the best model you can buy; for different price ranges.