10 Best Telescopes in 2018

Celestron has been making high-quality telescopes for over 50 years. They’ve won a heap of awards and have gained a reputation as one of the premier telescope brands on the market today. So, when they came out with the Celestron PowerSeeker 127EQ Telescope, the astronomy world took notice. It has received great reviews and is fast becoming one of the best budget telescopes you can get your hands on. It’s only around $150, which puts it towards the cheaper end of quality home telescopes.

It’s a Newtonian reflector telescope, which means it uses a mirror to gather light and reflects the image for viewing, instead of using lenses. This makes it cheaper to make and, consequently, makes it better value for an amateur astronomer. It has a 127mm (5 inches) aperture, which will allow you to view close objects like the moon in great detail. You’ll also be able to some planets, nebulas, and clusters of stars. It has glass optical components that are coated with reflective aluminum, which gives you amazing definition when you’re viewing. The EQ in the name stands for the equatorial mount, which compensates for the Earth’s rotation.

This is the most expensive telescope in this list. At $999, it is a premium product and offers a lot more features than some of the cheaper telescopes on the list. The main thing that makes this telescope expensive is the fact that it is a computerized telescope. It has a powerful built-in computer system that helps you detect more than 14,000 objects in outer-space. So, when you find an amazing object in the sky, you can find out immediately what you’re looking at. Not only does this feature make it an amazing experience for beginners, but it also makes it a really useful tool for more advanced astronomers.

It’s a Dobsonian reflector telescope, which is a type of Newtonian telescope, but typically has a larger aperture. That means the telescope gathers a large amount of light and can be used to view nebulas, galaxies, star clusters, and close up objects in great detail. Plus, the Orion 10019 SkyQuest XT10i IntelliScope Dobsonian Telescope has a huge scope, which means it can process information really quickly and is easy to use for beginners. This telescope is at its best when viewing objects in a faintly lit sky, but it’s still really versatile. Because of the price and the inbuilt computer, we’ve nominated this telescope as our premium choice. If money is no problem, you will have a ton of fun with this epic toy!

Meade is another telescope manufacturer known for their high-quality products. They’ve been around since the 70s and make some amazing telescopes. The Meade Instruments 216006 Polaris 130 EQ is one of their cheapest products and is one of the best home telescopes for beginners. When you are starting out you want something affordable because you don’t know how committed you are. At around $179.99, this is the perfect mix of value and quality. It might be cheap, but you still get a ton of features to get excited about.

First of all, it’s an EQ reflector telescope, which makes it perfect for beginners. For the price, the optics are incredible, and it has a decent sized aperture. That means you’ll get clear images and get to view celestial objects and planets. They won’t be in the same detail as the Orion telescope, but clear enough to see detail. The tripod and mount allow you to track objects in space as they move. 

Back towards the more expensive end of the spectrum, we find the Celestron NexStar 6 SE Telescope. This is another digital telescope that offers the amazing advantages of having a built-in computer. It’s slightly cheaper than the Orion telescope featured second on this list, but it is a strong contender as one of the top telescopes for under $1000. The main difference is how small this one is, making it a brilliant portable telescope.

It has a 150mm aperture and a focal length of 1500mm, which makes it one of the highest spec telescopes on this list. It’s not necessarily a professional telescope, but it’s certainly not a beginner one either. That’s not to say that beginners wouldn’t be able to operate it. It’s amazingly simple and easy to set up, so it could be perfect if you’re a beginner who wants to invest a lot in the hobby. It has 40,000 objects in its database, which is considerably more than Orion’s database. Plus, it uses a combination of reflection and refraction, that makes it perfect for stargazing, even if you are in an area with lots of light pollution. If you have money to spend, you have to consider this telescope.

This is the second entry from Orion. It’s a lot cheaper than the first model, but the Orion 09007 SpaceProbe 130ST offers an impressive selection of features for the price. Unlike the Orion 10019 XT10i, it doesn’t have an inbuilt computer, which is the main reason for the huge drop in price. Despite that, it has some pretty great reviews and is known for the amazing quality of its images.

It has an impressive 130mm aperture and a focal length of 650mm that will allow you to view the moon and nearby planets in details and will also let you look at nebulas and star clusters. It has a relatively short optical tube at 24mm which makes it perfect for taking on camping trips.  It’s not going to let you view objects in deep space, but it gives enough to give you an amazing entry into the world of astronomy. Plus, it comes with two magnification options of 25x and 65x as well as the ability to track objects as they move across the sky.

This is the second telescope from Celestron in our list of the top telescopes for under $1000. It’s cheaper than the Celestron NexStar 6 SE Telescope, but at around $430 it sits somewhere in the middle of the price range. It’s one of the most affordable computerized telescopes on the market and with 4000 pre-programmed objects, there is plenty for you to search for in the night sky.

The Celestron NexStar 130SLT Computerized Telescope is an all-around reflector telescope with a 130mm aperture and a 650mm focal length. That gives you plenty of scope but isn’t going to provide you with the same detail as some of the more advanced digital telescopes. It has a large mirror, which gathers a lot of light and lets you view celestial objects in clear detail. If you like this telescope, but prefer a refractor style telescope, there is a sister product called the Celetron Nexstar 120SLT refractor telescope, but we would recommend sticking with the reflector model if you are a beginner. In the price range, it’s considered one of the best telescopes for astrophotography, but you have to buy the camera adapter and T2 ring separately. This is a great gift for the man who has everything.

The SkyWatcher S11600 Traditional Dobsonian 6-Inch is the second Dobsonian telescope in our list. It is widely assumed that Dobsonian telescopes are for more advanced astronomers and beginners will find them difficult to use. This is because Dobsonian telescopes are built for viewing deep sky objects, instead of closer objects like the moon and nearby planets. However, these days, there are a few Dobsonian that is built with beginners in mind, so that we can get a taste of what is out there in deep space.

This star telescope has a 152mm aperture and 1200mm focal length, which means you can view objects much further away. It has a high-quality rack and pinion focuser that allows even beginners to easily focus on far-away objects. It comes with two eyepieces (10mm and 25mm) which allow you to get different magnification results, and an impressive rocker mount that lets you track in slow motion. If you are just starting out in astronomy but want to view deep space, this is the telescope for you.

Yet another entry from Orion, the Orion 8944 SkyQuest XT6 Classic Dobsonian Telescope is their cheaper Dobsonian telescope. At $299.99, it’s another chance for beginner astronomer to view deep space without having to fork out thousands of pounds. This telescope is widely reviewed as one of the best telescopes for under $500, so it had to have a place in our list.

It features a 152mm aperture and a focal length of 1200mm, which makes it very similar to the Skywatcher telescope featured at number seven in the list. They are really similar scopes with really similar prices, so it’s a really difficult decision to choose one. A nice feature on this telescope is the EZ finder, which projects a small red dot so that you can point the telescope exactly where you want to view. We can’t say which is better, all we can say is that they are both great entry-level Dobsonian telescopes.

This small telescope offers amazing value for money. It’s made by Celestron, so it has an exemplary astronomy pedigree, but, at less than $100, it is really affordable. It’s the cheapest telescope for adults on this list and it still offers a really impressive range of features, which is why we’ve made it our best value product. If you want to give astronomy a go, but don’t want to lay down hundreds of dollars, this is the perfect option.

The Celestron 21061 AstroMaster 70AZ Refractor Telescope has a 70mm aperture and 900mm focal length, so you’re not going to get the same f image quality that you would see in the more expensive telescopes on the list. Having said that, you will still be able to view the moon, nearby planets, and more, in impressive detail. It is super easy to set up and requires almost no knowledge of astronomy to operate. It’s not designed as a telescope for kids, but it’s so easy to use that it could be used by kids and parents alike.

The last telescope in our list comes from a company called Gskyer. Unlike Orion and Celeston, they are known for creating telescopes that are easy to use for beginners. The Gskyer EQ 80900 Telescope is a great mid-range refractor telescope that allows beginners to view the moon, nearby planets, and other celestial objects, without requiring a great deal of knowledge.

It’s got an 80mm aperture and 900mm focal length, which sets it nicely in the middle of cheap beginner telescopes and the more expensive options. It has excellent features like a star finder, optical coating, and adjusting wheel, which makes it a versatile telescope. The tripod is pretty high-quality and will allow you to track objects with relative ease. It’s not the best refractor telescope, but for the price, you get a lot of bang for your buck.