When you think of amateur astronomy or stargazing you automatically think that you will need to buy a telescope. But this isn’t necessarily true. A good quality telescope is expensive and can be hard to use effectively, especially if you’re the type of person who has trouble keeping your hands steady. You can use a stand but that’s more expense.
Kids especially have trouble with large, bulky telescopes. Forget about cheap telescopes, as these tend to produce dim images and false colors.
Amateur astronomy can be an expensive business, especially if you want a really good quality telescope. Some, such as the Ritchey-Chrétien can be cost in the range of $2000-$6000 dollars. Even some refractors can be over $1000.Yet it needn’t cost you that much – you can pick up a new telescope for less than $200 from reputable dealers. But before buying any telescope you need to make sure it will do the job – especially for amateur astronomy, which is much more demanding than any terrestrial observation.