Amazon has a wide range of telescopes to choose from. It's difficult to pick out the right one as not all of them are top quality. We looked at the top models from well-known brands and put the biggest discounts in the guide.
There are some pretty good deals for telescopes on Amazon at the moment and you can save a lot of money on top brands, like the Orion StarMax 70mm tabletop which is the lowest price for a while. If you know what type of telescope you're after, you can always check out our brand specific guides.
Everyone wants an out of this world deal when looking for telescopes on Amazon, but we recommend sticking to the tried and trusted manufacturers such as Sky-Watcher. We know they're tried and trusted because we've done a number of reviews on each of their models, but there are other brands we can't vouch for.
If you don't know the brand name of the product, it's a good idea to be cautious. If you're looking for the best telescopes and budget telescopes, you can check out our guides. Our round-up of the best telescopes on Amazon can be found here.
There are three main types of telescopes. We went into the benefits and drawbacks of each design. Look through the guidance in the article on the best telescopes to see if you need a full breakdown.
Refractors
These telescopes are usually best for providing high-magnification views of targets like planets and the moon. They're also very easy to set up and maintain. Combine this with the fact that they usually retail for a lower price point and you can see why this is a popular option with beginners. They do tend to suffer from a visual problem called ‘chromatic aberration’, where bright objects in the sky appear to be surrounded by a halo. However, this shouldn’t dampen the experience for any viewers.
These types of telescopes are better suited for spotting fainter objects because they take in more light. They can be used to view low-magnification targets. The 'coma' effect can affect these types of telescopes, where objects are not spherical. This is not a big deal, and you can probably get used to it at this price point.
The Maksutov-Cassegrain is one of the main designs. Both types come with a computerized GoTo system that can work out your location and align with night sky targets that you program into the device. The problems mentioned above are usually fixed by them. They are usually more expensive as a result. The Maksutov-Cassegrain design is better for fainter deep sky targets and the Schmidt-Cassegrain design is better for high magnification targets.
The deal will be moved below when it has expired. You can compare prices from the past to the present. When looking for telescopes on Amazon, you'll get a sense of what to look for.
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