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I would recommend getting a Bresser telescope. I bought mine for £80 and it's pretty good. It has 156x maximum magnification which is ok when I started out. If you spend a bit more though, you could probably get one with a 200+ x magnification. I have recently upgraded to a telescope with 565x maximum magnification (as this is the best one I could get in my incredibly limited budget).
When purchasing a telescope check what lens' it comes with and the maximum achievable magnification.
Also, if you want to see particular things in space e.g. jupiter and saturn's ring or moon craters, I would recommend you purchase various filters to help get the best veiw of things. Make sure they fit the telescope.
For books, I would recommend purchasing a Phillip's Star Chart and The New Observers guide to Astronomy. Also, check around book shops to see if you can find any other useful books.
Depending on where you look, it may work out cheaper to buy a second-hand telescope, depending on what brand/make of telescope you are hoping to buy.
When purchasing a telescope check what lens' it comes with and the maximum achievable magnification.
Also, if you want to see particular things in space e.g. jupiter and saturn's ring or moon craters, I would recommend you purchase various filters to help get the best veiw of things. Make sure they fit the telescope.
For books, I would recommend purchasing a Phillip's Star Chart and The New Observers guide to Astronomy. Also, check around book shops to see if you can find any other useful books.
Depending on where you look, it may work out cheaper to buy a second-hand telescope, depending on what brand/make of telescope you are hoping to buy.
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For most people the best in budget will be a Skywatcher Skyliner 150P, as it gives the most aperture and thus the best views for the price.
However if you live in an urban area and don't have a car, or on an upper floor of a building without a lift, you might consider something more compact. The Skywatcher Heritage 130P has a collapse-down tube and only gives away an inch of aperture to its bigger brother, and is generally well regarded. Alternatively, again from Skywatcher are the Skymax 90 Maksutov-Cassegrain or Startravel 102 refractor, which are lower on aperture but may be more transportable - though I would check before buying. (The latter can be readily had on an alt-az mount to avoid the complexity of equatorials).
If you buy a Newtonian reflector you will need some sort of collimation tool. A simple homemade cap will do to begin with, but for a more accurate collimation without breaking the bank a Cheshire is the way to go.
And you will need a red light to read your charts by when at the telescope.
However if you live in an urban area and don't have a car, or on an upper floor of a building without a lift, you might consider something more compact. The Skywatcher Heritage 130P has a collapse-down tube and only gives away an inch of aperture to its bigger brother, and is generally well regarded. Alternatively, again from Skywatcher are the Skymax 90 Maksutov-Cassegrain or Startravel 102 refractor, which are lower on aperture but may be more transportable - though I would check before buying. (The latter can be readily had on an alt-az mount to avoid the complexity of equatorials).
If you buy a Newtonian reflector you will need some sort of collimation tool. A simple homemade cap will do to begin with, but for a more accurate collimation without breaking the bank a Cheshire is the way to go.
And you will need a red light to read your charts by when at the telescope.
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You might check out your local astronomy club for info, and to source used 'scopes.
Also, You can even build your own telescope. A Dobsonian-mount type is pretty simple, and relatively cheap to do. Here's one How-to:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/…
There will be other instructions out there:
A Galileo-type telescope project is here:
http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/tele/tele.…
Once you get above a 6 or 8" telescope, you will probably want to have a motor-driven telescope: with a 6" one, I was frustrated by the fact Saturn moved out of my view too quickly when I used one of these once. It gets worse as you go bigger.
Also, You can even build your own telescope. A Dobsonian-mount type is pretty simple, and relatively cheap to do. Here's one How-to:
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/…
There will be other instructions out there:
A Galileo-type telescope project is here:
http://www.funsci.com/fun3_en/tele/tele.…
Once you get above a 6 or 8" telescope, you will probably want to have a motor-driven telescope: with a 6" one, I was frustrated by the fact Saturn moved out of my view too quickly when I used one of these once. It gets worse as you go bigger.
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This is my favourite page for decent telescopes in the UK. The 150P would be perfect for you