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If you like seeing this bright spot flying through the sky, you'll love seeing the whole actual ISS structure (basically like this : H) through a telescope.
I wasn't sure it would be possible, but I tried it with my small dobsonian, and saw it for a few seconds. Tracking is a bit of a PITA, so it helps a lot to have someone else roughly track it via the finder scope, while you adjust focus and keep the ISS exactly in the middle of the eyepiece.
It's a wonderful experience, even for non-geeks. My family and neighbourhood kids enjoyed it a lot.

Sorry for the slashvertisement, but this telescope is affordable, very good, and very suitable for ISS tracking :
http://www.telescope.com/Teles...
Some friends with bigger telescopes and equatorial go-to mount bought it just to be able to see the ISS.

Yes, light pollution sucks big time.
If you can see bright stars, you can surely see Venus, Saturn and Jupiter.
They're pretty fun to look at, even with a small and cheap dobsonian (e.g. http://www.telescope.com/Teles...).
I love mine, and it helps me connect with our sky even in a light polluted area. I can also see some of the brightest nebulae and galaxies.
I'm pretty sure you'd be able to see Catalina with it even from the Sprawl.

Dobs in the 5" - 10" range are perfect.
I recommend 8-10.

when they out grow the Dob mount you can buy some rings and put them on an equatorial mount.
it gives you an upgrade path.

some good links:
great for comparing prices
http://www.optcorp.com/

AWB offers a great little scope for the price.
http://store.astronomerswithou...

It's hard to beat a lot of their prices.
http://www.telescope.com/

Zambuto makes very expensive, high end, mirrors. Most beginners would be far better off spending $500 on a complete telescope from http://www.telescope.com/

A couple of things to know:
* Aperture (thus ability to gather light) is more important than magnification.
* There are essentially 3 kinds of scopes:
1) Refractor (classic design)
2) Newtonian reflector (more affordable). Newtonians are generally less money and give you more bang for the buck, and Dobsonian Newtonians are even better bargains, though a dob can't track objects as they can't use an equatorial mount. I have an 8" dob, and a small 80mm refractor, but what I'd really like is a
3) Cassegrain: , which is like an optically "folded" newtonian - they're small, light, and powerful, but not as cheap as newtonians.
You can look here for starters: http://www.telescope.com/ (Orion)

The sun is actually a really great object for observation with a small telescope exactly because of the advantages pointed out above. You could view it, for instance, every day for a week during school hours.

The sun is actually quite fascinating as a telescopic object. Sunspots are intricate and no two are the same. They change from day to day or even hour to hour (compared with most astronomical objects, which don't change much at all over the course of even months or years, as seen from even large earth-based telescopes, with few exceptions).

I've shown the sun to a number of school and youth groups and it never fails to get a "wow!!" and "I never knew the sun LOOKED like that".

With even a 4-inch scope (and solar filter of course) you'll be able to see a view very similar to the one here:

  http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/sunspots/

In addition, however, you'll be able to use different eyepieces to zoom in & see more detail in the sunspot clusters.

A great class project would be to view the sun daily for a week & make a sketch of the sunspots & their location on the sun. Over that time you'd see the sunspots rotate to different positions on the sun (thus your students will be able to directly observe the rotation of the sun & do things like calculate the speed of rotation if you're interested in that type of thing) and also change in shape & size.

You can buy something like this:
http://www.telescope.com/control/accessories/telescope-and-eyepiece-filters/4*57-inch-id-orion-full-aperture-solar-filter

But far more economical is this (the 8x11 sheet at 20 euros is enough to build like three or four solar filters):

http://www.baader-planetarium.com/sofifolie/sofi_start_e.htm

Then use that film to construct a solar filter that will mount to your telescope as explained here:

http://www.baader-planetarium.com/sofifolie/bauanleitung_e.htm

I would suggest shopping at: http://www.telescope.com/ or http://scientificsonline.com/

The price of these telescopes is simply amazing. For a little less than $400 (I assume you have to add shipping and other stuff) you can get http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=classicdobs/~pcategory=classicdobs/~product_id=08943 that 8" dobsonian you mentioned. I only went there because of your link and the NOVA/PBS show I watched on home-built astronomy. Basically you can buy a really decent telescope for about the same price as you can build your own, so if just getting started (like I am thinking about) it is easier to buy based on recommendations of active local astronomers.

Thanks for the link. $400 is still a bit out of reach, but we'll see what tax rebate season brings.

Dont get a crappy scope. it will simply discourage you.

go to orion at http://www.telescope.com/control/main/ and buy a 8" dobsonian.

you will see things that the guys that have the cheap crap cant.

you will also have a crapload more light gathering than any small lens telescope can hope to have, giving you better star views and even seeing color very well.

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=08943 is a PERECT beginners telescope. it works fantastic and does not have the crapload of problems and poor viewing that anythign smaller would have.

Also if it can be bought from walmart or radio shack or even elder beerman, it's crap. do not buy it.

I have one of those and the 12" big brother to it. the 8" I loan out all the time to people interested in astronomy and they freak out when they look at saturn and see the rings seperated from the planet unlike a lesser scope can do.

the only drawback is a 8" scope can BLIND YOU if you observe the moon without filters.

Dont get a crappy scope. it will simply discourage you.

go to orion at http://www.telescope.com/control/main/ and buy a 8" dobsonian.

you will see things that the guys that have the cheap crap cant.

you will also have a crapload more light gathering than any small lens telescope can hope to have, giving you better star views and even seeing color very well.

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=08943 is a PERECT beginners telescope. it works fantastic and does not have the crapload of problems and poor viewing that anythign smaller would have.

Also if it can be bought from walmart or radio shack or even elder beerman, it's crap. do not buy it.

I have one of those and the 12" big brother to it. the 8" I loan out all the time to people interested in astronomy and they freak out when they look at saturn and see the rings seperated from the planet unlike a lesser scope can do.

the only drawback is a 8" scope can BLIND YOU if you observe the moon without filters.

There are many great ways to enjoy astronomy. The easiest and cheapest is to get binoculars (50mm or more) and a star chart. In dark skies, you can see some really cool things with just those, and trying to find the constellations and nebula/globular clusters is fun and gives you a feeling of accomplishment. Check out Stellarium (free and open-source) or Starry Night to get a view of the sky and find some things to look at. You can also explore the sky now in Google Earth.

For just viewing, I'd recommend a Dobsonian telescope. They are the cheapest and lightest. The Orion Skyquests I linked to are great. It took me maybe 45-60 minutes to get it put together for the first time, and it's really easy to take around if you get the bag. You can carry the bag in one hand and the base in the other with the handle. The IntelliScope computer worked great, it only takes a couple minutes to get it going and have it point you to the right place in the sky. Basically you find a few bright objects that you know, point the telescope to center on them, and push a button on the controller. Then you type the identifier for something you want to see onto the controller and it gives you a reading of how far to move (around and up/down). You just move the telescope until both numbers reach 0 and the object is centered for you. Grab a wide-field lens to see faint objects like nebula, galaxies and globular clusters. narrow-field lenses make an object seem larger, but they actually make nebula and galaxies look dimmer.

However, Dobsonians are not good for astrophotography. They rely on you to move them, so there's no tracking. You'd be surprised how fast the sky moves across your field of view. At high magnification you can actually see Saturn moving across your field of view for instance. To get good photographs, you need to have longer exposures, which means your telescope needs to be able to move itself. For a good Schmidt-Cassegrain that can track itself you are looking at more like $2,000... Those are usually heavier as well, my 10" weighs about 80 lbs.

Whatever you do, realize that light-gathering ability goes up by the square of the mirror dimensions (roughly). So if you get a telescope with an 8" mirror, that is about 50 square inches of light-gathering ability. If you move up to a 10" mirror you get an area of 78.5 square inches. You could use a 19 second exposure instead of a 30 second exposure if you're doing astrophotography.

Now, are you still interested in Amateur Astronomy? It can certainly be a lot of fun, but unless you go the strictly Binoculars and Star Charts route, cheap it is not.

If you're still interested, what do you want to see? There are really three distinct classes of objects, with different requirements: Stars (looking at doubles and multi-star systems), Planets, and Deep-Sky (Faint Fuzzies, the Nebulae, galaxies, and globular clusters.) For Stars and planets, you want the best quality refractor you can buy, largely becase these are pursuits that push high magnifications. For the Faint Fuzzies, you need as much aperture as you can get, and the cheapest way to do that is a Newtonian Reflector.

Now, there is a third way, not mentioned by many of the other posts I see, the Catadiotropics, these are telescopes that contain compound Mirror/Lens combinations. They provide a way to the get much of the optical performance of Refractors, with the light gathering ability of Reflectors. Orion imports a number of Chinese made models that are rather well regarded of this type.

Resources for more information - You really need to learn as much before making a purchase. I recommend: Ed Ting's http://www.scopereviews.com/, which hasn't been updated much lately but has a lot of good information nonetheless. Also, as mentioned by others: http://www.cloudynights.com/ is an excellent resource with a great, and active forum community.

Now, just to give you more of the Kind of answer you wanted, for $1000, what do I like? In a Refractor, I like the William Optics http://www.williamoptics.com/ Zenithstar 80 ED Refractor, a nice budget OTA (optical tube assembly) with well regarded performance, and a very nice focuser. That will leave you enough money left over to buy a decent Mount and Tripod (a hugely complex subject in and of itself), and a decent eyepiece or two (I like the University Optics http://www.universityoptics.com/ HD Abbe Orthoscopics, which give a lot of Bang for the Buck Performance). Now, in a Reflector, the Orion http://www.telescope.com/ Skyquest XT12 Classic is a good buy and comes with everything you need to get started. And the Third way? The Orion 150mm Skyview Pro Maksutov Cassegrain is probably a good start. Note that the Skyquest XT12 will definitely show you the most things (Aperture wins!) BUT, it does not have an equatorial mount and it will NOT track the sky.

In closing, I strongly suggest thinking about what it is you want to see, and spending a good bit of time reading the Cloudy Nights Forum before making a purchase.

Stellarvue offers high quality telescopes at reasonable prices.

To get into astrophotography, you will want a high quality equatorial mount with an accurate drive mechanism. Your telescope will have to accurately track stars and celestial objects in order to photograph them. Any irregularities will be magnified (pun intended). The best astrophotography for amateurs is with CCD cameras right now.

Orion has some mid-range equatorial mounts and CCD equipment. However a budget of under $1000 is extremely limiting.

To keep on budget, I would avoid looking for computer controlled telescopes. This would add nothing to your ability to photograph objects and also keep you from learning how to navigate the night sky on your own. I would recommend the book "The Stars" by H.A. Rey as a pleasant introduction to the night sky and how it apparently moves above us. After that get "Turn Left at Orion" by Guy Consolmagno.

A SkyView Pro mount with motor drive, but without computer goto technology and a Stellarvue Nighthawk 80mm refractor will go for under $1000. Add a relatively nice CCD imager for under $200 and you have a really nice quality starter scope.

None of this is really high end. The mount and the camera are reasonable and the scope is good quality (stellarvues are actually a bargain for their price!).

Many people will spend more than $1000 on the camera alone. don't be surprised to meet people with $7000 scopes and $2500 mounts! This is a hobby that can cost you your marriage.

I really recommend small scopes like the Stellarvues because you are more likely to take it out and set it up. If you were not on a budget, I would recommend a televue telescope. Stellarvue are American made and the owner stands behind his products.

If you were not interested in photography, I would suggest a really nice pair of binoculars. You can get really good optics for less money than with telescopes because the market for binoculars is greater, and the laws of economic mass production work in your favor. Binoculars are nice because if you find you don't like astronomy as much as you used to, you can still use the binos for sporting events, hunting, camping, or whatever.

I'm not joking about the binoculars. Until you've seen the moon through a nice par of binoculars, don't mock them!

Go online and find a local astronomy group. Go to a few star parties and check out scopes other people have set up. You may also have better luck finding quality used equipment if you develop a network of friends in the community in this way. Astronomy is a fun and challenging hobby, I wish you luck!

Stellarvue offers high quality telescopes at reasonable prices.

To get into astrophotography, you will want a high quality equatorial mount with an accurate drive mechanism. Your telescope will have to accurately track stars and celestial objects in order to photograph them. Any irregularities will be magnified (pun intended). The best astrophotography for amateurs is with CCD cameras right now.

Orion has some mid-range equatorial mounts and CCD equipment. However a budget of under $1000 is extremely limiting.

To keep on budget, I would avoid looking for computer controlled telescopes. This would add nothing to your ability to photograph objects and also keep you from learning how to navigate the night sky on your own. I would recommend the book "The Stars" by H.A. Rey as a pleasant introduction to the night sky and how it apparently moves above us. After that get "Turn Left at Orion" by Guy Consolmagno.

A SkyView Pro mount with motor drive, but without computer goto technology and a Stellarvue Nighthawk 80mm refractor will go for under $1000. Add a relatively nice CCD imager for under $200 and you have a really nice quality starter scope.

None of this is really high end. The mount and the camera are reasonable and the scope is good quality (stellarvues are actually a bargain for their price!).

Many people will spend more than $1000 on the camera alone. don't be surprised to meet people with $7000 scopes and $2500 mounts! This is a hobby that can cost you your marriage.

I really recommend small scopes like the Stellarvues because you are more likely to take it out and set it up. If you were not on a budget, I would recommend a televue telescope. Stellarvue are American made and the owner stands behind his products.

If you were not interested in photography, I would suggest a really nice pair of binoculars. You can get really good optics for less money than with telescopes because the market for binoculars is greater, and the laws of economic mass production work in your favor. Binoculars are nice because if you find you don't like astronomy as much as you used to, you can still use the binos for sporting events, hunting, camping, or whatever.

I'm not joking about the binoculars. Until you've seen the moon through a nice par of binoculars, don't mock them!

Go online and find a local astronomy group. Go to a few star parties and check out scopes other people have set up. You may also have better luck finding quality used equipment if you develop a network of friends in the community in this way. Astronomy is a fun and challenging hobby, I wish you luck!

Stellarvue offers high quality telescopes at reasonable prices.

To get into astrophotography, you will want a high quality equatorial mount with an accurate drive mechanism. Your telescope will have to accurately track stars and celestial objects in order to photograph them. Any irregularities will be magnified (pun intended). The best astrophotography for amateurs is with CCD cameras right now.

Orion has some mid-range equatorial mounts and CCD equipment. However a budget of under $1000 is extremely limiting.

To keep on budget, I would avoid looking for computer controlled telescopes. This would add nothing to your ability to photograph objects and also keep you from learning how to navigate the night sky on your own. I would recommend the book "The Stars" by H.A. Rey as a pleasant introduction to the night sky and how it apparently moves above us. After that get "Turn Left at Orion" by Guy Consolmagno.

A SkyView Pro mount with motor drive, but without computer goto technology and a Stellarvue Nighthawk 80mm refractor will go for under $1000. Add a relatively nice CCD imager for under $200 and you have a really nice quality starter scope.

None of this is really high end. The mount and the camera are reasonable and the scope is good quality (stellarvues are actually a bargain for their price!).

Many people will spend more than $1000 on the camera alone. don't be surprised to meet people with $7000 scopes and $2500 mounts! This is a hobby that can cost you your marriage.

I really recommend small scopes like the Stellarvues because you are more likely to take it out and set it up. If you were not on a budget, I would recommend a televue telescope. Stellarvue are American made and the owner stands behind his products.

If you were not interested in photography, I would suggest a really nice pair of binoculars. You can get really good optics for less money than with telescopes because the market for binoculars is greater, and the laws of economic mass production work in your favor. Binoculars are nice because if you find you don't like astronomy as much as you used to, you can still use the binos for sporting events, hunting, camping, or whatever.

I'm not joking about the binoculars. Until you've seen the moon through a nice par of binoculars, don't mock them!

Go online and find a local astronomy group. Go to a few star parties and check out scopes other people have set up. You may also have better luck finding quality used equipment if you develop a network of friends in the community in this way. Astronomy is a fun and challenging hobby, I wish you luck!

80mm Apochromatic Refractor on SkyView Pro Mount There you got $800, of course you need to add $50 for a tracking drive. Now I defy you to look in Orion's catalogue and show me a reflector plus mount which is suitable for astrophotography. Reflectors tend to be undermounted and therefor not great for photographic use, you can get a 6" or 8" reflector on the same mount for less money but they aren't stable enough. And the heavier mounts are completely out of the price range.

I pretty much started out with exactly the same goals as yourself, I wanted half decent aperture and the possibility of astrophotography. the $1000 budget isn't so ridiculous if you already own a ddigital SLR, hen instead of paying $$$ for a ccd you can just mount your SLR at prime focus.

If it wasn't for the 'interested in photography' part then I'd just recommend an 8" (or larger) dobsonian, a large newtonian reflector on a simple mount, for under $1000 you can get up to 12" of aperture which is more than enough to let you see galaxies and nebula under dark skies
Anttlers Optics has a great in house brand, but you can also look at Celestron and Orion

BUt, for photography you need a steady, equatorial mount with a drive on the RA axis, which means you need to shrink the size of the scope to make it stable enough. I'd recommend Orion's 80mm Refractor on their Skyview Pro Mount, that'll sneak you in under your $1000 mark. The 80ED is an apochromatic scope which means they use special glass to eliminate Chromatic aberration, and because it's a refractor it produces nice high contrast images. The focal length is 600mm which is about as high magnification you can go before the limitations of the mount start to show up. For the mount you need to get singe axis drive ($50) to make it track, and preferably a polar alignment scope so you can get the thing aligned enough to take images of greater than 30 seconds (which is the longest exposure time on many digital SLRs).

The great thing about the mount is that you can upgrade it with computerised object location or even GOTO capabilities later when you want. It's also sturdy enough to hold larger scopes if you don't need to take photos. You can drop an 8" reflector on there, or a 9.5" Cassegrain.

Now, this setup will not let you photograph planets, they're too small, if you want to image planets you need to spend some more money on a barlow lens, and a camera which is smaller and faster than the SLR - I use a converted phillips webcam, but you can save time and just buy a $100 camera that'll just work.

I should stress that this is an antry level photography system, the optics are pretty damn good, but the tracking is barely adequate, but it'll give you enough experiece to let you have fun. People will tell you it's a waste of time to even think about astrophotography on that budget, but I'm having loads of fun - even from my ridiculously light polluted back yard in Oakland.

Here's some of my images with my setup - same mount, same focal length, but it's a 100mm non-ED refractor which means more Chromatic aberration.
Orion Nebula
Andromeda
M51
The Moon
Jupiter
M13

I pretty much started out with exactly the same goals as yourself, I wanted half decent aperture and the possibility of astrophotography. the $1000 budget isn't so ridiculous if you already own a ddigital SLR, hen instead of paying $$$ for a ccd you can just mount your SLR at prime focus.

If it wasn't for the 'interested in photography' part then I'd just recommend an 8" (or larger) dobsonian, a large newtonian reflector on a simple mount, for under $1000 you can get up to 12" of aperture which is more than enough to let you see galaxies and nebula under dark skies
Anttlers Optics has a great in house brand, but you can also look at Celestron and Orion

BUt, for photography you need a steady, equatorial mount with a drive on the RA axis, which means you need to shrink the size of the scope to make it stable enough. I'd recommend Orion's 80mm Refractor on their Skyview Pro Mount, that'll sneak you in under your $1000 mark. The 80ED is an apochromatic scope which means they use special glass to eliminate Chromatic aberration, and because it's a refractor it produces nice high contrast images. The focal length is 600mm which is about as high magnification you can go before the limitations of the mount start to show up. For the mount you need to get singe axis drive ($50) to make it track, and preferably a polar alignment scope so you can get the thing aligned enough to take images of greater than 30 seconds (which is the longest exposure time on many digital SLRs).

The great thing about the mount is that you can upgrade it with computerised object location or even GOTO capabilities later when you want. It's also sturdy enough to hold larger scopes if you don't need to take photos. You can drop an 8" reflector on there, or a 9.5" Cassegrain.

Now, this setup will not let you photograph planets, they're too small, if you want to image planets you need to spend some more money on a barlow lens, and a camera which is smaller and faster than the SLR - I use a converted phillips webcam, but you can save time and just buy a $100 camera that'll just work.

I should stress that this is an antry level photography system, the optics are pretty damn good, but the tracking is barely adequate, but it'll give you enough experiece to let you have fun. People will tell you it's a waste of time to even think about astrophotography on that budget, but I'm having loads of fun - even from my ridiculously light polluted back yard in Oakland.

Here's some of my images with my setup - same mount, same focal length, but it's a 100mm non-ED refractor which means more Chromatic aberration.
Orion Nebula
Andromeda
M51
The Moon
Jupiter
M13

Or he can buy some cheap piece of junk mount and try to do astro-photography for ~ $1k and be very disappointed.

My biggest piece of advice to the newby: Green laser pointer, you can see the beam. Mount it to your telescope, I built a mount of wood (drilled 3 holes, glued on two rare-earth magnets from think-geek, it took 10 minutes) or you can buy a $100 setup, but any way you cut it the green laser pointer will help you locate things in scope much, much faster. You simply aim the "canon" by pointing the laser at the spot in the sky you want to see. Other accessories very useful for the newb: right-angle corrected finder, laser collimator (get the "deluxe" so you can align your primary with the barlowed-laser approach)

Get a barlow so you can use the barlowed laser approach to colimate your primary, it makes it dead-simple. The Barlow of course also can be used to double the "power" of all your eyepieces so you need less glass to get going (good glass is very expensive)

Pay the $12 so you can shop at Astromart, you can pick up most everything 30-50% off there.

You already joined your astronomy club, this is good, Cloudy Nights is a great resource too, the people in the beginners forum are extremely friendly and helpful. The one CloudyNights star party I went to (Buck-Eye-On-The-Sky) this summer was a great place to learn from the masters and it was a lot of fun too.

Stelarrium rocks, there are a lot of other programs that work too, but Stellarium is dead-simple to use, perfect for the beginner, OSS, free, and it runs on anything with any 3d card.

Most importantly, Have fun! Seriously though download Stellarium onto your laptop. Take it and any pair of binoculars you can find and go out tonight about an hour after dark. Look to the south for the "teapot" that is Sagittarius, the center of our galaxy. It is just exploding with star-clusters and is a delight through binoculars, and Stellarium will guide you through what there is to see in it. If that doesn't do it for you, then a telescope isn't gonna help ;-)

Or he can buy some cheap piece of junk mount and try to do astro-photography for ~ $1k and be very disappointed.

My biggest piece of advice to the newby: Green laser pointer, you can see the beam. Mount it to your telescope, I built a mount of wood (drilled 3 holes, glued on two rare-earth magnets from think-geek, it took 10 minutes) or you can buy a $100 setup, but any way you cut it the green laser pointer will help you locate things in scope much, much faster. You simply aim the "canon" by pointing the laser at the spot in the sky you want to see. Other accessories very useful for the newb: right-angle corrected finder, laser collimator (get the "deluxe" so you can align your primary with the barlowed-laser approach)

Get a barlow so you can use the barlowed laser approach to colimate your primary, it makes it dead-simple. The Barlow of course also can be used to double the "power" of all your eyepieces so you need less glass to get going (good glass is very expensive)

Pay the $12 so you can shop at Astromart, you can pick up most everything 30-50% off there.

You already joined your astronomy club, this is good, Cloudy Nights is a great resource too, the people in the beginners forum are extremely friendly and helpful. The one CloudyNights star party I went to (Buck-Eye-On-The-Sky) this summer was a great place to learn from the masters and it was a lot of fun too.

Stelarrium rocks, there are a lot of other programs that work too, but Stellarium is dead-simple to use, perfect for the beginner, OSS, free, and it runs on anything with any 3d card.

Most importantly, Have fun! Seriously though download Stellarium onto your laptop. Take it and any pair of binoculars you can find and go out tonight about an hour after dark. Look to the south for the "teapot" that is Sagittarius, the center of our galaxy. It is just exploding with star-clusters and is a delight through binoculars, and Stellarium will guide you through what there is to see in it. If that doesn't do it for you, then a telescope isn't gonna help ;-)

Let us take this one step at a time ok? Buy Cambridge Star Atlas by Wil Tirion and do some naked eye observing. Just look up at the sky and see if you can identify major constellations. If the sky is really dark and your eyes have sufficiently acclamatised to the darkness, even with the naked eye you can see the andromeda galaxy (M31), double cluster in casseopia, orion (M42), pleides (M45) etc. They wont be swirling galaxies of stars like in computer simulations but it will motivate you to think 'what is in that fuzz'. This indeed would have driven ancient astronomers to build telescopes. Dont deny yourself that. Then buy a pair of 10x50 binoculars. These are higher powered than birding binoculars, medium heavy but comfortable to hold for long periods of time. 12x60 maybe suitable too if you are strong. But it will be heavier than the 10x50. Binoculars are amazing - they give a spectroscopic view, a wide field of view and combined with a dark sky is just spectacular. Your enthusiasm will dampen a bit when you view the same sky with 1 eye thru a telescope with mirror 3 times the power of a 10x50. Yes, you will see more detail but its not so spectacular. Still with binoculars, M31 will be a fuzz, but M42 and M45 are nicely represented. M35, M34 are fine too. See in a few months if you are still interested in astronomy. If you are then consider buying a 4.5 inch (mirror radius) reflector telescope with a dobsonian mount. Now most folks in astronomy clubs will say 4.5" is good only for planets and just a few big galaxies like M31. They will say start with a 6" or 8" or even 10" telescopes. Beware of these people. They have 18" telescopes and are still not happy. The 6, 8 and 10" are heavy scopes. You can lift a 4.5" with one hand. When the sky is cloudy and it has just cleared, you will be more motivated to take out that 4.5" than a 6" (if you have an 8 or 10" well forget it). And whats wrong with planets? Its a beauty to see the rings of Saturn with your own eyes and 4.5" will do a great job. And unless you are doing astrophotography, get a Dobsonian mount *not* equatorial mount. Dobsonian is a pleasure to use and with a spotting scope mounted on top you can find anything. I bought an Orion Starblast 4.5" dobsonian http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=4644&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=starblast and very happy with it. Remember the most powerful telescope is the one that gets used. Usually interest in astronomy damps in a year or gets feverish enough that the spouse is alarmed. If it is the latter, you can always give away the Starblast and buy yourself a bigger scope and all trinkets.

Damn straight.
I'd pop >$200 for a StarBlast (which you can retrofit to a nice CCD imager later) or get a middling nice 80mm refractor (which can be used as a spotter/guider later) and a cheap equatorial mount and get out and observe. Once you have a handle on the basics you can retrofit for CCD imaging and get a better scope to fit your needs.

In the Meantime you can indulge your desire for astrophotography by looking into off chip integration and drift integration no equatorial mount needed! Check out the "QuickCam and Unconventional Imaging Astronomy Group" QCUIAG.

Damn straight.
I'd pop >$200 for a StarBlast (which you can retrofit to a nice CCD imager later) or get a middling nice 80mm refractor (which can be used as a spotter/guider later) and a cheap equatorial mount and get out and observe. Once you have a handle on the basics you can retrofit for CCD imaging and get a better scope to fit your needs.

In the Meantime you can indulge your desire for astrophotography by looking into off chip integration and drift integration no equatorial mount needed! Check out the "QuickCam and Unconventional Imaging Astronomy Group" QCUIAG.

I agree with this advice. Go with a dobsonian scope. Check out the dobsonians at http://www.telescope.com/. You could even get a great scope for $500-$600, leaving extra money to expand your collection of eyepieces, etc., as your needs grow. They won't be good for photography unless you get an equatorial platform, but they really excel at "direct" observation and are a great way to get into the hobby. If you're dead-set on photography now, the compromise scope would be an equatorial-mounted newtonian. And stay away from refractors (scopes made with lenses, as opposed to mirrors). You'll spend much, much more for a scope that is really a joy to use.

the best scope is the scope you use

I went through the same thing. I was fresh to amateur astronomy and didn't know what to do. My first warning: Don't spend to little on a telescope. $180 for a StarBlast is the lowest I'd pay for anything decent (and it is, I drool over it as a quick 'plop down and observe' scope from time to time). Second Warning: Astrophotography is insanely expensive. As in 10+ times your budget. Don't do it. If you really want to do astrophotography take a camera, put it on a tripod, point at the sky, set it as wide as you can and expose for 15 seconds for digital, a few hours for film. The results are quite nice.

Here's what my own experiences have taught me: Get a Dobsonian. With $1000 you can get a 10"-12" Dobsonian and still have tons of room for accessories. A dobsonian is very portable compared to a refractor and with near zero setup and takedown using it is much easier than a refractor too. 10" is a lot of aperture and you won't catch the "aperture fever" for something bigger for a while. The scope I eventually got is an Orion XT10 Intelliscope, but you may not want the computerization with your budget.

I found the people at Cloudy Nights very, very helpful. They have reviews of lots of products as well as their forums and they tend to specialize in getting the most out of your money.

As far as books go, I use Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson every night I observe just for the charts. Star Watch by Philip Harrington goes well with Nightwatch as good place to find new objects for the beginner. A lot of people suggest Turn Left at Orion, but I fount it to be a bit slow and the charts lacking in lower magnitude stars for their size.

I went through the same thing. I was fresh to amateur astronomy and didn't know what to do. My first warning: Don't spend to little on a telescope. $180 for a StarBlast is the lowest I'd pay for anything decent (and it is, I drool over it as a quick 'plop down and observe' scope from time to time). Second Warning: Astrophotography is insanely expensive. As in 10+ times your budget. Don't do it. If you really want to do astrophotography take a camera, put it on a tripod, point at the sky, set it as wide as you can and expose for 15 seconds for digital, a few hours for film. The results are quite nice.

Here's what my own experiences have taught me: Get a Dobsonian. With $1000 you can get a 10"-12" Dobsonian and still have tons of room for accessories. A dobsonian is very portable compared to a refractor and with near zero setup and takedown using it is much easier than a refractor too. 10" is a lot of aperture and you won't catch the "aperture fever" for something bigger for a while. The scope I eventually got is an Orion XT10 Intelliscope, but you may not want the computerization with your budget.

I found the people at Cloudy Nights very, very helpful. They have reviews of lots of products as well as their forums and they tend to specialize in getting the most out of your money.

As far as books go, I use Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson every night I observe just for the charts. Star Watch by Philip Harrington goes well with Nightwatch as good place to find new objects for the beginner. A lot of people suggest Turn Left at Orion, but I fount it to be a bit slow and the charts lacking in lower magnitude stars for their size.

I went through the same thing. I was fresh to amateur astronomy and didn't know what to do. My first warning: Don't spend to little on a telescope. $180 for a StarBlast is the lowest I'd pay for anything decent (and it is, I drool over it as a quick 'plop down and observe' scope from time to time). Second Warning: Astrophotography is insanely expensive. As in 10+ times your budget. Don't do it. If you really want to do astrophotography take a camera, put it on a tripod, point at the sky, set it as wide as you can and expose for 15 seconds for digital, a few hours for film. The results are quite nice.

Here's what my own experiences have taught me: Get a Dobsonian. With $1000 you can get a 10"-12" Dobsonian and still have tons of room for accessories. A dobsonian is very portable compared to a refractor and with near zero setup and takedown using it is much easier than a refractor too. 10" is a lot of aperture and you won't catch the "aperture fever" for something bigger for a while. The scope I eventually got is an Orion XT10 Intelliscope, but you may not want the computerization with your budget.

I found the people at Cloudy Nights very, very helpful. They have reviews of lots of products as well as their forums and they tend to specialize in getting the most out of your money.

As far as books go, I use Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson every night I observe just for the charts. Star Watch by Philip Harrington goes well with Nightwatch as good place to find new objects for the beginner. A lot of people suggest Turn Left at Orion, but I fount it to be a bit slow and the charts lacking in lower magnitude stars for their size.

There's good news and bad news, as always. The good news is that with the price dropping on technology, you can find fantastic scopes that are quite inexpensive and will find just about anything you'd want to look at with the touch of a couple of buttons. Most will even interface with a laptop right out of the box. The bad news is, if astrophotography is what you're after, your budget is going to have to expand a bit or your going to have to find a good deal on a used setup. The problem with taking pictures is tracking, tracking, tracking. You need a scope mount that's able to track with very little vibration or drift and you also need one that can handle having the weight of a heavy camera body clamped onto it. CCDs have come down quite a bit in price and they are much lighter in weight but, again, they ain't cheap. A good place to get an idea of pricing would be Orion Telescopes http://www.telescope.com/. They sell just about everything and have a "wizard" that you can use to get you in the ball park on prices. If you weren't so interested in photography, I'd suggest one of the Dobsonian style setups; they are inexpensive, portable, easy to set-up and take down and give excellent view/price.

Man! The lengths NASA will go to to shave expenses! They could bring it home, but nnnnooooooo, they're going to just chuck it and further clutter space! Oh, sure, they're clever, they'll pass this off as some official test (by loading the suit up with a bunch of other old junk from the ISS such as radios, empty TV Dinner In A Tube containers, stinky space diapers and a redundant Machine That Goes 'Ping' to lure every Thomas, Richard and Herrance to listen in or watch with their telescope, but it's really just a Dump-n-Run.

now with this eyepiece and just a bit finer focus .. yes .. yes, i can just make out the nike swoosh on it, so it's an advertising vehicle, too!

Any aliens visiting earth will easily determine that NASA was one of the earth's chief ethically-challenged waste disposal companies.

Zort, is that an antenna or is it glad to see us?

Dobsonian telescopes are very easy to use, beginner models are not very expensive and at the same time, you get the most bang for your buck, because the morror sizes on dobsonian telescopes tend to be a lot bigger than on refractors you would get at department stores for the same price. You can get a 4.5" Orion SkyQuest dobsonian telescope for $199 and really see a lot with it, tyr this url http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailma in.jsp?itemID=364&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSub Cat=9&iProductID=364. You might find these at a near by planetarium. If you are in a big city, even a very big telescope won't help you much because of all the light pollution. But on clear skies in the middle of nowhere, the 4.5" dobsonian will really let you see lot's of things. Tonight, you should be able to see all three planets really well with a 35mm or 45mm eyepiece. If you don't want to spend the money on a telescope, get some binoculars, but a telescope is a lot more fun once you get into it. Also, before you go, open up KStars, if you have Linux, that will help you with finding where things are at in the sky. Good luck!

It might be a bad idea to get them into astronomy, especially since a *good* beginer telescope should cost around $400 and will not get used nearly as much as a $400 computer. Don't get a telescope for anything under $200 without *thoroughly* researching it first. It will most likely be a mistake (unless it is a bargain, I got a great 4 inch refractor with AutoStar for $200 at Sam's Club. It is an older model but is is *great*. I think it would have costed around $500 when it was in production). Some good beginner scopes: Orion StarBlast Astro Telescope, Orion SkyQuest XT6 IntelliScope, and Meade ETX series. An alternative is digital photography. You can start them out with an inexpensive camera, and in a few years get a batter one with more advanced features (like a Canon Powershot A95). Or Model rocketry (mute sound!) which is very fun and not too expensive. It can be hands-on (building rockets) or you can get a pre-built kit.

It might be a bad idea to get them into astronomy, especially since a *good* beginer telescope should cost around $400 and will not get used nearly as much as a $400 computer. Don't get a telescope for anything under $200 without *thoroughly* researching it first. It will most likely be a mistake (unless it is a bargain, I got a great 4 inch refractor with AutoStar for $200 at Sam's Club. It is an older model but is is *great*. I think it would have costed around $500 when it was in production). Some good beginner scopes: Orion StarBlast Astro Telescope, Orion SkyQuest XT6 IntelliScope, and Meade ETX series. An alternative is digital photography. You can start them out with an inexpensive camera, and in a few years get a batter one with more advanced features (like a Canon Powershot A95). Or Model rocketry (mute sound!) which is very fun and not too expensive. It can be hands-on (building rockets) or you can get a pre-built kit.

This really is a huge boost to amateur astronomy. All "size doesn't matter" jokes aside (gawd, that got old fast), an average amateur astronomer with a reasonably priced scope has a chance to find something new in space. That has to be exciting to anyone who looks up at the sky and wondered.

Who's gonna go get a scope now? I suggested Orion Scopes for price vs bells and whistles (if you are into the extra gadgetry and have the paycheck to not care about price, go Meade).

Huh??? why?

I can get a completely awesome telescope setup for under $1000.00 that is way more than even a amateur astronomer could want....

here
add a few options and some high end Plossol eyepieces that your $2500.00 setup DOES NOT HAVE and I am still under $1000.00

sorry. but you are either trolling, or are a very dumb consumer.

While watching educational video's with the kiddo's has its place, how about you ditch the boob-toob and keep them up well past their bed-time?

Pick up a decent telescope and a few eyepieces, head out to the country (away from all the damn city lights) and, I don't know, look at Mars!

Here and here are sites with a little more info...

While watching educational video's with the kiddo's has its place, how about you ditch the boob-toob and keep them up well past their bed-time?

Pick up a decent telescope and a few eyepieces, head out to the country (away from all the damn city lights) and, I don't know, look at Mars!

Here and here are sites with a little more info...

I've been an amateur astronomer for quite a while, and have unfortunately seen many people purchase telescopes and then quickly lose interest. Many times this is because they either buy something of very low quality and get frustrated, or because they buy a scope that is good but doesn't really fit their needs.

Advice #1: Get a good quality telescope. Stay away from the plastic-lensed Tasco 2" refractors at your neighborhood department/hobby store. Take a look at Orion Telescopes -- everything there is good quality.

Advice #2: Base the rest of the decision on how you'll use the scope. At your price limit, you'll find that you can get one but not all of the following in a good-quality scope:

1. Large aperture -- lets you see fainter objects. An 8" scope allows you to see roughly 8 times as many objects in the sky as a 4" scope. If you're one of those freaks (like me) that want the most photons per dollar, you can't beat a Dobsonian telescope.
2. Compactness -- most of us have to live near street lights, which means that if you want to see faint objects, your scope needs to be transportable. Different people have different thresholds for what is "transportable"...some of my friends are very happy with their 36" Dobsonians that require massive trailers to haul. If you really want portability, get one of the Schmidt-Cassegrains from Meade or Celestron -- their 8" scopes fit in a medium suitcase.
3. Tracking/computer control -- the mechanisms used to track the scope to the earth's rotation and to provide a computer interface are not cheap. To those of us raised on binoculars and star-hopping, the "goto" computer-controlled scopes are like shooting fish in a barrel. But if you want to see a lot of stuff very quickly, they are nice. They also require the least stamina and dexterity to operate, something that may be a consideration for your dad. Some part of me wants to make fun of these guys who sit in their chairs sipping cocoa while the computer does all the work, just as I do at the folks who go to the Grand Canyon and ride the poor mules down to the bottom rather than hike. Still, if it opens the experience to people who couldn't otherwise do it, so much the better. Most of the Schmidt-Cassegrains have options for computer control.

The ideal thing is if people can learn about the sky first before jumping into an expensive telescope purchase. A star chart and an inexpensive pair of 7x50 binoculars will let you see a surprising amount: Binary stars, some galaxies, lots of star clusters, all of the planets except Neptune and Pluto, the Galilean moons of Jupiter, amazing detail on the Earth's Moon, etc.

Computerized Go-To telescopes are fine, and if your father is into technological gadgets, go ahead and him one. But astronomy is a learning hobby, and unless he wants to learn about the night sky, the go-to scope you've purchased will end up gathering dust.

The person who recommended a couple of books and a set of binoculars was right. Binoculars are always good to have, even if you have a telescope. However, I understand that you want to have a fun present to give your Dad. With that in mind, I'll give you a basic recommendation:

It really isn't that hard to find objects in the sky with a manually operated telescope. For $300-500 (including shipping) you can buy a 6" or 8" dobsonian-mounted telescope with decent optics. A "dob" is sturdy, simple and most of the money goes into optics, not the computer. At this price range, you just can't make a good scope and a good computer. A 6-8" dob for $300-500 is much better optically than a go-to scope in the same price range.

There are many places to get this type of scope: Orion Telescope has a nice set of beginner dobsonians. Thrown in a pointing device like a Telrad or a Rigel Quikfinder. Either of these finders are a real help in locating objects.

Add in a couple of good beginner's books. Turn Left at Orion is good, as is Nightwatch.

Finally, encourage your dad to join the local astronomy club. The club where I live is full of retired guys who enjoy the night sky.

First, I'd strongly suggest avoiding anything you can buy in a mall. The quality just isn't there, and the capabilities are often a little, er, overstated. (for a good rule of thumb, look for no more than 50x magnification for each inch of telescope aperture. That is, if you see a 3-inch refractor advertising "300x Magnification!!", then don't buy it. You might, under extremely bright and ideal conditions, achieve 300x, but it'll probably look like crap.)

In the astronomy club I used to be a part of (NOVAC, I quit 'cause of time constraints), there were some pretty strong differences over Meade, a fair consensus on quality Celestron (though I seem to remember they were going through a change in ownership that may have affected their reputation), and there are a lot of smaller semi-custom telescope manufacturers out there in a decent price range.

My best advice would be to go to a local astronomy club for information and advice -- they'll have people who REALLY know their stuff, and can give a good recommendation for just about any price range. The NOVAC link above has (under "Resources") a nice page with lots of different "how to buy a telescope" pages. Personally, I've heard "moderatly good" things about Orion 'scopes (wouldja believe, they're at telescope.com), and they've got a nice catalog with decent prices.

A key criteria is what you think he'll be looking for. Planetary scopes need better magnification, but not as much light-gathering capability. Plus, a smaller 'scope is easier to outfit with an errect-image prism for daytime use (birdwatching, for a politically-correct example). If he's more apt to go after "faint fuzzies," like galaxies, clusters, and nebulae, then a larger diameter scope (like 8-16 inches) becomes more of a requirement because of the better light-gathering capability. (Plus, he should definitely check out the Messier Marathon, "held" each March, as an observational challenge).

There're lots of other resources out there (one national-level organization is the Astronomical League, which has lists of many local groups which could provide you with input into telescope selection, and, most importantly, could provide your father with the support and encouragement to help him turn a cool gift into a favorite hobby. Too many people (myself included) simply buy a 'scope and then never make the effort to enjoy it, by being a part of a good, active club, he'll be likely to get infected by their enthusiasm and explore avenues he might not otherwise think of.

Good luck!

After you've decided that, go with aperture. With $600 and the right website, you can go pretty far. I'd get this one--with the 8" aperture and EQ drive it can hardly be beat for astro viewing. And erecter attachment can be used for terrestrial viewing and won't hamper the view too much.

After you've decided that, go with aperture. With $600 and the right website, you can go pretty far. I'd get this one--with the 8" aperture and EQ drive it can hardly be beat for astro viewing. And erecter attachment can be used for terrestrial viewing and won't hamper the view too much.

Get the largest aperature you can afford. Both Meade & Celestron make models with an 8" apperature with auto goto in the price range you suggest. You can easily hook either of them up to a laptop by using a webcam. Sample photos from a webcam of Jupiter can be found here.

Use a Philips webcam (Forget the name of it, but it is mentioned on the web page listed above) because it has the most sensitive CCD of the webcams, and takes the best photos. You can also get an adapter for around $20 to hook up the webcam to your computer, or you can easily make one.

Also, if you don't absolutely need the auto goto, you can get a good Dobsonian mounted telescope pretty cheap. Check out Orion Telescopes for some good Dobsonian mounted scopes, and some good Newtonian reflectors in the price range you wanted.

And oh yeah... $1,500 is by no means an ultra expensive telescope! A high quality mirror alone can cost several thousand dollars.

Two points: First, the Astroscan telescope shown on the front page of the Edmund Scientific site is TOP NOTCH STUFF for a beginner. It's super simple to use, the optics are superb, and it's an incredible bargain at $400-$450 for the scope with tripod. It looks strange, but form follows function.

Second, you're exactly right that telescope building is much different than astronomy. I'm in the Austin Astronomical Society, and we've got a few scope builders in the club. Trouble is, they hardly come to the meetings, and they don't bring their scopes. At the observing field, we can have more than 50 scopes on a clear summer night, and 99% of those are various commercial scopes: Meades, Celestrons, Obsessions, various small commercial dobs. By and large, these telescopes cost less than what it would take to build a similar instrument. Perhaps the best deals available right now are the 10 inch dobs. Meade makes a good one for less than $500 I believe.
Orion Telescopes makes the best one available for $599 -link here. At those prices, there's absolutely no reason at all for an amateur to build their own telescope. 20 or 30 years ago, many people built their own scopes because a quality 10 inch reflector would cost approximately what a brand new car cost. That's all changed, and astronomy has become a lot more open to newcomers.

Gotta come right back at you...

I never said get a 12 inch CAT instead of binoculars. I said get a telescope.

You suggest 10x50's. Have you checked the weight on those puppies? Well, let's go to Orion's website and see. BTW, if you MUST get binocs, Orion makes some damn fine ones. Don't go to KMart and buy Tasco crap if you can help it. Anyway, here's Orion's website.

This page says that 10x50 binocs weigh 28 ounces. That's almost 2 pounds! Now how long is that going to be comfortable to hold over your head? Not long. Observing with unmounted binoculars is a great way to get someone to dislike Astronomy.

I'd recommend a small dobsonian, say a 4.5 inch or a 6 inch. Another great scope (which I own) is the Edmund Scientific Astroscan. It's a 4.5 inch Newtonian in a funky looking mount that is incredibly stable and easy to use. The magnification with the eyepiece that comes with it is 16X, which is PERFECT for a beginner.

Here is the Astroscan's page on Edmund's site. I cannot recommend this scope highly enough. It will show you far more than binoculars, you don't have to hold heavy binoculars over your head, it's a real telescope, it's quality built, it's easy to use, it has nice bright images (I can easily see the Veil with mine), it has very very easy setup, it's easy to find objects in the sky (it has a 3 degree field of view), it's completely manual (making the process of learning the sky a PART of observing rather than a tedious memorization process), and it's inexpensive.

Amateur astronomy is an excellent, and quite rewarding, hobby. I've been an amateur astronomer, albeit a serious one, for about 15 years or so. My recommendations for every new astronomer is the same:

• LEARN the sky.

Far too many new astronomers enter into the field by purchasing a poor department store telescope, or conversely, purchasing an expensive instrument far beyond their capabilities and interest. Taking the time to look at the sky with your naked eyes will serve you better if you become serious about astronomy, or if you decide it's just not for you. If you just have to purchase something, check out binocular astronomy. Orion has a wide range of good binoculars for astronomy. Binoculars have a wide, rich field of view, they're extremely portable, and they have uses OTHER than astronomy. The benefits are obvious:

• you'll satisfy your urge to purchase something
• binoculars are extremely portable (most of the time)
• binoculars are good for other things, if your interest in astronomy wanes
• the view through binoculars is often better than that of the best scopes (excepting a few instances)

Good binoculars for astronomy aren't big on power, so avoid getting a big 'X' rating. What you're looking for is aperture (remember, aperture is about light-collection capability; more aperture, brighter images) 10x30 is the smallest binocular you'll find that's useful for astronomy, but an 7x30 can also be fun. 10x50 (~US$200)is about the best all-around binocular for astronomy, but 10x70s (~$300) can be found for reasonable prices these days. Orion has several nice binoculars for good prices.

Buying a telescope is another animal. I strongly recommend learning as much as you can about telescopes before purchasing one (you might even decide to build your own). Check out a book called Star Ware for an excellent description of common astronomical instruments, including a full rundown on scopes. Additionally, I would recommend searching out your local astronomical club. Astronomy clubs are generally filled with interesting people with expensive scopes and lots of good advice. You'll learn more with a club than though any other venue, and you'll get a chance to peer through those sexy scopes your wallet burns to purchase...BEFORE you buy one and have to live with it.

If you actually purchase a scope, my own preferences lean toward the Dobsonian Newtonian. (A Newtonian reflector on a Dobson mount) These things are easy on the pocketbook, have enormous apertures, and really let the beginner learn the ropes of astronomy before becoming encumbered with the automatic push-a-button-see-a-star stuff that Meade wants to sell you. You'll find lots of good stuff at Orion in the range of $300 to $500 - their 6" Skyquest Dob is currently $349. Having owned the first version of this scope, the Deep Space Explorer, I recommend this scope wholeheartedly for a first scope. Buy this and spend the rest on eyepieces (a subject I shan't broach) for a really fun scope that will serve you for years. It's portable (sorta bulky, but portable), big, clean, and perfect to get your feet wet.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions. I have LOTS of opinions that I generally dole out for free. :) Have fun!