A good affordable telescope – Orion SkyQuest XT8

One of the most frequently asked questions in astronomy is, “What should my first quality telescope be?”

That is a very difficult question to answer, since so much of a telescope recommendation depends on what you want to look at, how far you need to transport your telescope to get to dark skies and how much you want to spend on the total system.

Orion manufactures one of the best beginner telescopes on the market. It is high quality, light weight enough to be considered semi-portable and is rather affordable. It is called the Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic and is an 8” Dobsonian reflector telescope, and priced under $400, is one of the best values on the market!

The Orion SkyQuest XT8 telescope focuses on the essential elements; ease of use and high quality optics, instead of trying to pack in every electronic gadget and tracking system possible (at the compromise of image quality), which so many similarly priced telescopes are guilty of.

When using the Orion SkyQuest XT8 telescope, you will need to make use of your knowledge of the constellations and sky charts to navigate the night sky, since the telescope must be manually adjusted for celestial exploration.

One of the Orion SkyQuest XT8 telescope’s greatest features is build quality. Unlike similar Dobsonian telescopes, the Orion SkyQuest XT8 actually uses a steel tube to encase the optics, instead of a cardboard tube. Also, the SkyQuest XT8 utilizes Teflon bearings with tensioning springs to balance and pull the telescope against the bearings, enabling the SkyQuest XT8 to be easily and securely positioned by hand without the worry of inaccuracy.

Dobsonian telescopes are often recommended for beginner astronomers, and one of the rarely mentioned benefits is that since they use such a simple mounting system, there is no need for tedious, and potentially frustrating, polar alignment (which is required for equatorial mount telescopes).

Buy the Orion SkyQuest XT8 Telescope now!