About   Astrophotos  Contact  News  Star Guide  Telescopes 

Choosing a Telescope

Recommendation 1: Purchase from a Telescope Store
Where you buy can make a big difference. The telescopes found in local box stores will more likely lead to frustration due to small, poor optics on shaky mounts. We recommend that you instead purchase from a dedicated telescope store. Here are two that we can easily recommend:

Cloud Break Optics. This store offers online sales and, more importantly, has a physical storefront in Seattle with very helpful owners -- a great place to see telescopes and ask questions.

Orion Telescopes. This is a very popular online store with great value and return policies -- a very good place for people starting out but avoid the cheapest stuff.

Update for 2023: due to tariffs, covid and transportation issues, most good telescopes are now in short supply and far more expensive than in the past. We recommend that, before you place an order, ensure that it is actually available or when you can expect it to become available.

 
2