The following three telescopes are Bintel’s recommendations for a teenager’s first telescope, at increasing cost depending on how much you want to spend. These telescopes will not only provide stellar views of celestial objects (with varying degrees of capabilities in terms of astrophotography and alignment), but will also allow upgrades and modifications to be made down the track should the new telescope owner prove extremely keen to dive deeper into this fascinating hobby.
Recommendation 1 – A Budget Telescope with Big Views!
If you’re looking for a dual purpose telescope for terrestrial and celestial viewing, look no further than the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ. The larger aperture of the AstroMaster 130EQ provides amazing clear views of the planets, as well as breathtaking views of deep-sky objects when you’re in a dark sky! The erect image optics also make it excellent for terrestrial viewing. The German Equatorial EQ mount allows you to track objects in the night sky. An AstroMaster 130EQ is the perfect beginner telescope for the budding astrophotographer in your life! The inbuilt tracking system also lets you take awesome photos of the moon and planets with your DSLR camera.
Recommendation 2 – Value for Money, with Easy Use!
Celestron was the first manufacturing company to star mass producing Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes, and as such they have always been (and still are) the forefront of the amateur telescope industry. As such, Celestron is always inventing new ways to take astronomical viewing to the next level. The latest SkyProdigy 90 offers not only a high-quality 90mm SCT optical tube, but an incorporated camera which allows the scope to automatically align itself with the push of a button! After a few minutes of automatic calibration, the scope will give you the green light, allowing you to go off and choose the various night sky objects you wish to look at. Once selected, the computerised scope will engage its motor drive and zoom over to the right patch of sky, taking all the fuss out of your celestial viewing experience!
https://www.bintel.com.au/product/celestron-skyprodigy-90/
Recommendation 3 – Best in Field!
Finally, we reach the Celestron NexStar series, starting at $999. Since the 1970’s, Celestron has been taking amateur astronomers by storm with their high-quality Cassegrain Optics. The various modern NexStar models (4SE, 5SE, 6SE, 6 Evolution, 8 Evolution, and 9.25 Evolution) are by far our most popular telescopes, and are perfect for beginner astronomers of all ages. Depending on what size optical tube you go for, the NexStar line can easily provide a casual astronomer with stunning views of the planets, star clusters, nebulas, and even galaxies for the larger models. Furthermore, they are entirely upgradeable, and truly allow your telescope to grow with you. Whether you want to use a wedge to take some deep space photographs with a DSLR camera, get some better eyepieces to increase light transmission and field of view, or even control your telescope via the app on your phone, this telescope series has it all.