10 Best Telescopes For Beginners 2025 in the United States

The Gskyer Telescope is an appealing choice for beginners looking to explore the night sky. With a 70mm aperture and a 400mm focal length, it offers good light-gathering ability, allowing for clearer views of celestial objects such as the moon and stars. The telescope's fully coated optics enhance image quality and make stargazing enjoyable without straining your eyes. One of its strengths includes a 3x Barlow lens, which significantly increases the magnification, giving users more versatility with the two included eyepieces.

This telescope is designed with portability in mind, featuring an adjustable aluminum alloy tripod and a convenient carry bag, making it easy to transport for outdoor stargazing sessions. The inclusion of a smartphone adapter and a wireless remote is a fantastic bonus, allowing users to capture images of what they're observing and share their experiences easily.

There are a few considerations to keep in mind. The manual focus may require a bit of patience and practice for beginners who are unfamiliar with focusing telescopes. Additionally, while the finderscope is helpful for locating objects, those more interested in deeper space observations might find the telescope's limitations as they begin to explore more complex celestial targets.

As a beginner’s telescope, the Gskyer Telescope stands out with its user-friendly features and solid performance for casual astronomers. It is well-suited for kids and novice enthusiasts, providing an engaging way to start exploring the wonders of the universe.

The Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ is a solid choice for beginners interested in astronomy. Its 130mm aperture allows it to gather a good amount of light, making it possible to clearly see details like the rings of Saturn, Jupiter’s moons, and lunar craters. This size of aperture is a step up from smaller beginner telescopes, offering better views of planets and brighter deep-sky objects. It comes with two eyepieces (20mm and 10mm), which provide useful magnification options for exploring different objects in the night sky.

The manual German equatorial mount allows smooth, precise tracking of celestial objects once set up, which is great for beginners who want a deeper learning experience. However, it may take some practice to get comfortable using this type of mount compared to simpler altazimuth mounts. The telescope is moderately portable; it weighs 17 pounds and has a tripod that adjusts to full height, so it can be moved around but it's not ultra-light or super compact. Setup is tool-free and fairly straightforward, making it friendly for kids and adults to use together. The included StarPointer red dot finderscope makes aiming easier, which is helpful when you’re just starting out.

While it lacks motorized tracking or built-in electronics, it comes with a bonus astronomy software package to help beginners identify stars and planets. The AstroMaster 130EQ balances good optical power with beginner-friendly features, though it requires some learning to master the equatorial mount and isn’t the most portable option on the market.

The HETEKAN 90mm Aperture 900mm Professional Refractor Telescope is designed for adults, kids, and beginners who are enthusiastic about exploring the night sky. One of its main strengths is its large 90mm aperture, which allows for excellent light gathering and bright, clear images of celestial objects. This is particularly beneficial for viewing the Moon and planets in detail. The telescope also offers a wide range of magnification from 36X to 450X, thanks to the three included eyepieces and a 3x Barlow lens, making it versatile for different levels of observation.

The fully multi-coated optical glass lenses enhance image quality by minimizing light reflections and protecting your eyes. Additionally, the inclusion of a smartphone adapter allows users to capture their observations easily. The adjustable stainless steel tripod is sturdy and offers 360-degree horizontal and 180-degree vertical movement, which adds to the flexibility of viewing angles.

Portability might be a concern for some users, as the telescope weighs around 12 pounds and measures over 32 inches in length, which may not be very convenient for transport. The manual focus and straight-through finderscope require some getting used to, especially for beginners. However, the detailed setup guide and available technical support can help users overcome initial difficulties. This telescope is well-suited for beginners due to its ease of use, impressive aperture, and versatile magnification options.