The Best Budget Telescopes for Planets and Astrophotography

If you are an avid photographer, have you ever considered going into astrophotography, which is slightly different from regular photography? Instead of taking photographs of animate and inanimate objects on the planet, you capture them outside the planet, in space. Astrophotography is slowly becoming a popular hobby, and you need a telescope.

The best budget-friendly telescopes for astrophotography are Omegon MighthyMak 60 Dobsonian Mini Telescope, Celestron PowerSeeker 127EQ, Encelife SVBONY 501P 70, Orion StarBlast 6i IntelliScope, Celestron Astro Fi 102, Celestron AstroMaster 120AZ, and Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ.

There is an assumption that expensive is always better; while this is true in some cases, it is not always true. Having an expensive telescope does not mean you have a good telescope, nor does having a cheap telescope mean you will not get impressive views.

Best Budget Telescope For Viewing Planets

With a good telescope, you can enjoy stunning views of the planets, moon, stars, galaxies, and nebulae (often referred to as deep-sky objects). If you are starting, it is best to go for a good, budget-friendly telescope. Let us look at some of the best budget telescopes for viewing planets;

Omegon MighthyMak 60 Dobsonian Mini Telescope

The Omegon MighthyMak Telescope is one of the best budget-friendly telescopes for beginners. You get to enjoy the value of the telescope without breaking the bank at all. This telescope features a mini Dobsonian mount, table-top tripod, eyepiece, diagonal star, and a red dot finder.

The Omegon MighthyMak Telescope has a smart look, is light, and very easy to set up; all you have to do is mount the telescope using the Vixen dovetail and install the diagonal, finder, and eyepiece, and the telescope is ready for use. From different reviews, this telescope is designed for viewing planets and moons.

The Omegon MighthyMak 60 Dobsonian Mini Telescope costs $300 on the official Omegon website. It now has improved features, including Teflon pads for smooth slewing, a tripod adapter to mount onto a tripod, and new rubber feet for a better grip on smooth surfaces.

Orion GoScope 80 TableTop

The Orion GoScope is another good, budget-friendly telescope you can purchase; its optics are of good quality, and it has a decent-sized aperture. This telescope simplifies the complexities of astronomy for any beginner. Despite the narrow field of view of the Orion GoScope, you get a great view of the moon, the planets, and other deep-sky objects.

One of the cons of the Orion GoScope is that centering targets and fine-tuning it can be difficult because it does not feature slow-motion controls. Nevertheless, astronomers that use this telescope found a solution, using the EZ Finder red dot finder for point and aim.

The Orion GoScope features a sturdy desktop mount, swinging along the axles of azimuth and altitude, so you need a sturdy desk to get a steady view of the sky. Also, slewing with the Orion GoScope is very smooth. There is a manual containing clearing instructions for setting up the EZ Finder red dot finder.

The Orion GoScope 80 TableTop Telescope costs only $280 on the Amazon website. This telescope comes fully assembled, so you do not have to worry and stress over assembling it. This telescope is so compact that you can take it anywhere with you, camping, on garden trips, and even on car trips.

Celestron Inspire 100 AZ

This is another great budget-friendly telescope; it has an aperture of 100 millimeters, a refractor optical design, a focal length of 660 millimeters, and weighs 20 pounds. The lowest useful magnification of the Celestron Inspire Telescope is 15x, and the highest is 241x. The telescope eyepieces available are 25 millimeters and 10 millimeters.

The Celestron Inspire Telescope is easy to use and set up; one impressive advantage of purchasing this drone is that it comes with more essential accessories than another telescope. The telescope's optics are good enough for you to enjoy a great view of the night sky.

It also features a 90° erect image diagonal and a 1.25-inch fitting, an accessory that makes the telescope perfect for celestial and terrestrial views. Other accessories are a smartphone adapter, accessory tray, red LED flashlight, and StarPointer Pro finderscope, making it great for beginners. The price of the telescope on the Amazon website is $330.

Best Budget Telescope For Astrophotography

The heavens are a sight to behold, whether you know it or not, and those that have chosen to spend time observing and looking at them will describe how intense and captivating the experience is. However, you should know that the experience will only be great when you have the right equipment. So, we will look at some of the best budget-friendly telescopes for astrophotography.

Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ

The Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ is one of the best telescopes for astrophotography; it features a Newtonian Reflector optical system, 650 millimeters focal length, a 130 millimeter aperture, f/5 focal ratio, and has a 14.2 limiting stellar magnitude, 0.88 arc seconds resolving power, as well as x250 highest useful magnification.

It features an equatorial mount that helps with tracking, a feature that is important for longer exposure. The large aperture of the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ telescope makes you spot all the details around the deep-sky objects and the solar system. It would help if you collimated the telescope's set up to efficiently utilize the Newtonian Reflector optical system.

The price of the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ is $350 on the Amazon website. This telescope's optical performance is excellent; from reviews, no visual defects have been visible during usage. This telescope can be complicated at first, especially for a beginner, but with time, patience, and practice, you will get the hang of it.

Sky-Watcher Heritage 114P Virtuoso

This is another great budget-friendly telescope for astrophotography, with its Newtonian Reflector optical design, red dot finder, 114 millimeters aperture, and 500 millimeters focal length. The telescope's focal ratio is f/4.38; it has a 1.0 arc-second resolving power, a limiting stellar magnitude of 13.9, and x20 and x50 magnifications.

One of the outstanding features of the Sky-Watcher Heritage 114P Virtuoso is the encoder technology used, the Freedom-Find dual-encoder. This technology makes it possible for the telescope to be manually moved around its axis without loss of positional information or alignment. The cost of this telescope on eBay is $340.

Best Telescope On A Budget

We mentioned earlier that having an expensive telescope does not always mean you will get a good telescope. Moreover, having a cheap telescope does not mean you have a worthless telescope. In fact, some of the sightings with a budget telescope are Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, and The disc of Mars. Some of the best telescopes on a budget are:

Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ

The Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ is one of the most popular budget-friendly telescopes globally. It is easy to set up and use since it is a basic model with no complications, making it perfect for beginners. This telescope is lightweight and compact, so you can take it everywhere. The price of the Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ telescope is $132 on the Amazon store.

Orion SkyQuest XT4.5 Dobsonian

This is another budget-friendly telescope; it is sturdy, easy to set up, and vibration-free, making it great for beginner astrophotographers and astronomers. The telescope has two Plossl eyepieces, a 25 millimeters and 10 millimeters eyepiece providing 36x and 90x magnification.

Final Thoughts

Astronomy and astrophotography are hobbies you can take up if you need something to keep you engaged while you also have a great time. The most important thing an astronomer and an astrophotographer need is a telescope; there are tons available. However, we have made a lot of great, budget-friendly telescopes you can purchase.