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Recommendation for Starter Backyard Astronomy Telescope

-- Eytan | November 18, 2021

Question:

Hi!
My wife is a huge fan of the International Space Station and follows the activity on it, to and from it avidly. She even has an app that points her at sightings of the station passing wherever she is and goes out to watch it fly by.
I want to get her a telescope for Christmas, one that also has a phone adaptor so she can see and record her sightings but I am really unsure about what I should buy.
I have found Celestron, OYS and Slokey telescopes on Amazon, but very unsure about them.
My research of the subject opened a vast field I know very little about which is making the decision even harder.

Also, unlike observing a planet or galaxy, the ISS moves very fast, so not sure how this figures into a magnified small viewport.

I would greatly appreciate any recommendations (or what would be the parameters I should look for to satisfy this need) for a telescope that would fit an adult beginner, is mobile (comes with a carrier bag etc), easily setup, phone adapter, and offers a sharp, high-quality image specifically for the ISS and fits within a budget of ~300$.

Many thanks!
Eytan

-- Eytan

Answer:

As noted previously on this blog, which requested a “starter” backyard telescope recommendation, I continue to believe that purchasing a good pair of binoculars is the best first-step. This is especially true for observations of moving objects like the ISS, as it would be a challenge to find an amateur telescope that could track the ISS position through the sky.

-- Jeff Mangum

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