The Best Telescope For Beginners | High Point Scientific

As a beginner amateur astronomer, you want to observe the night sky in a way that satisfies your curiosities and meets all expectations. The right telescope is key to doing this. The right telescope will not only fan the flame that is your passion for astronomy but also keep you interested for years to come. Our Gear Experts here at High Point have put together a list of characteristics that a first telescope must possess in order to accomplish the above goals.

The best telescope for beginners is one that is going to:

Allow you to see detail on the lunar surface, planets, and deep sky objects (DSOs)
Be portable / semi-portable for traveling to darker skies
Include high-quality, diffraction limited optics
Check the most possible boxes for someone looking to view the wonders of the night sky

The single telescope that best fits these requirements is none other than the Apertura AD8, an 8-inch Dobsonian telescope. As noted in our best telescopes of 2023 video, this telescope has it all. The optics are diffraction limited meaning they’re of such high quality that your local atmospheric conditions will have a larger impact on the performance of the scope than the optics will. The accessories included are not just plentiful but also useful. Check out our comprehensive video review covering everything you need to know about the Apertura AD8.

The build quality of the AD8 stands alone in its class with high end altitude and azimuth bearings making the up/down/left/right movement of the base resistance free. This coupled with the balance adjustment point is incredibly important as it plays a huge role in finding and centering the objects you wish to view.

Carlos, a verified buyer of the Apertura AD8 has noticed these upgrades in the build quality that sets the AD8 apart from other manufacturers. This is a scope that truly will provide its owner with years and years of use without degradation of quality.

Apertura continues to enlarge its ecosystem of accessories, such as the SWA eyepieces, the Apertura Performance Upgrade Kit, collimation knobs, and even a carrying case allowing your scope to grow with you as your progress through the hobby.

The performance upgrade designed for the AD8 will enhance your entire experience while simultaneously improving the views through the eyepiece. It is designed to take the optical performance of this scope to an entirely new level.

The Apertura AD8 is both large and portable enough to take with you under dark skies to enjoy an incredible amount of deep sky objects through your eyepiece. The dark skies will provide even better contrast when viewing the planets too. James, another loyal customer of High Point was ecstatic to see six of our neighboring solar system objects as well as some nebulae thought his eyepiece in a single night!

To get the best out of your Apertura AD8, there are several measures one can take but arguably the most important of them are proper alignment of your mirrors and the alignment of your finder scope. Our team has put together a video for both! The process of aligning your primary and secondary mirror is called collimation and is responsible for providing you with tack sharp views through your eyepiece. Here is a great way to start with the included Apertura Laser Collimator.

The accurate alignment of your finder scope will aid in easily finding the deep sky objects and planets that you’re searching for. The view through your finder scope should match the view through the eyepiece in your Dobsonian. If these two views are misaligned, then finding the correct object may turn out to be a lot harder than it needs to be! Here is another video to assist you in this process.

Astrophotography isn't out of the question either as the AD8 allows for quick and simple images of the moon and planets with the Apertura Smartphone Adapter. This adjustable adapter is compatible with nearly any popular smartphone on the market and is a great way to share the cosmos with those around you.

One of the important characteristics of a great beginner telescope is that it checks off as many boxes as possible for someone looking to view the wonders of the night sky. The Apertura AD8 is #1 on our Best Telescopes list for a reason - it checks the boxes.