Back then I ordered a Celestron Cometron. This was a small 60mm refractor scope on an alt-azi mount. The cool thing about it was that it had a permanently attached lens that had a ZOOM feature on it. It also provided an image that was not reversed or upside down. It was just prefect for a young teenager.
Little did I know at the time that Halley's Comet would not be visible from my home. I was disappointed, but then I decide to make the best use of my Cometron. I remember the first night I took it out and found Saturn. I think I stared at those rings for 2 hours. It was amazing.
I pointed it at the moon and the craters just jumped out at me. When Jupiter came around in the night sky I was awestruck when I saw those cloud layers and the 4 Galilean moons (Europa, Io, Ganymede and Callisto) shining brightly near their planetary host.
My point is that my very first, good quality telescope, had me hooked for life as an amateur astronomer. I have since upgraded to a computerized Celestron Nexstar 8SE. It has given me the best astronomy experiences of my life. I'll blog about that another time. I have written a review of my Nexstar HERE.
This year is the Year of the Comet. We have several comets visiting this year that should be visible. So what will be a good telescope for the beginning sky-gazer? I recommend that a simple, small refractor telescope like the CELESTRON Powerseeker 50 Refractor Telescope be used. It looks like it will provide comfortable use on an easy to use with its alt-az mount.
This will provide a good starting experience for your budding astronomer and help them fall in love with the sky. It will be enough to bring the comets into view for some additional clarity.
And once the comets are gone you can still use it for lunar and some planetary viewing. It will also be a great scope for terrestrial viewing (birds, etc).
Hopefully the experience will be like mine and you will fall in love with the night sky.
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