Telescopes for Beginners
I’m frequently asked to recommend a good telescope for a beginner and my first comment is often “the one you are most likely to use”! That is not meant to sound nasty or to cause further confusion but seriously, one of the over-riding factors is going to be whether you are likely to be inclined to haul a large cumbersome powerful telescope around or whether you are really only going to use something very light and portable.
Its important to understand that all things being equal, the diameter of the lens or mirror (depending on what type of telescope you get) tends to govern what you can achieve with the telescope. Bigger is generally better, in that the bigger scopes capture more light which allows greater useable magnification for seeing those deep-sky objects.
It is also important to understand that magnification can also work against us, too much and you will just end up with a fuzzy image so there is a trade-off to be balanced. To get an approximation take the diameter of the lens or the scope’s mirror, in millimetres and multiply it by 2 to know the upper limit of magnification for the scope.
As a general observation refractors tend to produce slightly sharper images than reflecting telescopes but larger refractors can be difficult to use properly and very expensive. Reflectors on the other hand are easier to manufacture so are cheaper and often more easily handled by beginners. That said, a small simple refractor is easy to grab for a quick casual session on the rooftop or deck and can be a good little instrument in the city or suburbs where light pollution can overwhelm larger reflectors anyway.
Buying for kids and living away from the suburbs? Dobsonian telescopes are really excellent, so simple to use, giving great views but really best away from the city, (they are pretty awkward to transport too).
Catadioptric telescopes are a kind of half refractor and half reflector and are capable of capturing great images, indeed they are often used by astro-photographers but that is a subject a little more advanced than the usual beginner level telescope buyer needs to get too wrapped up in.
Another over-riding factor is the obvious one of budget. There are some cheap but terrible scopes out there marketed to beginners but only likely to give the poor buyer such a poor experience that it only turns them right off astronomy! Try to avoid all those bargain scopes on eBay and in department stores if you want a good experience or want to encourage a young astronomer.
Amazon on the other hand has some truly excellent telescopes on offer from lots of good manufacturers and suppliers like Celestron, Orion, Sky-Watcher, Meade and others at true bargain prices. Be aware though that depending where you are in the world you may not be able to purchase from Amazon because of international warranty arrangements.
See my Squidoo article Telescopes for Beginners for more on choosing a beginners telescope and see some specific recommendations or check out my Hubpage article Choosing a Beginners Telescope