Working up on the west coast of Scotland for a few more months and the stars (when its clear) are amazing. Wouldn’t mind a telescope to have a proper look.

Any recommendations for a novice star gazer please? budget to £100 maybe?

For that money you might be better off with a pair of binoculars.

Have a look on Ebay for some second hand stuff, collection only for the real bargains.

My boy got this for xmas (~£60):

http://www.johnlewis.com/celestron-firstscope-c21024-telescope/p230727728

It is amazing. Genuinely blown away by the quality and optics. Few nights back we could see Jupiter with it’s moons. Took this photo using the phone:

This combined with an app telling you what you are looking at is all you need. Best bit is it is really portable and you can stick it in a rucksack and set it up easily. Sod getting a set of bin’s when you can get this for ~£60.

Recommended!

That looks good Neil! Also, you can pick it up here for £38!

Hey, take a look at:
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/stargazers-1
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/astronomy

I’d not recommend second hand unless you know what you’re looking for. Beginners’ scopes take quite a lot of abuse. FWIW I get on very well with my Sywatcher Explorer 130 which I picked up for £100.

That looks good Neil! Also, you can pick it up here for £38!

F’k me! Bargain, rude not to. Might get another so me and the boy don’t have to take turns!

Hmmm… I’m tempted to get one of those to keep in the car.

Oh and as in those threads I can’t reiterate enough how much I’d recommend Turn Left at Orion. You’ll get a lot more out of having even a very basic scope if you have a guiding hand to point you at stuff.

Standard answer to any new comer to stargazing is binoculars. They offer a wide enough field to make it easy to find your target yet also enough magnification to
make the night sky a lot more interesting.

My binoculars offer a similar image to that moon posted up by neilforrow. Well they give a much better image but I guess some of the quality is lost taking the photo using a phone.

You will be able to get a good set of binoculars and a tripod or monopod for £100. Which may be more practical than the table top telescope These are the binos I have

I would also recommend signing yourself up to this monthly guide:
http://binocularsky.com/

This is slightly over budget but is motorised so will follow objects across the sky

Wowza that’s a bargain! If you genuinely want a telescope that’s a very good deal.

But note there are draw backs. It’ll take time to set it up 40 mins at first but after a while you’ll be able to do it in 15/20 mins. So you can’t just go outside and point it in the direction you want to view like with binos.

Depending on the eyepieces supplied the field of view could be quite narrow making it difficult for a beginner to navigate around the sky and find the objects they want to see.

Good call neilforrow.

I’ve been thinking about a telescope for a while now. I’ve just ordered the FirstScope for £40 on Amazon.

Excited now !!

If you can stretch a little more, a skywatcher 130 would be a brilliant start. I got one for Xmas and have not been disappointed