Astronomy Product Guides

In-depth details on astronomy gears and stargazing product guides

Telescope Buyers’ Guides

Best Telescopes

Our expert’s telescope recommendations ranging from $100 to $3000

Best Non-Dobsonian Telescopes

Our expert’s telescope recommendations ranging from $100 to $3000 if you are not looking for Dobsonians at all

Best Dobsonian Telescopes

$300+ Dobsonians, the best-designed scopes that give the best bang for your buck

Best Computerized Telescopes

$350+ computerized telescopes with hands-free automatic tracking

Best Kids’ Telescopes

Low-budget (<$400) telescope recommendations for elementary school-aged kids

Best Refractor Telescopes

$150+ telescopes with higher visual contrast and unmatched convenience

Best Catadioptric Telescopes

Compact Schmidt-Cassegrain and Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes with mounts compared

Best Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes

$1000+ compact, low-maintenance, super-optical telescopes, mostly from Celestron

Best Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescopes

$250+ compact, sharp small telescopes for on-the-go observing or planetary imaging

Best Solar Telescopes

$100+ dedicated solar telescopes that show solar flares and prominences

Best Portable Telescopes

$100-$2000 telescopes that you can travel with fairly easily

Telescope Accessories Guides

Best Telescope Eyepieces

$50-$300 eyepieces to optimize your viewing experience with your telescope. We also have stand-alone guides on Goldline eyepieces, Zoom eyepieces, Plossl eyepieces, and TeleVue eyepieces.

Best Telescope Filters

A single guide to knowing the best light pollution, solar, color, and deep sky filters for specific use cases. We also have a stand-alone guide on Solar Filters.

Best Barlow Lenses

High-quality Barlow lenses to increase eyepiece magnification without buying a new eyepiece

Best Telescope Finderscopes

Five recommendations each from the finderscope categories of Red-dot, Straight-through, and right-angle (RACI)

Best Stargazing Laserpointers

Green laser pointer recommendations and a guide written with a safety-first approach.

Best Smartphone Astronomy Adapters

Smartphone adapter recommendations to control and do basic astrophotography with telescopes

Best Collimators (Cheshire and Laser)

A must-have accessory for the alignment of Newtonian-reflecting telescopes

Best Star Diagonals

Prism and Mirror Star Diagonal Recommendations in 1.25″ and 2″ formats

Best Focal Reducers and Flatteners

Imaging accessories for your Cassegrain or refractor telescope

Best Astronomy Flashlights

Red flashlights designed to preserve your night vision with no fuss

Best Binoviewers and Eyepieces

The best binoviewers from $200 to $700, and the best eyepieces for them.

Astrophotography Guides

Best Astrophotography Telescopes (OTA Only)

$500+ telescope (optical tube only) recommendations for photographing deep-sky objects (DSO’s)

Best Planetary Imaging Telescopes

$350+ Dob and GoTo telescope recommendations for imaging planets

Best Astrophotography Cameras

$450+ telescope recommendations for photographing deep-sky objects (DSO’s)

Best Planetary Imaging Cameras

$100 to $400 choices for planetary astrophotography from ZWO and QHY

Best Computerized Mounts

$400-$5000 computerized mounts that would fit your visual and, mainly, astrophotography needs

Best Equatorial Mounts

$850+ EQ mounts for perfect astrophotography of deep-sky objects

Best StarTrackers

$250-$1000 star trackers that can hold cameras or small telescopes for long-exposure astrophotography

Best Autoguiders and Guide Scopes

$75+ guide cameras and guide scopes for long-exposure astrophotography

Binoculars Guides

Best Astronomical Binoculars

For a budget less than $100, binoculars are a much better choice than a cheap telescope

Best 7×50 Astronomy Binoculars

Wide-field, easy-to-hold astronomy binoculars ideal for beginners or kids

Best 10×50 Astronomy Binoculars

Affordable, easy-to-use astronomy binoculars ideal for more light-polluted locations

Best Tripods for Binoculars

Solid, well-designed supports for big astronomy binoculars and extended observing sessions