TelescopeBinoculars.org

★ I would like to suggest that you join a local astronomy club or astronomical society BEFORE you spend your money on a real telescope. There are many different kinds of scopes and what is perfect for one person is not perfect for another. Everyone has their own set of eyeballs and no two are the same. If you join a club, you can attend a few of their star parties and try out members scopes to see what works best for YOU, before you buy a scope. The members can also help you when you get your scope and show you how to get the most out of your new scope as well as to help teach you where the treasures in the sky are located. Most clubs have loaner scopes and extensive libraries that you can gather more information from too. Most clubs will have monthly membership meetings with informative presentations given by members and by guest speakers. You can really learn a lot from these clubs and an added plus is all the great new friends you make there too. Go to this site to find a club in your area. http://www.astroleague.org/societies/list
This only has clubs that belong to the National Astronomy League, so there are many more which do not appear on this list. Continue searching google if you don’t see one in your area here.

There are several different kinds of telescopes and all of them have some excellent features. Refractors and Reflectors, plus Schmidt-Cassegrain, APO refractors, Mac-Cass, and many more. There are also several mounts to chose from and the mounts are just as important, if not even more important, than the scope is. All of the different scopes and mounts have some features that some people like and do not like.
★ No two eyeballs are the same and the perfect scope for one person might be completely wrong for another person. ★
There is no one scope that is "better" than another, except for all the junk scopes out there, which are all just a waste of money. Never, ever buy from Walmart, Costco, Target, or any other discount store like that. Junk scopes are flooded into the market from those stores. You will be buying nothing but bad optics and plastic. You must buy from a reputable telescope manufacturer or telescope distributor or telescope store. If they don’t specialize in telescopes, look elsewhere.
★ If you are new at this, then stay away from anything used from ANY site. If you don’t know what you are buying and who you are buying from you will most likely be getting someone else’s headache—with no warranty either. Some great deals on used equipment are out there, by people who know how to use and take care of scopes, but if you don’t know what you are doing, you might be spending a lot of money on worthless junk. One improper cleaning can destroy a scope. Buyer Beware.

I recommend: http://oriontelescopes.com/
Orion is the very best for value and for customer service too. I have 3 of their scopes and I will only buy from them from now on. My first scope was a manual controlled scope and I am very glad that it was because it forced me to learn where things are in the night skies. Go-To type scopes can be frustrating to use. If you do not have them aligned exactly perfect, they do not find the targets. If you are a beginner, you will be frustrated unless you spring for a GPS Go-To. An object locator is just that—it will locate objects for you (must be aligned first) but an object locator is not a tracking motor. It will not keep the scope on the target. The Orion site has some excellent diagrams and explanations of all types of scopes and mounts.

★ Things to consider are size–can the user lift and transport the scope to the viewing site easily? Does it fit in your car? If not, then it will gather dust in a closet. I recommend a carrying case too so it is protected in storage and transport. Can the viewer reach all the knobs and buttons? I have a long tube large manual refractor and it is very difficult for me to reach the knobs when I am pointed to Zenith. I am not a tall person.

Some people will try to suggest that you get Binnoculars instead of a telescope. That is not a bad idea but at bare minimum you need 10×50 size and you MUST have a tripod for astronomical viewing. Even your pulse will make them shake. My personal preference is a telescope because Binnoculars must be aligned properly at the factory. If they are not, they you see double or triple vision of everything rendering them useless for astronomy. They can easily be bumped out of alignment too, so be very careful.

★ Take your time in making your decision.

★ Don’t try to learn everything all at once or you will be overwhelmed and discouraged. Patience is the key to Astronomy.

★ You will need a good star chart program too.
http://www.stellarium.org/
This is great freeware that you can download. Tell it where you are and it will tell you what you see.
I wish you the very best. Enjoy Life

A binocular would be just fine.

Your probably going to want to use a powerful set of binoculars. 30 mm might do okay.

You might be able to see the moon in very good detail if it is out, and some planets a little closer up (but not in extraordinary detail).

I agree that a binoculars would be best. At least you can use it for things other than astronomy, and a binoculars can give you some 3-D aspect to terrestrial viewing, whereas a telescope cannot.

The bigger the objective lens (the one at the far end), the better. Especially for astronomy, I suggest 50mm or more. Smaller objective lens binoculars are for the portability aspect only. If you’re not backpacking, get at least the 50mm size.

I love my cheapo 20×80 binoculars! With big ones like that, you will either need to lie down on your back, or prop the far end of them on something, or use a tripod.

If you want to look at the sky for very little money, the most important thing isn’t the telescope or binoculars, it’s the tripod. You need a good, stable tripod that won’t shake when you touch your telescope or when a breeze blows, or else everything you look at in space will shake too much to be interesting. The reason most cheap telescopes are no good is because their tripods are so light and poorly braced.

If you’re not looking to become a serious amateur astronomer, I’d say go with the binoculars — that way you can take them hiking or driving to look at things during the day, and they pack well. I’m an astronomer and all I have at home are a 2 good pairs of binoculars.

30mm is pretty small for binoculars or a telescope — it’s only a little more than an inch, so you won’t get much light. That’s fine for daytime viewing. I really like my 10×50 binoculars for viewing the planets, the moon, star clusters, and the occasional comet. If you want to look fainter objects, you’ll probably want even larger optics.

Since they’re so cheap you might start with that 30mm telescope you found or some 10×50 binoculars on a nice tripod to see how you like them, and if you get interested enough then upgrade to a bigger telescope like a simple (and pretty cheap) 3–4 in. refractor. If you’re still craving more light, then make the jump to something serious like a 12-in refractor with a motorized drive.

Zombie -

A 30 mm telescope is not suitable for astronomy. It will not work. If you are looking for something to pass the time, then you will need something that is easy to set up and use, but substantial enough to actually see something. The least expensive scope that fits this criterion is the 4.5 inch Orion Starblast. It is sort of geared toward kids, but it is not a toy. It costs around $200. If that is more than you want to spend, I would highly recommend a decent 10 x 50 binocular and a good book with decent charts like "Nightwatch" by T. Dickinson. There are several binoculars in that range that are available. You can use them to see objects like the planets (not much detail), lunar features, bright star clusters (Pleiades, Hyades), bright nebulae (M42, M8), and a few bright galaxies (M31). Most amateur astronomers use binoculars all the time. They are better than you may think.

Binoculars will almost always be better than a telescope at this point. If you buy a telescope you will probably end up with a really expensive piece of…

To get a decent telescope, one which will show more than craters on the Moon and Jupiter’s moons, you need to spend quite a bit of money, at laest $200 to $300. For a casual interest, binoculars wuld be a better choice, since you can use them for lots of other things besides looking at the sky. I’d recommend a 10×50 binocular. Avoid the ones that say they don’t need to be focused: those don’t work on the sky. You should be able to get a decent binocular for $50 to $100. Here’s one that comes highly recommended, the Orion Scenix:
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=binocular_standard/~pcategory=binoculars/~product_id=09333

If you are on a budget.
Orion Scenix 10×50 binoculars. Costs about $99.

If you have money to burn.
Orion Little Giant 9×63 binoculars, for comet hunting.
Orion Giant 11×80 binoculars for nebulae and galaxies.
Orion Giant 16×80 or 20×100, with a tripod, for star clusters.
Each of the larger binoculars will cost several hundred dollars.

Also buy a copy of "Sky & Telescope’s Pocket Sky Atlas," by Roger W. Sinnott. Costs under $20.
http://www.amazon.com/Sky-Telescopes-Pocket-Atlas/dp/1931559317/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257085178&sr=8-1

If you’re a celestial mechanic and want data, you can get asteroid orbital elements for free from JPL’s Small Body Database Browser.
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=1981

You can get planet orbital elements from JPL’s HORIZONS web interface.
http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi#top

Or you can program to predict these elements from tables in the book "Astronomical Algorithms," by Jean Meeus. Cost is about $30. Don’t bother getting it unless you are proficient with celestial mechanics.
http://www.amazon.com/Astronomical-Algorithms-Jean-Meeus/dp/0943396611/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257085360&sr=1-1