It’s hard to find a patch of dark in a city where you can stand and look up at the sky and count stars. In fact, besides the Big Dipper and the Orion and possibly the North Star about which we studied in school, many of us can’t even name constellations; forget about pointing them out in the night sky. If this status quo irks you, then all you need are a couple of books on astronomy, a zeal to learn more about the universe and its light bulbs (pun intended) and a telescope to aid your nocturnal explorations. We hope you’ll find the first two on your own, but the last bit is something we can definitely help out with!

For the novice

Now, if you are one of those people who have never held a telescope in their hands but are fascinated by all things heavenly, then it would be a good idea to start by buying a good pair of binoculars than a heavy-duty telescope. The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide, a bible for the beginner stargazer, says that a binocular with a 7×50 magnification is good enough to view the Milky Way, comets, the moon and its phases while being portable enough to carry around without much trouble. The Mard Recommends – Celestron Cometron 7×50 Binoculars

For the beginner skywatcher

Once you have mastered the position of the stars using your binoculars, it is time to go one step higher and get a beginner level telescope. Ideally, this telescope should be one that does not require helluva skills to set up and look at celestial objects in some more detail. A good idea would be to choose a telescope that is also good for terrestrial viewing. The Mard Recommends – Celestron Powerseeker Beginner Telescope

For the mid-level astronomer

After learning about the different constellations and knowing where to find Venus and Mars in the evening sky, you might want to take your hobby a little more forward. If you wish to be able to view Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons (at least some of them) then you need a telescope with 75x or higher magnification. The Mard Recommends – Orion StarBlast 6 Dobsonian

For the advanced stages

Advanced telescopes are really high performance tools with precise collimators and nuanced optics. They make take a while to learn and fine tune, but you can see a variety of objects in much more detail than with your basic grab-n-go binoculars and if you choose a good refractor telescope you will never regret your choice. These are high-end telescopes that can automatically locate deep sky objects with the help of a computerised star map. The Mard Recommends – Celestron SkyProdigy Automatic Telescope

If you’re planning to buy a telescope for your home, try out one of these mentioned above. Do let us know which kind of stargazer are you – amateur, advanced, or just a hobbyist – in the comments below. Happy star hunting, amigos!