Well I'm actually an armchair astronomer, don't have a telescope though looked through others telescopes a fair number of times. I use binoculars sometimes.
Not sure much to add, for sheer light gathering power, at least price, then the Dobsonian is what they say because, with its simple mount, you can put most of the expense into the mirror and get the largest mirror so see more deep sky objects, because - especially galaxies, the light is spread out and faint.
So that's why everyone said Dobsonian. If you were interested in the Moon or planets, or double stars, or if you wanted to do long exposure astrophotography maybe you'd have got other answers, though a Dobsonion is a good all purpose telescope also.
Also, something to bear in mind - if you want something small and compact, easy to carry around with you or put in a rucksack, then you'd get other answers as Dobsonians are larger than some other telescopes and don't fold up (except removing it from its mount).
It's a simple mount, easy to use - but won't automatically find the object for you of course, and can't be used for long exposure astro-photography as you position it by hand.
Don't expect too much - for the fainter galaxies - at first glance through a telescope you see nothing at all most likely. Your eye needs to adapt - and it helps to look to one side away from the spot where you know the galaxy is from the finder chart - then you may see it for the first time indirectly as a not quite so dark patch of the sky. As you get used to looking at galaxies in the sky you can then see them more easily. It's amazing actually how you begin to see details in what was - at first - just uniform blackness to your eyes.
You won't see colour at all, most likely, as our eyes are simply not able to pick up colour at those low light levels (just like the way everything turns into shades of gray at night). For instance the Orion nebula, one of the closest and brightest deep sky objects, is just white to human eyes in a telescope like this.
For colour you need something brighter, planets, or double stars or groups of stars - and - those also are not as colourful as you would expect from the astronomy images.
All the same, it's quite an experience seeing distant deep sky objects through a telescope. Some time I'd love to get one, just don't at present - I wouldn't use it that much - but from time to time, mainly for fun :).
The stunning photographs of galaxies are results of long exposure photographs through large telescopes.
Beginners often start with naked eye and binoculars. You can spot a few galaxies, starting with the Andromeda galaxy, the Orion nebula, Pleades looks great, and surprisngly many other clusters and galaxies as faint patches in the darkness of the sky etc.
So, if you have a pair of binoculars already - it's worth giving them a go, you might be surprised that there are quite a few things you can see once your eye adjusts and you get used to "looking away" for the darker objects.
Here is the Space.comTelescope guide
Telescope Buying Guide Part 1: What You Must Know First
Not sure much to add, for sheer light gathering power, at least price, then the Dobsonian is what they say because, with its simple mount, you can put most of the expense into the mirror and get the largest mirror so see more deep sky objects, because - especially galaxies, the light is spread out and faint.
So that's why everyone said Dobsonian. If you were interested in the Moon or planets, or double stars, or if you wanted to do long exposure astrophotography maybe you'd have got other answers, though a Dobsonion is a good all purpose telescope also.
Also, something to bear in mind - if you want something small and compact, easy to carry around with you or put in a rucksack, then you'd get other answers as Dobsonians are larger than some other telescopes and don't fold up (except removing it from its mount).
It's a simple mount, easy to use - but won't automatically find the object for you of course, and can't be used for long exposure astro-photography as you position it by hand.
Don't expect too much - for the fainter galaxies - at first glance through a telescope you see nothing at all most likely. Your eye needs to adapt - and it helps to look to one side away from the spot where you know the galaxy is from the finder chart - then you may see it for the first time indirectly as a not quite so dark patch of the sky. As you get used to looking at galaxies in the sky you can then see them more easily. It's amazing actually how you begin to see details in what was - at first - just uniform blackness to your eyes.
You won't see colour at all, most likely, as our eyes are simply not able to pick up colour at those low light levels (just like the way everything turns into shades of gray at night). For instance the Orion nebula, one of the closest and brightest deep sky objects, is just white to human eyes in a telescope like this.
For colour you need something brighter, planets, or double stars or groups of stars - and - those also are not as colourful as you would expect from the astronomy images.
All the same, it's quite an experience seeing distant deep sky objects through a telescope. Some time I'd love to get one, just don't at present - I wouldn't use it that much - but from time to time, mainly for fun :).
The stunning photographs of galaxies are results of long exposure photographs through large telescopes.
Beginners often start with naked eye and binoculars. You can spot a few galaxies, starting with the Andromeda galaxy, the Orion nebula, Pleades looks great, and surprisngly many other clusters and galaxies as faint patches in the darkness of the sky etc.
So, if you have a pair of binoculars already - it's worth giving them a go, you might be surprised that there are quite a few things you can see once your eye adjusts and you get used to "looking away" for the darker objects.
Here is the Space.comTelescope guide
Telescope Buying Guide Part 1: What You Must Know First
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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