Affordable, versatile and portable. perfect 1st scope for a beginner. - Celestron C90 Mak Spotting Scope

This is a surprisingly small telescope - one that fills only half the nylon backpack it comes with. 90mm of aperture gathers more light than 70 to 80mm scopes that most beginners start out with. And because it comes with a correct image-erect diagonal, it can be used for terrestrial observations as well.

The image quality itself is very sharp and clear, and is ideal for viewing the moon and the brighter planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Venus). This scope is however too small for viewing Mars, which needs magnification in excess of 200x. Magnification with the included eyepiece will be only 39x and this scope works well up to around 150x, so if you would like higher magnification, additional standard eyepiece accessories is recommended.

This scope also comes with a standard T-thread, so you can buy a T-ring for $20 and connect your DSLR directly to it. It acts as a lens for your DSLR, and takes good quality pictures both in the day or at night.

One downside to this scope model. I have seen quite a few with no so good contrast. I guess there may be some variation to its quality. There are mods on the internet for increasing contrast, so you may want to check.

There is another C90 version with a different product package including a small tripod and an additional eyepiece. My recommendation is to skip it and buy this one because the tripod is too shaky and adjusting the direction the scope points to is a pain. That takes the fun out of astronomy for beginners. Instead buy the Celestron heavy-duty altazimuth tripod (which is quite light actually) and use it with this scope. You will be much happier because of the stability and slow motion control on the Celestron Heavy Duty tripod.