Fitzgerald and squid:

I'm in the same boat as you, low budget and little experience, but i can recomend something to you.

Try hitting up a big 5 (they have sales all the time so wait for a good deal) and pick up a pair of 20x150 binoculars. i got mine for thrity bucks and they're made by Barska, who i understand are a good name in binoculars.

the cool thing is they are great for looking at the moon, and looking at dark spots in the sky, you can see SO much more with them than the naked eye it'lll definatly be fun for you.

the reason i think binoculars are a good starting point is because you can use them for things other than stargazing, theyre hand held and super easy to use obviously. I took mine to fleet week in San Fran not too long ago and watching the planes up close was just that much more fun.

Also i highly recomend a tripod adaptor, with that i could see moons around jupiter. that was a trip. it helps to have a tripod for things that are closer too, because the high magnification can make things a little jittery

I'd try looking for a good star comunity in your area, too. the san jose group has days specifically to let newbies check out other members telescopes and look at things you normaly would have a lot of trouble finding yourself. (you have to be very careful though :-) )

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