I have been thinking of getting a telescope for a while and with my Coke Rewards I see I have enought points to get a celestron PowerSeeker 50.

This is the link for it.

http://www.celestron.com/c2/product....tID=5&ProdID=1

I am wondering if this would be a good start for free? I live out in the country so no steet lights if that makes any difference.

Thanks for helping out the new guy.

Bearing in mind that Im fairly new to astronomy and dont know anything about that scope I'd say no. I think Im right in saying you'd be better off with a pair of 10 X 50 binoculars. The small 50mm aperture worries me me as does the tripod the scope sits on. (It looks wobbly to me)

Save your money or coke points for a few more weeks and get a decent scope.

http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.c...elescopes.html

The above is a British site (sorry Im in a hurry here) But I've only heard good things about these scopes. If you live in the land of the free then you're lucky as scopes tend to be a lot cheaper on your side of the pond.

Take your time and think about what you want to do with your scope. Different types are good for some things and not so good for others. A good scope will give you a life long interest while a bad scope will put you off.

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Beer, the cause of and solution to, all lifes problems

Thanks,

This is why I asked before I got it. Just say it the other week and hit me to see and ask.

Considering a pair of 10x50 binoculars are in effect TWO such telescopes they'd be a far better buy. That leaves money for a good book on binocular astronomy, a star chart to learn the sky and a red LED flashlight to see to read the charts in the dark. See Dave's sticky note on binoculars.

Then as Casus_belli says, save for a better scope.

While learning the sky and all the types of objects it contains (most are within the grasp of binoculars -- maybe not black holes but you can see galaxies containing them -- locate a local astronomy club and attend a few star parties where you can actually look through and use a real telescope, not a toy like the one you listed. Many clubs, like the one I founded over 45 years ago have loaner scopes for members while they are saving up for a real scope. Since you don't give a location I can't recommend any. You can look up what's available at:
http://www.astronomyclubs.com/

Also see the links Dave mentions in this reply to another asking your question.
Newbie Telescope Questions....

Look up the other threads here on this topic as well.

Rick

Stay far, far away from that scope. It's nothing but a toy! The mount is practically useless, as is the finder, the optics are far too small to see anything, the eyepieces are tiny 0.965'' Huygens and Symmetrical Ramsden, I believe, and would restrict your viewing ridiculously. Celestron's beginner scopes are for the most part, not very good. A pair of good quality 10x50 binoculars, like everyone said, works better than two of those scopes put together. Sometimes they can be cheaper, too. (I'd advise against really cheap ones, though. Spend at least $40 or so on them)

After you've learned the sky a bit, you can move up to a telescope. The rest of the Powerseeker line excluding the 50 is okay, as they offer good Chinese optics for very reasonable prices, but there are much better starter scopes.

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You can't really tell the difference between drunken rambling and sober blogging.

I'm not sure how common they are this year, but try to get a pair with a tripod socket. Get a tripod too. It's hard to see, for example the phases of Venus, when the planet is jittering all over your field of view.

Even better is a parallelogram mount, but that's getting up into serious $$$!

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

There are a great many sources for beginner's advice. You definitely should read this:
http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html

There are quite a few 'what scope should I get' threads here on this forum well worth reading as well, and most of them have some great links you should check out.
And recently I also got a Celestron FirstScope 90EQ Telescope for myself, it's deal price of $199

http://www.dealstudio.com/searchdeal...d=88381&ru=290

i think it's very easy to set up for a beginner. Easy to use and very stable for viewing. I really like it.