BEST TELESCOPES of 2023 | High Point Scientific
What is up everybody Teagan here with High
Point. Thank you for tuning into our video on the best telescopes of 2023. Now before we begin
we could take the approach of a big box retailer or a guide-style website, and provide a list of
the "best telescopes" of 2023 which all turn out to be hobby killers. Now what we've decided to
do is just cut out all of that and provide you the top scopes in a couple of categories that
our customers find most useful and valuable when searching for their best telescope or
the best telescope that fits their needs. Now High Point has been in the amateur
astronomy community just over 20 years so we kind of know what we're talking
about. Our categories are as follows: most interactive, most innovative, the
best computerized or versatile telescope, the best intermediate telescope, the
best tabletop telescope, and if you wait to the very end we will have a best overall
telescope. Let's start with most interactive. If you follow our channel you have definitely
seen this on one of our videos it is the Celestron StarSense 130 DX. This is listed
as our best interactive telescope for several reasons.
Now this telescope uses a smartphone
adapter and a smartphone application to help you find nearly any deep sky object that
you'd ever want to see in the night sky. The app's interface is extremely
intuitive and it literally guides you towards your object. As you move your scope
around. Your smartphone takes a photo through the mirror on the smartphone adapter of the stars
and the app determines what stars these are and it gives it a pointing location and from there it
can guide you to whatever object that you choose. Now the design of the telescope is great
and the tripod is really sturdy which is hugely important when you're looking through a
telescope because you don't want your views to be shaky. This is a Newtonian design
it has a 130-millimeter or a 5-inch mirror which will allow you to see deep
space objects, star clusters, galaxies, etc. And the planets as well as craters
on the moon and the lunar surface. With a manual or push-to system, this allows
you to somewhat memorize and learn the night sky and part of amateur astronomy is
not just looking through a telescope, it's knowing where these objects are, what
constellation there is, and how to find them quickly.
You may not even need to use the app
eventually. If you want to just get out there and find something quick so this telescope is
just a fantastic option and it's going to allow beginners to grow and build with this as they
advance into their amateur astronomy journey. So next up is the Vaonis Vespera and this
is another one that we have created a very in-depth video on and it turned out
great. The whole experience using this telescope is awesome so definitely
check that video out but yes this is the most innovative telescope on our
list and there are several reasons why. Essentially this is a completely automated astro
imaging system that you control through an app on your smartphone called this Singularity app.
The Vespera is definitely the best option for those who love astronomy and love pictures or
photos of the night sky you know galaxies and nebula but just don't have the time to invest in
a dedicated imaging setup. Essentially it tracks the objects in the night sky and constantly
takes pictures with the internal camera and it stacks them on top of each other to
provide you with a beautiful colored and detailed image.
The longer that you point your
telescope towards an object the more colorful and detailed that it will become as it starts to
stack more and more photos throughout the night. The optics are designed to provide great color
and the internal camera uses an incredibly sensitive Sony sensor. It does have the
ability to take both deep space photos and lunar photos as well and these photos
can be uploaded as raw .tiff files so if you want to process them further in Photoshop
or PixInsight, you have the ability to do so. The Vaonis Vespera is definitely leading the market in smart telescopes so
if you're interested in this, you definitely want to check out the video that
we made. It's a fantastic little telescope. Alright so our third category is the best
computerized or versatile telescope and this one just hands down goes to the Celestron NexStar
8SE. This is one of the most popular telescopes of the decade it's just there's so much that you
can do with this telescope. The 8SE is a fully computerized go-to telescope it has eight inches
of aperture and is a Schmidt Cassegrain design. This size telescope is what we call a deep sky
telescope or a lifelong telescope.
Eight inches of aperture is going to allow you to see
some fantastic detail on the lunar surface, the planets, and several deep sky objects
especially if you're in dark skies the views through these telescopes
can be absolutely incredible. Now on top of that, you can insert a
planetary camera just right where the eyepiece would go and you can start taking
photos of planets or the lunar surface. So the Celestron NexStar 8SE Bundle 1 on our
website has everything that you need to get started viewing the night that you get it. The
8SE just has an extremely massive ecosystem of accessories that you can use just to enhance
your viewing experience.
So this is exactly why the 8SE just falls number one on our list
of best computerized or versatile telescopes. It was personally my first telescope back in 2015
and it's what I started this entire journey on, so I have a lot of respect for these
telescopes. So the next category is best tabletop telescopes and these are
telescopes that you should use on a tabletop. It's the Sky-Watcher GTi Virtuoso 130 or 150
millimeters. Right out of opening the box, you pull it out and this thing is already assembled.
There is no assembling this telescope which is fantastic if you just want to use it that night.
It is compact and you use it on your tabletop.
Now you could use this on the ground if
you feel like viewing on your knees but a tabletop so you're standing is just preferred.
The five-inch or the six-inch mirror depending on which version that you get and if you can
get the six-inch version definitely go for it because the light-gathering capacity
of a six-inch mirror over a five-inch mirror is actually pretty substantial but
nonetheless, both of these telescopes are capable of viewing deep space objects and
planets and details on the lunar surface. It's always important to remember Charles Messier
back in the 1700s was able to find all 110 Messier objects through a four-inch refractor.
Now it
probably could be used with a planetary camera; we haven't tested it. We do have a video on
the full experience of the GTi Virtuoso 130, again a great little scope so if you're interested
please watch that video, but we did not test it with a planetary camera so I have no idea what
the results would be. My main concern would be the focuser, trying to focus a planetary camera
but you know through an eyepiece it was no issue. It is the GTIiversion so it is fully computerized,
it is fully go-to, and it tracks the objects in the night sky rather well.
It is a fantastic
option for anyone who just wants to bring your telescope out for a quick viewing session,
maybe take it camping or just pack it in the back of your car and drive out to dark skies
with it. It's a great scope and I experienced a lot of pretty awesome views through it
check out the video for more information. Moving on from the best tabletop telescopes of 2023 we're at our next category which
is the best intermediate telescopes of 2023 and our number one option is the
Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25 inch.
As I mentioned this is the largest telescope on
our list just like the NexStar 8SE it is fully go-to and has a Schmidt Cassegrain design but
the NexStar Evolution series of telescopes has several upgrades, several useful upgrades that are
going to improve your entire viewing experience. So what the nine-and-a-quarter-inch Evolution as the NexStar 8SE doesn't have is built-in
Wi-Fi, the ability to move your scope manually, an internal lithium battery so you do
not need a power adapter you can just charge your telescope and go viewing wherever
you like. And lastly, it has a more robust mounting system that provides just better
tracking and better performance in general.
Now all the accessories that I mentioned
that are compatible with the NexStar 8SE are also compatible with the nine
and a quarter inch NexStar Evolution. Now having a nine and a quarter inch mirror
is going to allow you to see fainter and more detail in brighter objects than the NexStar
8SE would. Under dark skies you should see the difference between the two, if they were
side by side. Now if you had these scopes side by side in the light polluted area being able
to see the difference between the two would probably be improbable. That being said the
advantages come within the build quality of the Evolution series itself. And on top
of this due to the fact that this is the largest telescope on our list it's going to
be the top performer for planetary imaging. Alright so now it is time to reveal the
best telescope of 2023 and it probably won't surprise the veterans and amateur
astronomy and it's a Dobsonian telescope goes by the name of the Apertura AD8.
Nearly
everything about this telescope just screams quality and if you consider that along with the
huge ecosystem of accessories and upgrades that you can apply to the AD8 you're just looking at
the best overall telescope of 2023 hands down. Now you'll find several different consumer-style
telescopes out on the market but we have found that the Apertura AD8 is just top of the list for
several reasons. Moving the telescope up and down or left and right is so smooth, it can be easily
adjusted with more tension if that's the way you like it. On the side of the telescope you even
have the ability to adjust balance. The scope also comes with a high-quality dual speed focuser
which is really important when you're viewing the planets or even globular clusters.
On top of
all that the accessories that it comes with is going to allow you to just have a fantastic
first viewing experience. You can add upgrades such as the Apertura Dobsonian Carrying Case
you can do the Apertura Performance Upgrade Kit and a transferable two-year warranty plus
a three-year part replacement isn't too bad either. The Apertura AD8 is a light bucket
it's an 8-inch Apertura Dobsonian so great for deep sky objects. But the number one thing
that people fear with a fully manual telescope like the AD8 is the fact that you do have to
search and find these objects all on your own.
Now it's okay that this scope is completely
manual, do not let that intimidate you. If you want to learn the night sky, if you want
to see awesome objects, if you know that you're going to feel joy and find it rewarding
to find these objects all on your own, then the Apertura AD8 is definitely the scope to
consider. This scope is just extremely rewarding and it's by far the most rewarding telescope
on our list of best telescopes of 2023 there's a reason why all of us at High Point
love this scope and there's a reason why all of our customers love this scope; it's
just the one we keep coming back to. Well that is it for our video on the best
telescopes of 2023 we really hope that this guide has helped you to determine which scope
may be best for your personal needs and your journey into amateur astronomy. If you have any
questions or comments about any of these scopes, please let us know and we'll be more
than happy to help.
Also if you have experience with these scopes yourself let
us know your story we'd love to hear it. If this video has helped guide you toward
your right scope please like and subscribe to our channel so you don't miss
any future astronomy content or astrophotography content. On that note we
thank you so much again and clear skies..
