Actually any of the Inteliscope series is a very good buy. Sizes from 6 to 12 inches are offered. The Synta made pyrex mirrors are of a surprisingly good quality. The Inteliscope reflectors cost a little more than the "Classic" versions of the same scope. The difference is that the XTi can be used with digital setting circles. The object locator handset, pictured in the image at left, can be purchased with the telescope or at a later time.. Without it, each XTi model is around $130.00 less.

The 8 inch model pictured here just might be the best bet for a starter scope.

It allows beginners an opportunity to get their feet wet in astronomy without initially investing a small fortune and without sacrificing size or optical quality. An 8 inch reflector provides enough aperture to view deep space objects, as well as the ability to view planets and the moon at fairly high levels of magnification. The object locator has a database containing over 14,000 objects and is very accurate.

The only real drawback to these dobsonian mounted scopes is the lack of tracking motors, which means that, to keep objects within the eyepiece's field of view, the scope needs to be nudged along every thirty seconds or so. Motorized tracking could be added later with the purchase of a lazy-suzan type platform.The 8" model sells for $479.95 without the object locator. With the object locator it retails for $599.95.

Up until very recently photography of deep space objects, such as nebulae or galaxies, was prohibitatively expensive. So much so that newcomers to amateur astronomy were warned away from the idea unless they had 15 or 20 thousand dollars to invest in equipment.

Additionally, newcomers were frightened off by the prospect of a learning curve said to be so steep that learning the necessary skills might not be a possibility. In the last couple of years astrophotography has changed for the better on both fronts.

Several companies, particularly Orion and Meade, have recently offered fairly high resolution cameras at prices that would have seemed impossible five years ago. While still not an inexpensive area of astronomy, dedicatde CCD imagers can be obtained now for roughly a thousand dollars. Though an accurately tracking mount may still be the most important component of an imaging setup, with the advent of software programs that allow for the stacking of multiple, short exposures, and with software that make the use of guide scopes simpler, less importance is placed on the immediate acquisition of a high-end EQ mount. To be sure, the best images will always be produced by the most accurate tracking, but beautiful images can now be obtained with more modest mounting equipment.

It gets even better as the learning curve isn't nearly as steep now. In the past the only way to get a color image was by using a monochrome (black and white) camera, taking at least three exposures through RGB (red, green, blue) filters and then combining them via a software program like Adobe Photoshop. This still remains the best way to get highly detailed images, but it is no longer the only game in town. New, single shot color cameras are

appearing on the market all the time, most notably the new cameras sold by Orion and Meade, offered in both monochrome and single shot color cameras. Both provide relatively high resolution and are priced between five hundred and one thousand dollars. Combined with one of the new 80mm ED refractors and an Orion Atlas mount, a decent deep space imaging setup can be had for roughly $2500.00.