“Looking to the skies to save me...”

[SeanBeanOfTheDead]

Also ‘Sky at Night’, also Brian May - yep, seeking telescope recommendations for Fathers Day so More ££ than John Lewis toy, less than Hubble. Can anyone recommend a good all purpose family type telescope - serious enough for the neighbours to not think we’re pervs, not so serious we are flat out broke for the rest of our lives and NASA get on our case

If you’ve never used one before I’d recommend a spotting scope instead of a telescope. A good article here

www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/outdoors/buying-guide/spotting-scopes-vs-telescopes-for-beginner-astronomers

They’re aimed at bird watchers but with a tripod do a good job for watching planets etc. I’d personally only get a telescope i lived somewhere with amazing skies in the back garden as realistically it will rarely be used. I’m an ex-professional and don’t have one as I live in an area with light pollution.

Get a spotting scope for now, join a local astronomy club and borrow the club scopes when lockdown is over. They are much bigger and the club will teach you to use them properly and give better advice for your situation.

Thank you so much, excellent point about joining a club as well, as you can see by the time I posted we are night owls but have to confess to posting under the influence, I was surprisingly coherent.

You’ll make a good astronomer then !!

Binoculars. Really good binoculars.

Thought that was going to be a post about the foo fighters