Getting into astronomy can be tricky because of a couple of factors working against amateur astronomers. The main two are cost and knowledge. Outside of identifying a few constellations, it’s hard to enjoy astronomy without a telescope. While there are telescope options for every budget, it’s important to select one that gives you the performance you’ll need for at least a few years. Most astronomers upgrade to higher level optics as their abilities advance, but if their first telescope gives poor performance it can be so discouraging that they give up.

Knowledge also works against the amateur astronomer. There is only so much you can learn from books. At a certain point you’re going to need to search the night sky and find what you’ve studied. A big part of astronomy is learning how to find objects in the sky, and without training this can be very difficult.

Fortunately, Meade has come out with the StarNavigator series of telescopes, which provide not only a fantastic scope, but also a wealth of information to aid the amateur astronomer. Both the Meade StarNavigator 114mm AudioStar Reflector and the Meade StarNavigator 102 Refractor Telescope come with AudioStar technology, which automatically controls the telescope to help find and track celestial objects. This computerized system has over 30,000 objects cataloged for discovery! Both StarNavigator telescopes also include Astronomer Inside, which features over 500 audio files containing 4 hours of content. So as you look for a particular planet, galaxy or comet you can listen to useful information on what you’re seeing. Astronomy Inside also has a guided tour function that takes into account the time, date and location to give users info on what objects are most visible at that time of the year.

All of this information comes with the telescopes, which have a 102mm aperture, 800mm focal length, and either 4″ or 4.5″ refractor depending on the model you choose. And because the StarNavigator is made by Meade, they give you a great value for your money.

Take a look at Meade’s StarNavigator telescopes for a cost efficient, high value way to get started in astronomy.