is it good to buy a spotting scope or monocular instead of telescope?
i have chosen a monocular with 80mm objective diameter and variable magnification from 20x up to 65x is it good for me to buy it instead of a telescope?(consider that it costs about 190$)
It depends on what you want to look at with it. Spotting scopes are primarily for terrestrial observation. They are not well suited for astronomical observation, primarily because they only allow straight-through viewing, which forces your head and neck into awkward positions when looking at objects high in the sky. They also introduce additional prisms and/or lenses which reduce the amount of light they gather and introduce optical aberrations. An 80mm objective and 65x magnification will not give you enough resolution for more than the most casual looks at the Moon and planets, where apertures of 150mm and magnifications of 200x are the real starting points.
Here are a few web pages with good information on beginner's telescopes:
http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0702_Buying_a_Telescope.pdf
http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html
http://observers.org/beginner/j.r.f.beginner.html
For more advanced information, read Phil Harrington's Star Ware, 4th edition (Wiley).
You'll get the greatest value for your money with a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:
http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~VIEW_INDEX=0/~VIEW_SIZE=1000000
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?class1=1&class2=106
Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, either locally or online; don't buy from department stores, discount stores or eBay as mostly what they sell is junk. Find your local astronomy club and try out different telescopes at one of their star parties:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/organizations
Nikula 7x18mm Zoom Monocular Telescope Binocular from Dinodirect.com
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£12.99
