Thinking of trying astronomy out as a hobby but don’t want to shell out big $$$ for a telescope? Try some binoculars. A reasonable pair of binoculars lets you see the 4 large moons of Jupiter, will make out Saturn’s rings and the brighter deep space objects.
@evilscientistca two questions: do you need a tripod or some other stabilizing system? How do you find Jupiter or Saturn?
@Kryten @evilscientistca A tripod definitely helps but if you are set on staying as cheap as possible you can survive without. To find objects to observe download a sky map app on a smartphone/tablet or hit up a library for astronomy guides.
@BarryBadrinath @evilscientistca awesome. Thanks guys. Gonna check this out. I'd love to take the kids or some dark night for some stargazing
@Kryten @BarryBadrinath well the binos should do it, though not as well as a telescope. A tabletop Dobsonian is fairly inexpensive for taking the plunge. Try the binos first though.
@evilscientistca @BarryBadrinath any recommendations for a relatively inexpensive telescope that would allow viewing Saturn's rings?