If you asked most people to name the one thing that is most needed by someone who is just starting out in astronomy, they would almost certainly say “a telescope.” And if you then asked them to name the most important thing to look for when choosing that telescope, the answer – if there was one – might be “power” (as in magnification). The first answer is definitely questionable, and the second answer is simply wrong.

Many people believe both answers, and who can blame them? How would they know any differently? Few people have had any education in the understanding of amateur astronomy and its equipment, and cheap-telescope distributors know it.

Here is a typical experience from not so long ago:

A certain young person looked through a telescope on a camping trip one night, and became interested in the idea of pursuing this hobby (as many people do after looking through a good telescope). It seemed, to this person, only natural to think that the first thing to do was to buy his own telescope. He remembered seeing them in department stores, camera dealers, and at a gift shop in a museum. He went to one of these places and asked someone to help him, only to find that there was no one there who could. So all he had to go on was the information provided on the telescope packaging.