A lot of people get turned off to stargazing after December 25 because of bad telescopes sitting under the Christmas tree. Get some advice. If your computer is capable of accessing the World Wide Web, check out the Perkins Observatory web site at http, etc. There you will find an extensive telescope buying guide. When it comes to seeing the universe, it's aperture that counts.
Telescopes gather light from the stars and planets with a mirror or lens called an objective.
Objectives come in various sizes, expressed as the diameter of the mirror or lens. The larger the objective, the more you can see. With a telescope objective of 2.4 inches, you can see the craters on the moon and get relatively good views of Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. A 4.5-inch objective will show you all the above plus a few star clusters, gaseous nebulas, and galaxies. A six-inch or greater objective will show thousands of astronomical objects.