sharklblog

A “spotting scope” is a telescope that can be used for observing nearby object such as birds trees mountains or anything else on OUR world. There are two major differences between a spotting scope and an astronomical telescope. The first is is that a spotting scope will provide an upright image while an astronomical telescope will provide an inverted image. The second difference is the telescope mounting. Many astronomical telescopes have a “polar mount” or some other type of mounting that will allow it to track the stars as they move across the night sky, and that mount maybe motorized which adds cost.A spotting scope mount will be an altitude Azimuth Mount and will never be motorized, and therefore will be much less expensive.
Can a spotting scope be used to observe astronomical items? Yes, but because spotting Scopes are usually quite small diameter and therefore don't gather much light, you wont see the dimmer objects, nor much detail in planets. But the moon would be a good target.

Super S