Yes Sara , as Malcome says where do you live ? do you have room for a large ( 10 - 12 inch ) scope , these are getting big and heavy and are dangerous , for you and the scope if you have to carry them down stairs and the likes
, as said a good 6-8 inch Dob is a great place to start , the 200mm ( 8 inch ) for sale here at IIS is a good buy , even if it has to be couriered to you .
I had a little giggle to read you two are already contemplating a 10-12 inch scope ,,,
oops " apateaure fever " is knocking
. Watch out its an expensive bug to catch
.
I have just set up my most used scope just now for a quick ( 2 hour ) look at the moon and its a 60mm , 2.4 inches , so its a baby but woaw
what a baby 60mm of "Flourite Takahashi " refractor $$$$ beautiful scope , but , hey its differant strokes Sara for differant folks , so yea a 150-200mm Dob is the beginners scope of choice .
Brian .
ps. when I first started out my Wobblymatic was all we could afford , but our local club had 150mm Dobs as loan'r scopes and that saved me from giving up years ago , lucky .
But hey , is there a club near you that you can join ? I hope so
because that is the way to go , get out and try a few scopes before laying down your hard earned cash and every amateure astromomer I have ever met ( 1000's of them over the years ) wont hesitate to give you and your sister a look thru their scopes .Great people us star gazers
.
Brian ,( again )