Here is a good site. Do you want to do photography or just look? May want to subscribe to sky and telescope for good info. Great magazine for info on astronomy and uses/reviews for telescope. http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/8197+8198.cfm http://media.skyandtelescope.com/documents/astronomymagazine-subscription-aw.html
don't touch 500$ telescopes if your range is to $1000. You can get a newtonian reflector for about that range... and get a pair of eye pieces; one wide angle (10-15 degree) and one with a narrower angle, and perhaps a barlow lens. You will be happy. If you want to be REALLY happy, get one that is an alt-az mount that tracks the sky, and a schmitt-cassigrain, or a cassigrain pure telescope with those same eye pieces. Before you buy, look into the local amateur astronomers club, and go one of their night stargazing events; and look into a lot of telescopes, ask a lot of questions. Don't buy anything that is sold based on "power" instead, buy on Light Gathering Ability... Ie 5", 6", 11" etc. etc. The more light gathering ability, the deeper into space you can see... assuming the optics, and reflector are really good. If you get into photography... then you will definitely want a cassigrain that tracks the sky... and filters!
I have this: http://www.telescopes.com//telescopes/catadioptric-telescopes/celestronnexstar8se.cfm It's awesome for a newbie. I just point it to the moon, enter my gps coordinates, the date, and then it shows me where everything is.
http://www.astronomics.com/main/category.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/How%20to%20pick%20a%20telescope/Page/1 Start here.
If you are interested and somewhat mechanically inclined, you can build a dobsonian reflector scope yourself. I did one a few years ago using a 4.5" mirror that works really well for amateur use. I've used it to look at a number of astronomical sights. Even made a little adapter to hook up a camera to take pics. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have the previous generation of that one. My first telescope and I'm still amazed every time I look through it. Though kind of boring, Saturn is my all time favorite to see. Hard to believe that you can actually look that far away that clearly. Almost seems fake.
you can see with a 4" telescope the Horsehead Nebula in Orion's Belt, and the Herculese Globular Cluster (M31 I believe), and the Andromeda Galaxy. Quite amazing to behold the first time Messier objects are amazing!
I know this isn't in the price range you listed, but if you want a real treat in a small telescope, try a Questar 3.5". I used one in college and they are the best you can buy and the price reflects that. 4-5K for the basic scope add a few extras like a full aperture solar filter and you can look directly at the sun! It also functions as a telephoto lens with camera adapters and it will focus down to about 10' for an amazing macro lens.
