Starter Telescope/star gazing

[Busman]

As the title. Total newbie thinking of doing a bit of star gazing and after some info on a half decentTelescope with a stand and any other info
Ta

 

[davidbaldam]

We have a Short Tube Newtonian Equatorial Reflector Telescope it has a 1500mm lens clear apertur. Not cheap but you get what you pay for.

 

[Boris7]

How much are you looking to spend?

 

[Coolcats]

As the title. Total newbie thinking of doing a bit of star gazing and after some info on a half decentTelescope with a stand and any other info
Ta

Depends on budget, I have one of these and it has good optics and as it is a GoTo or computerised machine you can hook it up to a laptop or just use the hand controller.small enough to take away in the Car or MoHo but big enough.

If you fancy a bigger Telescope to play with you can click on that link an subscribe

 

[Coolcats]

As the title. Total newbie thinking of doing a bit of star gazing and after some info on a half decentTelescope with a stand and any other info
Ta

Should add you may want to go along to an astronomy club first as they will often have a range of instruments and you can decide what you want to get from there.

Here is a list of clubs

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[Busman]

Thanks for the info

 

[Boris7]

SWMBO has Meade ETX-LS you tell it you want to look a Saturn for instance and it finds Saturn for you, I think you can also view it via a p.c. (That may be wrong) it cost me a packet and she only used it once or twice.

If your interested I‘ll ask her if she wants to sell it

 

[Astro]

As Coolcats says, go to a local astronomy club and have a look through various instruments and you'll get to see the pro's and con's of each type.
Also don't rule out getting a good pair of binoculars first. They can be superb for 'surfing' the summer milky way from a dark site.

 

[RustyRuss]

You need to be checking out Mars and Venus over the next fortnight as they will be in opposition to the Sun Moon and Earth, check out the Southern Hemisphere either side of midnight over the next two weeks. Mars should appear as a large pinkish disc and you should be able to see the Northern Pole as aa white, icy, cap. I know, I know, Russ your sooo knowledgeable! Hah! Sorrel! Just read “The Times” this afternoon! But hey! Fill your boots people!

(Opposition means that planets/suns/moons etc. are lined up in a straight line!)

Oh! Oh! SHMBO is accusing me of being a boring b**tard!!

Must Dash!!

Cheers!

Russ

 

[Otter Spotter]

You need to be checking out Mars and Venus over the next fortnight as they will be in opposition to the Sun Moon and Earth, check out the Southern Hemisphere either side of midnight over the next two weeks. Mars should appear as a large pinkish disc and you should be able to see the Northern Pole as aa white, icy, cap. I know, I know, Russ your sooo knowledgeable! Hah! Sorrel! Just read “The Times” this afternoon! But hey! Fill your boots people!

(Opposition means that planets/suns/moons etc. are lined up in a straight line!)

Oh! Oh! SHMBO is accusing me of being a boring b**tard!!

Must Dash!!

Cheers!

Russ

But you didn’t answer his question ? ‘What telescope to buy?’

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[Busman]

Thanks again, the idea about a good'ish Telescope is because I'm off to Spain for a few months soon and you get a good view of the star's from the balcony so joining a club is out at the moment. So a good entry level telescope is what I'm thinking of maybe something like this and see if I get the bug.

Thanks for the replys

 

[Busman]

SWMBO has Meade ETX-LS you tell it you want to look a Saturn for instance and it finds Saturn for you, I think you can also view it via a p.c. (That may be wrong) it cost me a packet and she only used it once or twice.

If your interested I‘ll ask her if she wants to sell it

If thinking of selling could you pm a price please but think it could be more than I need at the moment. Thanks

 

[Deneb]

Thanks again, the idea about a good'ish Telescope is because I'm off to Spain for a few months soon and you get a good view of the star's from the balcony so joining a club is out at the moment. So a good entry level telescope is what I'm thinking of maybe something like this and see if I get the bug.View attachment 428792
Thanks for the replys

For the circumstances you describe, a good pair of astronomical binoculars will give better performance and be more useful than a telescope.

For anything more powerful, objects will pass across the field of view so fast that you will be spending all your time adjusting the telescope up or down and sideways trying to find them again, unless you have a good equatorial mount and can set it up properly, or a computerised mount. But as the latter rely on GPS and need a good field of view of the GPS satellites, I'm not sure how well that would work on a balcony. You'd also be looking at a telescope so bulky that getting it to Spain would cost an arm and a leg or be quite impractical to carry unless you're driving there.

 

[Coolcats]

For anything more powerful, objects will pass across the field of view so fast that you will be spending all your time adjusting the telescope up or down and sideways trying to find them again, unless you have a good equatorial mount and can set it up properly, or a computerised mount. But as the latter rely on GPS and need a good field of view of the GPS satellites, I'm not sure how well that would work on a balcony. You'd also be looking at a telescope so bulky that getting it to Spain would cost an arm and a leg or be quite impractical to carry unless you're driving there.

This is why I have one of these its equivalent to a 6" reflecting telescope but much smaller and fits in to a optic rucksack with the tripod attached highly portable quick to set up and relatively compact and just drops in to the boot of the car or MoHo, if it doesn't have a view of GPS satellites you probably are not going to see the stars ! you can also connect the mount to a computer via something like the wifi control and if you place a camera via T adapter or a dedicated imaging camera you can stay warm and toasty while the telescope is outside

Oh if you are outside on those brilliantly cold clear nights.......get the ski suit out

 

[kevenh]

For Celestron, I don't think their entry level/hobby Goto scopes are using GPS.
When you turn them on you align them to 2 or 3 stars. Then the scope knows where it is.
Another clue is that you need to add time & date to their scopes (first time use & battery changes?).

Dearer models of theirs and other manufacturers may use GPS

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[Coolcats]

For Celestron, I don't think their entry level/hobby Goto scopes are using GPS.
When you turn them on you align them to 2 or 3 stars. Then the scope knows where it is.
Another clue is that you need to add time & date to their scopes (first time use & battery changes?).

Dearer models of theirs and other manufacturers may use GPS

Yes your correct star alighn is the system but you can add a gps device to it if you wish.

 

[kevenh]

And there are lessons to learn for a beginner that computerised mounts don't give you.
Luckily I've had a manual mount for a refractor scope for >20yr & can "upgrade" to a Celestron Nexstar goto scope.

 

[Coolcats]

And there are lessons to learn for a beginner that computerised mounts don't give you.
Luckily I've had a manual mount for a refractor scope for >20yr & can "upgrade" to a Celestron Nexstar goto scope.

I guess it’s like anything a ‘purist’ may say that you learn more by finding planets stars etc by your self but then again just like satnavs it’s not the first 300 miles to get somewhere it’s the last 300 yards. I’d say for a beginner use a computerised mount and enjoy the sites it will help orientate the night sky.

 

[kevenh]

Sorry to split my random thoughts over several posts.

Compared to refractor 'scopes the Schmidt–Cassegrain telescopes are good for travelling.
The Celestron Nexstar SE range are well thought of.

edit to save an additional post
Manual v Computerised mount: -
Definitely in this day and age the instant gratification of seeing the object you want to see via a few presses of a control pad are what we want.
But a quick or accurate manual polar alignment of an EQ mount & what it is you're adjusting is useful - once or twice?

 

[Ivory55]

The more i read the more complicated it sounds, we never managed the art of setting up a free standing satellite dish. Haha

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[kevenh]

The more i read the more complicated it sounds, we never managed the art of setting up a free standing satellite dish. Haha

Oops. It wasn't my intention to put anyone off.
Astronomy has seemed to really take off during this pandemic.

I've only have one Celestron scope. An 80EQ refractor
It has one polar adjustment fixed for all viewings and when I set it up, I point the 'scope main axis north and then view.

The fixed adjustment is my latitude 51 & a bit. I'd have to adjust that when mobile but its fixed for my garden

 

[kevenh]

Polar alignment is needed so you can easily follow the planets & stars' movement for several seconds with one knob/control.
And with an aligned scope you can use the 'scopes scales to move the position of what you see in the sky to the location of an object & then look for it.
These positions are listed in a system called right ascension and declination & scopes have scales for RA & DA.

How accurate you setup the 'scope lessons the corrections needed.

edit: another edit!! So, TL;DR a Goto / computerised scope needs less knowledge of Polar Alignment because it either uses GPS to set up or a 2 - 3 Star alignment setup.
Then you'll have 10,000 - 80,000 of database entries of things to look up just by menu choices.
(It's a range of numbers I guessed but basically an offline goto scope has the smaller list but an online one gets access to a much bigger database)

 

[Deneb]

For Celestron, I don't think their entry level/hobby Goto scopes are using GPS.
When you turn them on you align them to 2 or 3 stars. Then the scope knows where it is.
Another clue is that you need to add time & date to their scopes (first time use & battery changes?).

Dearer models of theirs and other manufacturers may use GPS

My Celestron CPC uses Staralign, but utilises GPS to locate itself. Staralign completes the final calculations, since levelling the mount relies on a spirit level and prone to errors, however small. You can set it manually, but you need to know your exact latitude, longitude, altitude and time, then still complete the Staralign process to get good results.

 

[kevenh]

My Celestron CPC uses Staralign, but utilises GPS to locate itself. Staralign completes the final calculations, since levelling the mount relies on a spirit level and prone to errors, however small. You can set it manually, but you need to know your exact latitude, longitude, altitude and time, then still complete the Staralign process to get good results.

That's good to know. The three CPC scopes I see in the current range all look fantastic.
I'm giving my little sister my old Celestron Firstscope 80eq refractor and upgrading to a Nexstar 8 SE that had a nice discount.
That's missing a few of the CPC gadgets but they can be added later...

 

[Busman]

I’d say for a beginner use a computerised mount and enjoy the sites it will help orientate the night sky.

I think this is where I'm at. ie pretty much a novice and anything that helps with the enjoyment to begin with is a plus.

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[Deneb]

That's good to know. The three CPC scopes I see in the current range all look fantastic.
I'm giving my little sister my old Celestron Firstscope 80eq refractor and upgrading to a Nexstar 8 SE that had a nice discount.
That's missing a few of the CPC gadgets but they can be added later...

Mine's quite an old one now, so whether there are extra functions on the newer models I don't know (and don't want to look in case I'm tempted, as it appears they've virtually doubled in price since I bought mine). I have periodically updated the software on it though.

I started off with a refractor on a non-equatorial tripod mount as a teenager, but you very quickly become aware of its limitations and that decent binos can do 75% or more of what the scope can do with much less hassle, or you need to start spending serious money

 

[Ivory55]

We have said on a list of things we fancy doing is a night sky visit/talk at kielder Forest, it does look very interesting.

 

[Coolcats]

I think this is where I'm at. ie pretty much a novice and anything that helps with the enjoyment to begin with is a plus.

If you are up norf sometime you may wish to visit the Kielder Observatory, you have to book but it is worth a vist, it was cloudy when we went.....then there was a break in the cloud and the Students that were helping run the session were visibly excited as there was break in the cloud and yes we saw Saturn, they went from serious students (Phd's) to 4 year olds in about 2 seconds flat and yet they must have seen Saturn dozens of times it is so infectious.

It really doesn't matter if you have binoculars, a small telescope or have the opportunity to view through a big one it is always intriguing and amazing watch Jupiter and its patterns or maybe the smudge on Orions sword (M42) just makes you wonder.....

 

[Coolcats]

We have said on a list of things we fancy doing is a night sky visit/talk at kielder Forest, it does look very interesting.

Ha was just typing about Kielder and yes go but book before you do as it gets busy and its limited numbers, I don't think you will be disappointed

 

[kevenh]

The kevenh's had a good day out at https://www.the-observatory.org/

Not sure if their setup is the same as Kielder.
Well, going daytime wasn't a good start for a comparison...

The Herstmonceux site is definitely good for the historical side of astronomy and we got inside most of the telescope domes.
I don't remember what their viewing access is like. Doh!! 'Should look around at my own link ...
But what is Kielder like?

The pic is of their Thompson 30-inch reflecting telescope:


edit: for comparisons, I'll start at the Kielder link posted earlier

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