Who knows stuff about telescopes...
Discussion
Mrs DC and I both have an interest in star gazing and have decided that this years wedding anniversary present to ourselves will be a telescope.
Thing is there's so much selection we don't really know what's what. Bascially we want to be able to see planets and moons and if we can get one that will let us see further that would be great. Reckon we could spend around £300
Pie in the sky (if it is can we see it through a telescope) or will we get something that will let us see stuff!
Any advice would be greatfully recieved!
Cheers
DC
Thing is there's so much selection we don't really know what's what. Bascially we want to be able to see planets and moons and if we can get one that will let us see further that would be great. Reckon we could spend around £300
Pie in the sky (if it is can we see it through a telescope) or will we get something that will let us see stuff!
Any advice would be greatfully recieved!
Cheers
DC
Aperture is the priority with telescopes but then so is ease of use. No point having something you only use the once. Have you thought about binoculars? I would suggest finding your nearest amateur astronomical society and have a chat to the members. They should let you look their scopes if you ask nicely.
I just ordered a skywatcher 150pm but it turned up in bits so still waiting to get my new one.
Never had one before but fancied a bit of star gazing.
The first issue was that all the pretty pictures you see are captured through cameras which have the sensitivity and exposure times to show all the colours.
However having said that even a £200 (thats what I paid) telescope will show up alot - including Saturns rings by all accounts.
I went for a 6 inch newtonian jobby - basically as big as I could go within budget without any motors or bells and whistles.
If you can wait a week ill report back on the results with the naked eye - thats if Parcel Farts dont spend their time drop kicking the next one about.
Never had one before but fancied a bit of star gazing.
The first issue was that all the pretty pictures you see are captured through cameras which have the sensitivity and exposure times to show all the colours.
However having said that even a £200 (thats what I paid) telescope will show up alot - including Saturns rings by all accounts.
I went for a 6 inch newtonian jobby - basically as big as I could go within budget without any motors or bells and whistles.
If you can wait a week ill report back on the results with the naked eye - thats if Parcel Farts dont spend their time drop kicking the next one about.
As Bigfoot said, the key to seeing faint objects is aperture. The most aperture for your pound can be obtained with a Dobsonian scope or a Newton.
Downside, most Dobsons are on a manual mount, which can make it tricky finding specific objects, until you learn your way around the night sky. If you are interested in taking photographs through your scope, many Newtons have insufficient back focus to allow your camera to focus when attached to the scope.
To learn the night sky I can heartily recommend Turn Left at Orion by Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis, which was written with beginners and small scopes in mind.
Downside, most Dobsons are on a manual mount, which can make it tricky finding specific objects, until you learn your way around the night sky. If you are interested in taking photographs through your scope, many Newtons have insufficient back focus to allow your camera to focus when attached to the scope.
To learn the night sky I can heartily recommend Turn Left at Orion by Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis, which was written with beginners and small scopes in mind.
DIW35 said:
As Bigfoot said, the key to seeing faint objects is aperture. The most aperture for your pound can be obtained with a Dobsonian scope or a Newton.
Downside, most Dobsons are on a manual mount, which can make it tricky finding specific objects, until you learn your way around the night sky. If you are interested in taking photographs through your scope, many Newtons have insufficient back focus to allow your camera to focus when attached to the scope.
To learn the night sky I can heartily recommend Turn Left at Orion by Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis, which was written with beginners and small scopes in mind.
Great thanks - I can just see me now getting over excited about getting a 'scope and then seeing knack all because I don't know where to look! I guess the moon is a starter for 10 though Downside, most Dobsons are on a manual mount, which can make it tricky finding specific objects, until you learn your way around the night sky. If you are interested in taking photographs through your scope, many Newtons have insufficient back focus to allow your camera to focus when attached to the scope.
To learn the night sky I can heartily recommend Turn Left at Orion by Guy Consolmagno and Dan M. Davis, which was written with beginners and small scopes in mind.
Thanks for the recommendations - some come with a book but I reckon it's best to have one that other people have found helpful rather than one that the seller got a good deal on!
Thinking that this could be the one (though photography would be good so may have to rethink)
http://www.pulsar-optical.co.uk/prod/telescopes/sk...
Along with 'Turn Left at Orion'
Cheers
DC
Thats the one I ordered...
In my travels I found this
http://www.12dstring.me.uk/astro.htm
Which apparently are pictures taken with the same telescope (roughly)
In my travels I found this
http://www.12dstring.me.uk/astro.htm
Which apparently are pictures taken with the same telescope (roughly)
Ok after much faffing and a broken telescope thanks to Parcel force it arrived.
I then waiting two weeks for the weather to clear.
Spent three nights finding out I cant point the damn thing where I want it.
One night getting hang of moving it about and getting confused about eye pieces.
One night looking at jupiter and trying to work out why I cant see a planet and not just a bright blob - and getting confused about eye pieces.
So its all going swimmingly well
I then waiting two weeks for the weather to clear.
Spent three nights finding out I cant point the damn thing where I want it.
One night getting hang of moving it about and getting confused about eye pieces.
One night looking at jupiter and trying to work out why I cant see a planet and not just a bright blob - and getting confused about eye pieces.
So its all going swimmingly well
halo34 said:
Ok after much faffing and a broken telescope thanks to Parcel force it arrived.
I then waiting two weeks for the weather to clear.
Spent three nights finding out I cant point the damn thing where I want it.
One night getting hang of moving it about and getting confused about eye pieces.
One night looking at jupiter and trying to work out why I cant see a planet and not just a bright blob - and getting confused about eye pieces.
So its all going swimmingly well
Welcome to the world of astronomy!! I then waiting two weeks for the weather to clear.
Spent three nights finding out I cant point the damn thing where I want it.
One night getting hang of moving it about and getting confused about eye pieces.
One night looking at jupiter and trying to work out why I cant see a planet and not just a bright blob - and getting confused about eye pieces.
So its all going swimmingly well
Time v blurring when taking photos of the stars is a function of focal length. With a normal wide angle lens you can extend the time to several seconds. By the time you get up to telephoto lenses and telescopes, you are down to a matter of a couple of seconds.
As with any telephoto lens, your telescope not only magnifies what you are looking at but also any movement, either of the scope itself or the object you are imaging.
As with any telephoto lens, your telescope not only magnifies what you are looking at but also any movement, either of the scope itself or the object you are imaging.
DIW35 said:
Time v blurring when taking photos of the stars is a function of focal length. With a normal wide angle lens you can extend the time to several seconds. By the time you get up to telephoto lenses and telescopes, you are down to a matter of a couple of seconds.
As with any telephoto lens, your telescope not only magnifies what you are looking at but also any movement, either of the scope itself or the object you are imaging.
So in other words buy the motor thingy As with any telephoto lens, your telescope not only magnifies what you are looking at but also any movement, either of the scope itself or the object you are imaging.
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