Yet another recommend me a telescope thread
Discussion
I'm a total noob with regards telescopes and astronomy but would like to purchase one simply for looking at the moon in greater details plus a few planets. Budget is around £200.
I've narrowed it down to these two (happily listen to advice for others though).
Celestron 31051 AstroMaster 130EQ MD Reflector Telescope
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-31051-AstroMast...
or
Celestron 22403 Inspire 100AZ Refractor
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-22403-Refractor...
The latter has a smartphone adaptor which looks really useful (although I noticed that people have also take images using the former telescope).
I have also read that buying a different lens (Barlow) adds a lot for not much extra money.
I realise this isn't going to be high end and I'm not expecting to see far off galaxies etc. just looking for something as a bit of a starter.
I've narrowed it down to these two (happily listen to advice for others though).
Celestron 31051 AstroMaster 130EQ MD Reflector Telescope
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-31051-AstroMast...
or
Celestron 22403 Inspire 100AZ Refractor
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-22403-Refractor...
The latter has a smartphone adaptor which looks really useful (although I noticed that people have also take images using the former telescope).
I have also read that buying a different lens (Barlow) adds a lot for not much extra money.
I realise this isn't going to be high end and I'm not expecting to see far off galaxies etc. just looking for something as a bit of a starter.
You can see far off galaxies with the naked eye if you know when and where to look.
A Barlow lens increases the magnification of a given eyepiece at the expense of narrowing the field of view and reducing the amount of light reaching your eye. I don't think they add much to the enjoyment of using a telescope.
Have you looked at any of the Skywatcher range. I've been tempted by their scopes but the light pollution levels where I live have always deterred me from buying a decent telescope.
As is often advised, a good pair of wide field binoculars on a tripod is sometimes a better investment for a beginner. It allows you to learn your way around the sky and identify interesting objects. You would be surprised how many galaxies and star clusters you can see and identify using binoculars. You also need a good star chart - which, of course, these days can be obtained as an app on your phone or pad.
A Barlow lens increases the magnification of a given eyepiece at the expense of narrowing the field of view and reducing the amount of light reaching your eye. I don't think they add much to the enjoyment of using a telescope.
Have you looked at any of the Skywatcher range. I've been tempted by their scopes but the light pollution levels where I live have always deterred me from buying a decent telescope.
As is often advised, a good pair of wide field binoculars on a tripod is sometimes a better investment for a beginner. It allows you to learn your way around the sky and identify interesting objects. You would be surprised how many galaxies and star clusters you can see and identify using binoculars. You also need a good star chart - which, of course, these days can be obtained as an app on your phone or pad.
As the owner of one of these (I know it's double your budget):
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywat...
I'd say get something simpler! I rarely get it out as setting it up is a PITA! Get a dobsonian light bucket (big tube, simple mount!).
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywat...
I'd say get something simpler! I rarely get it out as setting it up is a PITA! Get a dobsonian light bucket (big tube, simple mount!).
I blame this thread for my purchase of this:
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gt...
Which turned up yesterday. First light was last night!
The latest version of the Synscan app from the Sky-Watcher webside did not play nicely with other apps that wanted to use the motion sensors on my phone, (particularly SkyMap, the ONE application I wanted to use to identify stars so I could set up the mount!)
I used the version from Google Play in the end, which allowed use of SkyMap but wasn't compatible with Sky Safari.... Hey ho.
I aligned the mount using Capella and Castor as these were the first to pop up in the evening sky in my back garden, and then spent a happy few hours viewing various points of interest in the night sky (all bright stars).
Telescopes have come a LONG way since the last time I used one to observe the night sky (about 30 years ago!).
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gt...
Which turned up yesterday. First light was last night!
The latest version of the Synscan app from the Sky-Watcher webside did not play nicely with other apps that wanted to use the motion sensors on my phone, (particularly SkyMap, the ONE application I wanted to use to identify stars so I could set up the mount!)
I used the version from Google Play in the end, which allowed use of SkyMap but wasn't compatible with Sky Safari.... Hey ho.
I aligned the mount using Capella and Castor as these were the first to pop up in the evening sky in my back garden, and then spent a happy few hours viewing various points of interest in the night sky (all bright stars).
Telescopes have come a LONG way since the last time I used one to observe the night sky (about 30 years ago!).
ash73 said:
Nice! Interested to hear more about that fancy AZ-GTi mount once you've used it a bit.
Due to being very lucky with the weather I've probably got 6 hours on the mount now so here are some initial impressions.Bit of background first - about a million years ago I did a physics degree with quite a few astrophysics modules in because I found the subject interesting.
Due to that I'm not really coming into astronomy completely blind (ho ho!) as I have a basic knowledge of the subject and how to go about viewing etc. My interest has peaked over the last few years thanks to Scott Manley, Dr Becky, What Da Math, DeepSkyVideos et al on Youtube. When I saw the really bright Mars we had last year for MONTHS I thought "I really must get a telescope" - the lockdown finally precipitated that into a purchase.
I got the 130mm telescope with a view to observing the moon, solar system objects and some of the brighter deep sky objects.
I was aware as a novice I would have difficulty in just finding any particular target of interest in the sky due to the high levels of light pollution in the UK, and also my time would be fairly constrained... So I thought a GoTo mount made a lot of sense and the Skywatcher 130PS package looked pretty good value compared to the mount by itself.
My verdict at the moment is: Excellent mount (for the money) slightly held back by the software - Synscan (for Android in my case). I think once I choose the correct package/packages the full potential of the mount will be released.
There are 2 versions of the SynScan software (basic, not Pro) available, one from Google Play and the other from the Skywatcher website. Both have flaws - the Play one will not connect to planetarium software (SkySafari etc) and the website one locks the gyroscopes on my phone so I can't point my phone at objects to identfy them - both quite handy features. I've dusted off on old Fire tablet and rooted it to run the planetarium software to get around this bug in the short term.
In use (once the software is up and running!) it's great. Point the telescope (roughly) level and (roughly) north and select the alignment option on the Synscan menu. Pick two bright visible objects. The telescope with slew to the first one. Use the buttons to centre and then confirm. Repeat with the other object. Done! Pick a target in the sky and the scope will slew to it and then track it..... Amazing. It offers you the change to further refine the accuracy after every goto move and after a few I was getting perfectly centred objects using my 10mm EP every time,
Fire up your planetarium software and select an object - the scope will point to it and track. Perfect!
Apparently there is a firmware upgrade to allow you to fit a wedge and run the mount in EQ mode for astrophotograpy which is pretty impressive for the budget.
The telescope itself is pretty impressive - it's clearly build down to a budget (plastic single speed R&P focusser, non collimateable mirror etc and a couple of REALLY cheap looking 10mm and 25mm EP (I have a budget zoom one arriving today) but it really, really performs, particularly with the 25mm EP. I showed my wife the M3 cluster (she came out just as I finished setting up one evening) expecting her to be polite about it and flee.. Nope.
We ended up spending a couple of hours splitting binary stars (her eyesight is far better than mine - moobag!), looking for DSO etc etc. This 'scope has totally sparked her interest - impressive!
I 3d printed an adapter to attach my phone to the 25mm EP and got this last night (no set up time so just pointed and shot). I think we're both hooked - this won't be the last telescope attached to this mount!
ash73 said:
Very interesting, thanks for posting.
You might find a zoom lens limits the field of view, although it's a more of a concern for dobs than tracking scopes. Generally a couple of decent eyepieces and a barlow is the way to go.
Curious why you need extra bits for astrophotography, given it already tracks objects.
Can it move fast enough to track the ISS?
FOV is rubbish with the supplied EP - particularly the 10mm. I'm surprised the glass is "glass".You might find a zoom lens limits the field of view, although it's a more of a concern for dobs than tracking scopes. Generally a couple of decent eyepieces and a barlow is the way to go.
Curious why you need extra bits for astrophotography, given it already tracks objects.
Can it move fast enough to track the ISS?
I've picked this zoom - it's supposed to be so far superior to the supplied glass it's not funny.
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/152148-seben-zo...
I'd be interested in opinions on fixed focal length eyepieces to complement it! I hate short eye relief and love wide angle of view if I get a choice (say £50-£100 an EP?)
Apparently for longer exposures (20-30 seconds and more) you want an EQ mount as the field of view will rotate and you get star trails. Also the mount then only uses one axis motor so less vibration.
It can move fast enough to track ISS - not sure whether the software can move it fast enough. I don't know where the "brains" for tracking is - on the phone or in the mount. Some packet sniffing may have to take place....
ash73 said:
Can it move fast enough to track the ISS?
Did a bit of searching!https://www.heavenscape.com/ Sat tracker that needs an ASCOM compatible mount... so:
Yes - via leapfrog tracking apparently. People are doing it.
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