Skywatcher Evostar 90 - worth buying for a newbie?

[Bunford]

Hi all,

This is my first post here, but have been a browser for a while.

I am interested in astronomy and space in general. I have curiosities about the universe we live in, have got a few books on things like the Hubble photos, astronomy basics, am a huge fan of Carl Sagan's Cosmos series and am also a little curious about intelligent life beyond Earth.

I am now considering buying a telescope to explore, but unsure whether I would use if I could not see much. I have been offered a Skywatcherr Evostar 90 AZ3 telescope for £50 and am looking for advice on whether this is a good buy for a beginner in sky watching? What would I realistically see etc, and would I be able to utilise my Nikon P510 bridge camera for photographing at all (through the lens ideally, utilising it's 40x zoom). I would be interested in looking at the detail of the moon, detail of other planets, asteroids/comets and ideally star clusters, though understand a beginner scope wouldn't be a catch all.

Grateful for any recommendation or advice!

Thanks.

[damnut]

Hi Bunford,

If it is the one on astro buy and sell it is a bargain!!. Be prepared to use stellarium and a sky atlas to find objects and do not expect Hublle like views from the eyepiece. Though the best advice would be to go along to a local astro club and see what others have and what might suit you best!. A couple of eps to supplement the standard set would enhance the experience. (plenty of guides on ep's on the forum ones by Warthog and R Wilkey deserve a mention).

Hwyl!

[beamer3.6m]

For £50.00 I would say good deal.

AZS 3 is a decent mount worth more than £50.00 alone and the scope could be sold for that on ebay if you do upgrade.

For the money I say buy it. If you have more funds then spend that instead or save etc as the general rule is the bigger the better!

[Bunford]

So would this be recommended for a beginner then? And would I be able to sell the scope, keep the mount and buy a new scope to put on it as an upgrade in the future?

Another I have been looking at is the Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flexitube. But, with the abundance of scopes, it can be mind boggling for the beginner!

[rowan46]

it's a decent scope at a good price but except for price I suspect it doesn't really meet your needs. The mount is not good for imaging. It's possible to webcam planets on it but in truth without a driven mount it is very difficult. you may get some pics of the moon with your dslr but nothing else. At 90mm of apparture it isn't  going to give the best views of fainter objects. don't get me wrong it's a nice scope but I would put it in the grab and go category rather than an astronomers main weapon unless portability is your primary concern. If you can use something bigger i suspect it would give better returns.

[ronl]

The Evo 90mm is a very capable scope, perfect for any newbie, it was my first scope,

and I still use it as my grab and go. depending on your sky you can find lot's of good targets

it's a first step up the ladder to aperture fever, which is a term used for "bigger and bigger"

the size of scope determines the light grasp, the bigger the more light gathering capability

it has, so for £50 grab it and enjoy it, until aperture fever grabs you?

[PatrickGilliland]

Great at that price - bigger is better for viewing but tip for long run is consider your passion.

Mine is imaging and better is better in that scenario.  Bigger often provides less to look at!

For now its a bargain for the future think about your chosen direction.

Paddy

[Bunford]

I think I might give it a miss for now and hold back, save a bit more and start off with something better for about £150. If I am understanding what I am reading right, the Heritage 130p Flexitube would be better than the Evostar 90 due to bigger aperture (130 as opposed to 90), and would also be more portable due to the collapsible nature and smaller Dobsonian mount, which appears to be easier to adjust too than the AZ3 mount. Also, due to being a reflector as opposed to a refractor, it appears you get more bang for buck too, assumingly cos mirrors are cheaper than lenses?!

Are they correct perceptions? More to gauge whether I am understanding things right

[rowan46]

if portability is a concern the evostar on an az3 is not a bad package  especially at that price but the dob would give better views

[Bunford]

Oh, and forgot to ask, does anyone know (perhaps an owner could answer) if the Heritage 130p Flextube has a thread on the bottom of the stand? Just asking as I have seen some where it has a standard thread to mount onto a camera tripod, which I already own a solid, good quality one.

[Bunford]

if portability is a concern the evostar on an az3 is not a bad package  especially at that price but the dob would give better views

Portability is a concern as I live in a city and would likely need to take it out of the city, to a nearby mountain or to the Brecon Beacons dark sky area. However, views is more important to me as I don't mind having to carry and set up etc if it means I get better views. Knowing what I am like, not getting as good a view as I could have had would probably demotivate me and I would likely not use the scope much.

I want to start off with the basics, but it is deep sky objects that will eventually interest me more I think.

[Peter Drew]

I would buy it at that price, use it to get to grips with astronomy until you save another £100 then sell it on at £50 to make up the £150 for your upgrade.