Alaska stargazing

[Rusty-Gunn]

Hi. I would be interested to learn what telescopes are considered very good for very cold weather. I live in northwest Alaska and clear skys during the winter easily gets below zero. Summer time is 24 hour sunshine and can't see the Stars.

How do those electric go-to things do in the cold?

Another issue we have is plastic items get extremely brittle. So, what is considered a strong tri-pod? Thanks

[ronin]

Goto's tend to suffer if voltages are low and I have no idea about the motors and gears.

Some gears are plastic so they may depend on how cold.

Biggest "problem" is in knowing what brands are avialable to you.

Another I will ask is what and how much do you want to see?

A nice all round scope is an 80mm refractor - always sounds small but it will do the vast majority of things fairly well. I use a 90mm.

However people will often want something more substantial are your thoughts on say an 11" SCT scopes?

Back to power, batteries will I guess be out of the question, you may get away with a deep cycle battery (bit unsure) - partly depends on how/where it is used. If the battery is stood outside on the ground it could be a problem. If it is in the trunk of a car/SUV (Guess SUV of Alaska) and leads run from the rear to the scope that is different. I run my goto's from the 12v power connector in the car. Makes life easy drive, park, plug, align and view with the car right next to me.

Tripods and the mount tend to be metal, tubular steel legs or square Aluminium, get the tubular steel.

If goto is wanted and it is for recreational viewing then over her it would be an 80-100mm refractor on and EQ5 goto and get a couple of extra eyepieces.

For Alaska still the 80-100mm refractor, mount would be the CG-5 (I think) however also look at the iOptron range of goto's. The SmartEQ is a bit small so look for the 25 or 30 model.(sorry the exact name escapes me)  25 and 30 in the name refer to the weight they carry.

If you want bigger like the 9.25 or 11 inch SCT's then it means a bigger mount and a jump in cost.

Bet the aurora is good. :rolleyes:

[glowjet]

Probably your best tripod to consider is the Berlebach wooden range, see FLO top of page, but you will need deep pockets. Ronin has already given good general all round advise with some of the other gear. It might be worth your while inquiring of some of the manufacturers/outlets, of the various mounts, as to what sort of low working temp these units will function at, as where you live, I don`t doubt they can become extreme. But on the other hand your skies will be absolutely marvellous

[Rusty-Gunn]

I noticed a few videos on youtube a short while ago regarding the Orion XT8 Dobsonian. This one seems quite nice. The mount looks sturdy. No motors to frewze, no batteries to go dead.

Perhaps this one would be nice. (I also like the 127mm Mak-Cass, but this one might come first).

More research, more to learn. Thanks.

[ronin]

The 127mm Mak-Cass are a nice scope but I think they need to be goto.

The field of view of them tends to be small so manually getting anything in view is not easy and then comes keeping the object in view. So my opinion is that that design of scope is best suited to a goto mount which "should" put the required object in the field of view when accurately set up and ligned.

[ddtwelve12]

problem you might have also is you could freeze to the telescope as youll be aware touching anything metal for a while might make you and the scope as one , so watch your eyes etc

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thank you regarding freezing metal. I'm unsure how the go-to would do in the cold. I may go with the Dob.

[ronin]

Just seen where you are. :eek:

That must be dark enough that you see more with your eyes then we do with scopes. :grin:

I assume USAF not Oil and Gas.

[Piero]

I am not so sure about whether SCT or Mak-Cas are fine with that climate. I haven't ever been to Alaska (but I might one day ), but I am aware that many countries located at polar latitudes can have substantial changes in temperatures (even 20C) in a relatively short time. 

I have a feeling that you will not be able to use these models effectively due to these temperature changes.

I would go for a good small refractor (an 80mm as Ronin suggested) or a Newton.

The poster in this forum ( http://astro-talks.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=730 ) used his SW Equinox 66ED successfully at -25C.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Thanks to everyone. I do appreciate it. I figure, with suggestions here, and reading a bit more, I will save the Mak-Cass for another day.

I'm looking at an Orion XT8 Dobson to purchase instead (main choice now but will study more). Interesting hobby to say the least.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Regarding an 80mm refractor, we do have an Orion 80mm table top. Its our first but not our last. I will buy a 2x Barlow, and an Orion ccd vid cam next.

[Rusty-Gunn]

Ronin... Neither USAF or Oil. Oil above, military below. We used to have an airforce base here during the cold war though. Part of the DEW Line (distant early warning). The based was torn down some years back. The radar is oporational but basically umanned.