notoriusjack

I've been reading astronomy blogs and forums for a while and this is exactly what I felt like. Do you feel there is a lot of difference between the two Starsharp?

Thank you for coming back to my post. I understand what you both are saying and I agree that I would soon feel the need to upgrade but unfortunately I am always on the move (I live between 2 if not 3 countries) and I don't even have a car and this one of the reasons I gave up to this hobby in the past but now I think that a bit is better than nothing. The mount I'm going for should be a decent enough star tracker (yes polar alignment is crucial) for wide objects. In the end I would be happy enough if I can manage to take a decent picture of Andromeda with an old unmodified DSLR I just want to learn and possibly show Saturn rings to my little nephews. On this point I wonder if it would make more sense to go for the small SharpStar 61EDPH for astrophotography and a small 102mm or 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain for the visual.

Hi, posting for the first time as I would like to return to this hobby after almost a 20 year pause. I used to have a refractor when I was a kid but I am still pretty much a beginner. This time I would like to try with astrophotography but my needs are a little bit tricky as I will be travelling with my scope and I am looking for a lightweight setup so I was thinking about small APO doublets or triplets so I can carry (hopefully) everything I need in a backpack hand luggage and take with me on a plane. This would point to DSO but it would be nice to get a scope that despite being compact would still be able to give you a glimpse of the major planets (I know, it's either one or the other but I would like share this experience with my wife and nephews who have never seen a planet through a scope before). So here is my kit so far: Mount: Skywatcher Star Adventurer Pro Pack - Takes about 5kg load https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-star-adventurer-pro-pack.html Telescope Choices (so far): SharpStar 61EDPH Mk II ED Triplet Apo f/5.5 £438 https://www.365astronomy.com/sharpstar-61edph-ed-triplet-apochromatic-refractor-telescope.html William Optics 2019 Zenithstar 73 APO f/5.9 £549 https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/william-optics-2019-zenithstar-73-apo-refractor-with-case.html SharpStar 76EDPH ED Triplet Apo f/5.5 £792 https://www.365astronomy.com/sharpstar-76edph-ed-triplet-apochromatic-refractor-telescope.html ALTAIR STARWAVE 80ED-R REFRACTOR TELESCOPE V2 f/5.6 £599 https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/altair-starwave-80ed.html#SID=1706 The Altair seems interesting as it is a 80mm and has an interesting price but it might not be portable enough and I can't find decent reviews on that scope. The Sharpstar 76EDPH seems to have good optics but a bit expensive as I still need to add diagonal and eye pieces but more importantly I am not sure what I will be able to see for visual observation. Like will Juiper and Saturn be even visible? if so any eye piece you might recommend? WO 73 is similar to the Sharpstar 76EDPH but I think it's a doublet instead of a triplet but it's quite cheaper The SharpStar 61EDPH instead would be my choice if I only wanted to do astrophotography. It's a triplet, it's cheaper, very light and portable but it would miss the visual observation part. Or maybe I should go for the SharpStar 61EDPH for astrophotography and buy a decent but small Maksutov-Cassegrain? Sorry the many questions but it would be nice to have the opinion of this forum