AstroNtinos

This is an excellent image and unusual compared to other californias. Very nice work.

Hi there, im new to astronomy and i want to buy my first telescope and after a lot of research i've came with the Skywatcher Star Discovery p150i. Now why i won't buy an 8 inch dob which is very often recommended as a first telescope. Well the dob a great telescope no doubts but IT'S NOT PORTABLE. I saw a few reviews and says  its not portable. But i saw SW Star Discovery p150i and says it's portable and has enough aperture. But am I wrong i don't know. My question is SW Star Discovery p150i worth. Are some alternatives maybe? Any help appreciated. Thanks.

15 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Hello @AstroNtinos and welcome to SGL.
A Celestron C6 or C8 SCT may be the best compromise for all your requirements.

Well you have the point but for me its expensive. I would spend a max of 500 euros.

Hello guys im new to astronomy and i want to choose my first telescope. I need it for visual astronomy and also for planet imaging a bit. In visual i want it to perform well both on planets and DSOs. I also want it to be affordable not too expensive. But it must be also portable so i conld easily transport it on my holidays. Any ideas. Any help appreciated. Thank you.

4 hours ago, ABQJeff said:

It would help to know price range, portability requirements, if you are good with learning collimation, want zero maintenance, if you want to learn the sky via star hopping, push to or go-to.  Of course ask if you are not sure on any of these.  

Without knowing the above, I say 4” AT102EDL on StarSeeker IV mount or a 8-10” Dob on push or go to.  First is more portable/less maintenance, latter has more aperture/more logistics.

Speaking of the requirements i would spend a max of 500 euros and I want it to be portable because i take a lot of things with me on my holidays and i would prefer no maintenance. I will be good idea to buy a goto mount.

Well these are good ideas but i don't want a telescope in seperate pieces. 

Hello guys im new to astronomy and i want to choose my first telescope. I need it for visual astronomy and also for planet imaging a bit. In visual i want it to perform well both on planets and DSOs. I also want it to be affordable not too expensive. But it must be also portable so i conld easily transport it on my holidays. Any ideas. Any help appreciated. Thank you.

You should not be ashamed of yourself. I really love it. Its a nice little target. Well done

So we've came to a conclusion that the 150p version is not for AP. Well never mind I think I'll get a dobsonian for visual and planetary that I have read that its possible. I have also read that if you are planning to do AP in the future I can take out the dob tube and insert it in an EQ mount. I saw some people in the forum doing that.

Thank you but for me it's expensive.

I dont know what you are talking about. I mean is the skywatcher 150p without goto ideal for AP

Beautiful image. You know M45 is one of my favourite objects in the sky. I also like the nebula. Good job.

7 minutes ago, Alkaid said:

I think Skywatcher also do the 150PDS. This is the same scope but optimised for AP. I believe it has a larger secondary mirror to fully illuminate the field on the sensor. You can still use it for visual too.

What do you mean by that?

Very nice image. I love it. Thanks for sharing this image.

Hi all,  i am a newbie astronomer that im looking to buy my first telescope for visual and AP. I ve come with an idea of buying a skywatcher explorer 150p. I know that AP does require an EQ mount but i dont think that a classic EQ mount is suitabla for DSO imaging. My question is: Is skywatcher explorer 150p for astrophotography?                                                                                                                            

30 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

You do not need goto (it is useful but not essential and without it you would need to find objects manually) but for long exposures you do want tracking a motorised EQ mount that you can polar align.

The Earth is rotating and if a mount does not keep track with this rotation then in a photograph the stars become long lines. The bigger the telescope the quicker the star trails will show.

Using a camera on a static tripod with a short lens then exposure length might be 20 seconds before star trails show, using a 150mm telescope on a static mount it might be half a second before star trails show. Different deep space targets present different demands, nebula versus globular clusters.

The Moon and planets are more possible on a static mount as we tend to take fast video to capture them.

None equatorial mounts that track present their own limitation which is limited by how long before field rotation shows. This is because they move in tiny left right up down movements rather that in an arc like a motorised EQ mount.

Think about what you want to do and where best fits you.

 

 

 

 

I am in mind getting a SkyWatcher 150/750 on an EQ3-2 but is this an ideal telescope for astrophotography

7 minutes ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

If by Classic EQ you mean non Goto manual adjustment then I would say you have no more Astro photography potential than a Dob.

You can take short single pictures of DSO with most setups, however the amazing pictures you see posted on this site and others are created by taking many pictures of the same object for long periods of time and then combining them into a single stacked image.

without accurate tracking you simply cannot do this. Furthermore a single photo on a fixed mount would be very short in duration where as accurate tracking mounts can give exposures in excess of five minutes.

To put it into perspective I have an EQ5 with the motor pack and SynScan Goto. I have an absolute maximum exposure length of 1 minute with perfect polar alignment which is not a given.

Even though I am doing AP now if I had to start again I would get a decent Dob and really learn and enjoy the sky, then have a dabble at AP after some time.

Marvin

So a classic EQ mount is not suitable for DSO imaging.

Very nice complex of stars. Nice job.

Hi there, I’m quite new to astronomy and I want to buy my first telescope. I mostly need it for visual but also for astrophotography a bit. I started a topic (Help me find a good scope) . The guys in the other topic told me to buy a Dobsonian. But recently i wanted  to do astrophotography but as we know Dobsonian is not suitable for deep sky imaging. And as we know equatorial mounts are suitable for DSOs. But after reading some Articles i Think GoTo mounts arę suitable for deep sky. And a telescope with an EQ GoTo mount is far out of my budget. Now my question is is a Classic EQ mount (not motorized) at least suitable for deep sky imaging. 

This nebula is so beautiful, so is the imge. Very good job

This image is stunning. I love it. Well done

Great image. I like it.

Magnificent image. Nice work.

I like the images. Well done.

This is magnificent image. Well done