Astro_Nic

So it looks like I might ditch imaging with this first scope - seems to be that a large scope will just be too difficult.....so maybe a 6 inch refractor down the line , so I really want a light bucket just to survey the heavens! Looks like the options are an 11 inch SCT - I like it's compact form, I also like the goto functionality - not because I don't want to star hop but because I am worried I won't see enough stars to find anything in my Bortle 5 skies - bordering 6. Or a 14 inch dob - like the extra aperture, smaller obstruction and better at DSOs which I am interested in - although I do want to see some great planetary views, especially when friends and family visit - they will hardly be impressed with the £4k I've spent to see a faint smudge! The 14 inch size doesn't bother me at all. Tempted by 16 inch - it will only ever be moved about 20 feet. Thanks guys!

Thanks everyone. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy! Now thinking I should probably just focus on visual as that will get me more excited….I can get another scope if I get the imaging bug! so would you go large light bucket dob? 14 or 16 inch? Or would you go 11 inch SCT? how would both differ for say planets and for DSOs? is it worth it for the premium of a UK carbon Newtonian over say a skywatcher version? thanks! nic ps anyone know n the Midlands? Am in burton on trent. Cheers

Hello everyone! First time poster here, so please go easy! Am looking to purchase my first telescope, so I am a complete beginner and although there are loads of similar posts, all are slightly different and it's quite confusing! Although I did study Astronomy and Astrophysics as part of my first degree (although that mainly concerned the calculation of the speed and mass of galaxies and such like!), but we did have access to the university's telescopes which included their 37" SCT! Link here if you are interested: http://observatory.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/files/2018/06/JGT_manual.pdf I would therefore consider myself very technically minded and certainly like a challenge. I am always go big or go home and that will certainly apply to me taking up this awesome hobby (although I value your expert advice). I am fascinated with space and spend hours reading science journals and books. So for my first foray into the hobby I would like to get proficient in visual astronomy - no astrophotography at all. But I don't want to start small, I want to start large(ish)! But I don't want to go bigger than necessary considering my sky conditions. So: My skies are bortle 5 - although it's fairly decent to the North, East and South - not as good to the west due to a town; I do have nearby access to Bortle 4 and 3 and my wife's parents live in a Bortle 3, which is a three hour drive away. There is a local club about 5 miles away in Bortle 4/5. However, I will not get into this if I can't spend the majority of my time at my home. So consider 90% of my time will be in my own garden. So I do not need the scope to be particularly easy to transport. I am a fit and relatively strong individual anyway. I am 6'1"; I don't want to limit my viewing to one object or another, although my interest is definitely more on the DSO rather than planets. So my interest probably in this order: Galaxies, nebulae (not so much planetary), globular clusters, planets, sun; I'm not settled on a budget yet....depends if stretching it gets me some tangible benefits.....perhaps £5,000 for scope + mount - or lower!; I'd like a premium quality scope; I know that one scope doesn't do everything and that a good visual scope will not make a good astrophotography scope, but I would like the OTA to be capable of at least getting me into astrophotography at later date (subject to purchasing a relevant mount and other goodies) as I believe that is where I will go (although this scope is purely for visual for the purpose of this post as I may just not use it enough and feel the expense of moving into astrophotography is not worth it); I think that star hopping and the hunt for DSOs will be part of the fun - so not looking for GEM or tracking - unless you feel I will struggle to spot enough stars and not end of finding anything. I have purchased Turn Left at Orion and a variety of other books. So having searched this site I believe what would be best would be a dobsonian. I want stunning views so I was thinking a 12 inch or even 14 inch. But only if I am going to get a tangible benefit considering my Bortle 5 skies (although I may fall in love with the hobby and travel to better sites - my cousin is also into astronomy and has a scope and has suggested the Northumberland dark sky park which is close to him - largest gold rated dark star park in Europe). So I was thinking of the Orion Optics UK CT14 (or the CT12) with a dobsonian mount. This is an f4.6 carbon fibre tube with 1/10 pv mirror. This is a local company (I am based in the UK) and like the idea of using British, rather than SE Asia. https://www.orionoptics.co.uk/our-telescopes/ct-series/ Would this be a great beginner dobsonian? Any draw backs? Any better alternatives? What benefits would a 14 inch have over a 12 inch in Bortle 5? The 14" is considerably more expensive; Could this be used for astrophotography with a suitable mount? The 12 inch weighs 15kg and the 14 inch 29kg - when upgrading to a GEM at a later date for photography, what would be suitable - CEM120 or EQ8 enough? - only want to know if at some point it can start me off in photography - no intention of doing so for 12-36 months; If I don't go dobsonian, what else is out there for visual? I'm impressed with the large SCTs - 11HD edge for example. Would this be too complex to start with? Poor choice for DSO's / photography? Will have loads more queries and can provide any more info I may have missed......just want to make sure I am on the right track and start planning that first scope. Thanks everyone! and great to meet you all! Nic