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GoTo = Cheating?

lw24

By lw24
in Observing - Deep Sky

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tom33pr

tom33pr

Posted
Posted
Thank you for your intelligent and well considered contribution to the discussion.

I shall stop enjoying my hobby until I am doing it correctly. Please let me know when my observing techniques meet your exacting standards.

Or am I just feeding the troll?

Chris

You are feeding a troll :) Don't think this guy is serious at all.

It's sad you have such individuals even within this (relatively) 'quiet' and humble community.

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Rob L

Rob L

Posted
Posted

If GOTO is cheating then I forgot to read my copy of the rulebook.

I thought long and hard when I was choosing my scope, should I get GOTO or not, in the end I decided against it. I have a habit of starting new hobbies, keeping it up for a few months, getting bored and giving it up. I thought if I had to search for myself it would keep up the interest for longer. As it turns out I needn't have worried, I'm well and truly hooked and some time in the future a guided scope does appeal.

However, if you do have minimal light pollution, and plenty of time on your hands, finding stuff for yourself can be very rewarding. It took me about 3 or 4 observing sessions to locate M1 in my mak, and when I finally did, it was a great feeling (and made up for what was quite a small, faint, disappointing smudge)

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RikM

RikM

Posted
Posted

GO TO would have been quite handy last night.

The sky background was so bright that I struggled to find M5 with an 8" Dob. I had an RDF and knew where I was supposed to pointing the thing, but the 6x25 plastic-lens finder on this borrowed scope is next to useless. With a low power EP and 5min spent slowly spiraling the scope about I found it, but it was harder than usual to find a new (for me) object, and M5 is a big bright glob.

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smudgeball

smudgeball

Posted
Posted

As a visual astronomer I can't see the point of slewing to an object below the resolving power of my scope.

That's a good point, you never see GOTOs advertised as

"....database of 42,000 objects, but you're only likely to see a fraction of that number !"

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rfdesigner

rfdesigner

Posted
Posted

Is goto cheating...

what if you build/write your own Goto system, does that count? :-) (not quite there, but getting quite close now)

Derek

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haitch

haitch

Posted
Posted
That's a good point, you never see GOTOs advertised as

"....database of 42,000 objects, but you're only likely to see a fraction of that number !"

I think those little goto Maks are the most amusing. ALtAz and slow focal ratio which make them useless for deep sky photography so how many objects in the database is it worth typing in? :)

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swamp thing

swamp thing

Posted
Posted

As a visual astronomer I can't see the point of slewing to an object below the resolving power of my scope.

Do they not give magnitudes on their hand controllers?

I thought they gave some info on the object?

The encoders I have seen on some Dobs do.

Regards Steve

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smudgeball

smudgeball

Posted
Posted
I think those little goto Maks are the most amusing. ALtAz and slow focal ratio which make them useless for deep sky photography so how many objects in the database is it worth typing in? :)

Well I see DSOs as a bonus with my scope, I'm more of a planetary viewer (but I do like piggy backing my dslr for nice wide angle images)

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

Posted
Posted
I think those little goto Maks are the most amusing. ALtAz and slow focal ratio which make them useless for deep sky photography so how many objects in the database is it worth typing in? :)

Those little maks are fine for DSO viewing (on compact DSOs, a 127 mak kicks the backside of my 80mm APO any time), and it does not make sense to make different hand controllers. However, being able to select objects based on the limiting magnitude of the scope would be neat.

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haitch

haitch

Posted
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Well I see DSOs as a bonus with my scope, I'm more of a planetary viewer (but I do like piggy backing my dslr for nice wide angle images)

Hope you don't think I'm knocking the scope itself - I've seen jupiter through a Skywatcher 127 and it was a lovely sight.

It's just how they market a scope, targeted as a starter scope, with thousands of objects it can find but can't be seen - another way to disillusion the newcomer to the hobby. :)

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tom33pr

tom33pr

Posted
Posted
Is goto cheating...

what if you build/write your own Goto system, does that count? :-) (not quite there, but getting quite close now)

Derek

LOL, GOTO in essence is a very simple application (very clever though). Just a few algorithms and a massive list of objects. I'm sure you could write one yourself no probs :)

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Nexus 6

Nexus 6

Posted
Posted
Do they not give magnitudes on their hand controllers?

I thought they gave some info on the object?

The encoders I have seen on some Dobs do.

Regards Steve

They do indeed Steve and are a good source for some instant information on the object that you are currently observing.

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Space Cadet USA

Space Cadet USA

Posted
Posted

I think it is a non argument really. If an individual wanted to go back to hypersensitising 35mm film in the fridge and then spending all night guiding blindly hoping to have captured something faint :) then who cares? I see GOTO the same way, it is now new tech, in a few years it will probably be commonplace. If some people want it and some don't then fine. It's an individual choice, saying it is 'good' or 'bad' is silly and entirely subjective. I don't have it yet but I sure want it after years of poking about in the sky trying to find faint stuff. But each to their own, the important thing is to be out there observing :)

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smudgeball

smudgeball

Posted
Posted
Hope you don't think I'm knocking the scope itself :)

Don't be daft, I hear what you're saying.

Valid point. Goto can market expectations a bit high.

I think the answer to the title of this post is

GoTo=Helping

Regards

Neil

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MorningMajor

MorningMajor

Posted
Posted
I think those little goto Maks are the most amusing. ALtAz and slow focal ratio which make them useless for deep sky photography so how many objects in the database is it worth typing in? :)
Stellarium has a huge database as well - can't see all of them either :)
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