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GoTo = Cheating?

lw24

By lw24
in Observing - Deep Sky

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pjmaciw

pjmaciw

Posted
Posted

This is similar to the discussions when morse was dropped from the ham radio exam .......

I brought a goto because where I live most of the stars needed to guide are not visible. Not quite true but its surprising how often the goto appears to be pointing at blank sky. Goto is not cheating....just a tool that can be useful.

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Squif

Squif

Posted
Posted

I say its not cheating - its just a question of your preference and what you want to get out the hobby.

For me I get a thril out of finding things manually (always do things the hard way!) however some people like to spend there time looking/taking photo's. Non of it is cheating its just up to you. End of the day who are we to say what is cheating or not.

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rjsc2001

rjsc2001

Posted
Posted

For me it's not cheating.

When i started i had a 114mm with 20 years. The mirror was good but some stuff i saw in the sky, didn't looked like cluster or whatever.

When i got my goto, and a 130mm , i look and i say.... humm that's nothing there, but if the goto pointed there let me look closely, and after a while i could see something. This for the fainter objects, of course.

For the others, it's easier, of course.

Not cheating, just a helper.

Ricardo

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luukieboy2

luukieboy2

Posted
Posted

No, not cheating for me either. I've had a HEQ-5 with a 20cm Newton for a few months now, and I have to say, it is absolutely great. Tracking the stars, seeing fainter objects cause the stars ain't moving. Looking at Jupiter for half an hour without repositioning the telescope. Finding those hidden galaxies, where you really need averted vision for within a couple of seconds.

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newman

newman

Posted
Posted

For me finding it myself is at least half the fun. I won't let GoTo have that half. But anyone who doesn't have that problem should knock him/herself out with GoTo, it can definitely be useful if the goal is less searching and more looking at the actual targets.

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Earl

Earl

Posted
Posted

Well over the last few nights for me, the ability to just power up the PC, turn the mount on load EQmod CdC, Slew, guide then image.

Im a Fan of this GoTo.

It about a month since i put an eyepiece in my scope :)

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EntropyStar

EntropyStar

Posted
Posted

GoTo isn’t cheating just the same as adding masses of magnification to a night sky object isn’t. I think there’s some worth with knowing your way around the night sky but I don’t see the need to know every constellation without fail.

Technology moves on and we move with it. We wouldn’t consider Galileo cheating for using a telescope for the first time would we?!

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Austin

Austin

Posted
Posted

I started with a goto scope (celestron C8 NGT), It was great for making the most of limited time observing. But I now own a 12 inch dob without that capability and I love it. For me, the hunt is just as fun as the observing, and I am constantly learning to better navigate the night sky. I actually begrudgingly sacrificed goto for apeture when I got the fever, but there is no turning back for me!! That said, goto definately isn't cheating, it's a means to an end.

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devilgas

devilgas

Posted
Posted

i'm a very casual observer so don't dedicate the same amount of time as i do to say diving. had a manual EQ scope before, and since moving to a GOTO mount (as i've caught the imaging bug), GOTO allows me to see stuff that i'd struggle with if i were star hopping. it's great when you want to show family / friends a number of objects quickly, without spending (for me anyway) a considerable amount of time manually hunting them down. i will still do a manual tour of the sky, but GOTO lets me use my time much more effectively when i want to see something specific. i used to see it as lazy astronomy, but now just see it as a very useful tool.

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