Sup cosmos brahs

[M0rgan freeman]

Hi all, i've been extremerly intrigued by space all my life, like most people i would hope but after watching Morgan Freemans 'Through The Worm Hole' series on youtube i NEED a telescope.

I signed up here to hope fully get some advise on which telescope would suit me.

It's my 21st birthday soon and the idea of a telescope seems good!

I would like a powerfull one but i'm total noob to stargazing.

Whats a popular scope? whats the best? so many questions

Thanks in advance

[JamesM]

It would be useful to know what you are interested in viewing and more importantly - your budget.

Price wise, the best value/aperture scope will be a dobsonian type which is a reflector which supported by a simple alt/azimuth mount at its base. In terms of size, I would recommend an 8" as this will show you plenty of detail but will allow you to store it or even transport it without it taking up too much space.

Hope that helps.

James

[hemihaggis]

think you might be looking for a good all round scope like a 5 " newtonian . easy to look after ,pretty good at everything , dso`s planets , moon ! and quite affordable , search the decent stores and reviews on here see what you like the look of , do you have transport , will you be using out in the garden or going to dark sky site ? ..cheers

[evilgeenius]

Just my thoughts..

I bought my first ever telescope about a month ago, it was a CPC 9.25" SCT goto scope.

I decided to go with a goto scope because I wanted to spend most of my time looking AT stars rather than looking FOR stars. I just don't have the spare time needed for finding stars/dso's. I definitely don't regret it one bit, on my first night I saw loads of DSO's, it was great. My co-worker has had his non-goto scope for years now and he's not seen the DSO's that I have already. I guess it depends on how much time you have though. I have lot's of hobbies so the quicker I can find things the better.

I decided to spend a bit more than I could afford on my CPC925 as I knew I'd get aperture fever later on, and I'm glad I did. It's not too heavy and only takes a few minutes to setup.

I'm now getting interested in astrophotography and I've spent a lot of time reading about it and taking photos, it's pretty cool. I can't wait til I make my first decent photo of a galaxy. Tools like Deep Sky Stacker have really helped me process the images.

This forum has been extremely useful for me. It's definitely worth researching it first though before you buy anything.

[Nova]

you will find that everyones opinions on scopes is different. there is not really a "right" scope for a begginer. it all comes down to what you can afford but at the same time you dont want to spend £900 and then decide not to stick with the hobby (although there is a good 2nd hand market) my advice would be to start at the lower end of the market and build up over time. Personally I decided not to get a goto mount. I want to learn the night sky for myself and I love the sense of acheivement finding things my self.

[evilgeenius]

I would imagine it's pretty hard to find DSO's by yourself, most people will use a goto scope or find it using books/starcharts. Though I can surely say that If i managed to find a DSO without using goto or using any guidebooks to tell me exactly where it was, like Messier, I'd feel a massive sense of achievement.

[JamesM]

The important thing to remember from a new person perspective is that a GOTO mount is great, but not if it comes out of the budget for the scope. There's no point in the mount finding you something if the money left over only bought you insufficient aperture to show you what was found. Nearly all scopes will show you more than your eyes or a pair of binos which is great but for me, if the budget permits (including buying used gear) it's better to go for what you want from the start rather than the slower route of buying and reselling which will cost more in the longer run. If you stick with a main supplier you can usually get 60% back on what you spend on new gear should you feel that it wasn't for you.

Having said that, the original poster hasn't supplied us with a budget to spend on his behalf and being an important birthday, he might have a bit extra to play with!

James

James

[Nova]

I would imagine it's pretty hard to find DSO's by yourself, most people will use a goto scope or find it using books/starcharts.

Sorry should have been more clear. When I say "by myself" I mean by using star charts and without goto assistance. I enjoy plotting my own starhops and comparing what I have on the chart with what's in my ep. but were going off topic. as jmb says we need a budget to spend

[kniclander]

Sorry should have been more clear. When I say "by myself" I mean by using star charts and without goto assistance.

I suspect that's what 99.9% of the readers understood you to mean anyway ...