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

[newman]

I would advise the best first investment to be - astronomy books. I know it sounds lame, but buying a scope before doing your research is really a bad idea. Knowing what exactly you're getting into, what exactly do you expect to see with it, what the strengths and weaknesses of each scope type are, how much do you expect to spend on it, factoring in things like portability, etc.. it takes a bit of time to get to grips with it. But going through these motions can often mean the difference between getting a life long hobby that makes you happy, and giving up frustrated because you spent a lot of money on something that doesn't work out for you in the end.

I can recommend these as an excellent intro to backyard astronomy:

- Nightwatch, by Terence Dickinson. You can get it on Amazon pretty cheap if you can't find a local vendor with it (I got it off Amazon too). An excellent introduction that's easy to read and will give you an idea of what the hobby is like and where you might find yourself in it. It remains packed with useful information so that even the more experienced amateur astronomers will still find it useful.

- Backyard Astronomer's Guide, by Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer. A sequel of sorts to Nightwatch, this one is a much larger book that complements the first one and goes into greater technical detail when it comes to equipment. I would recommend this as an excellent read after Nightwatch.

While reading those two, you might consider investing into a good binocular. It will enable you to start learning the sky while reading those books and get a taste of the hobby while not breaking the bank. It can be tempting to invest in those giant sized binos; but frankly, I'd get a good pair of 10x50's (generally still usable from hand). What you're looking for is a pair with BAK-4 porro prisms, an ability to attach to a photo tripod adapter (get this too, it's cheap) and ones that aren't too heavy. A good pair of 10x50's like that will generally be less than 1kg so you won't need a massive tripod - maybe you already own a tripod that you used to attach a camera to? If it's not one of those mini camera tripod but a full sized, extendable leg ones, it'll do nicely. What you will get with this is a wonderful instrument for quick stargazing that can be used both from hand and on a tripod that will remain useful when you get a telescope. Giant binos, like 25x100, are cool, but cost about as much as entry level telescopes and take nearly as much time to set up (as it's impossible to use them without a tripod that, due to their weight, needs to be a lot sturdier and more costly).

After you've done all that you'll probably have a good idea what it is exactly you want from a scope and start forming a short list of telescopes you're considering to buy. By getting the books and the bino first you risk nothing. At best, they will get you into the hobby the right way and still be useful when you do. At worst, you'll move on to something else, but still have two great books and a quality binocular that can still be used for terrestrial observation. And you won't have spent a fortune on it. One other thing that's a good idea is to find out if there's a local astronomy club near you organizing star parties. If there's one near you soon, attend! There's usually a whole bunch of people with their scopes present and they'll be happy to let you look through them. This is an excellent way to get first hand experience on the strengths and weaknesses of various scopes, and what you can expect to see through them. The only risk here is the gas money it takes you to reach it..

Just my 5 cents.

[studio1one]

The first thng you have to realise, blud, is that you are not going to see a techniclolour wonderland of the cosmos when you put your eye to the eyepiece.

[M0rgan freeman]

I would advise the best first investment to be - astronomy books. I know it sounds lame, but buying a scope before doing your research is really a bad idea. Knowing what exactly you're getting into, what exactly do you expect to see with it, what the strengths and weaknesses of each scope type are, how much do you expect to spend on it, factoring in things like portability, etc.. it takes a bit of time to get to grips with it. But going through these motions can often mean the difference between getting a life long hobby that makes you happy, and giving up frustrated because you spent a lot of money on something that doesn't work out for you in the end.

I can recommend these as an excellent intro to backyard astronomy:

- Nightwatch, by Terence Dickinson. You can get it on Amazon pretty cheap if you can't find a local vendor with it (I got it off Amazon too). An excellent introduction that's easy to read and will give you an idea of what the hobby is like and where you might find yourself in it. It remains packed with useful information so that even the more experienced amateur astronomers will still find it useful.

- Backyard Astronomer's Guide, by Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer. A sequel of sorts to Nightwatch, this one is a much larger book that complements the first one and goes into greater technical detail when it comes to equipment. I would recommend this as an excellent read after Nightwatch.

While reading those two, you might consider investing into a good binocular. It will enable you to start learning the sky while reading those books and get a taste of the hobby while not breaking the bank. It can be tempting to invest in those giant sized binos; but frankly, I'd get a good pair of 10x50's (generally still usable from hand). What you're looking for is a pair with BAK-4 porro prisms, an ability to attach to a photo tripod adapter (get this too, it's cheap) and ones that aren't too heavy. A good pair of 10x50's like that will generally be less than 1kg so you won't need a massive tripod - maybe you already own a tripod that you used to attach a camera to? If it's not one of those mini camera tripod but a full sized, extendable leg ones, it'll do nicely. What you will get with this is a wonderful instrument for quick stargazing that can be used both from hand and on a tripod that will remain useful when you get a telescope. Giant binos, like 25x100, are cool, but cost about as much as entry level telescopes and take nearly as much time to set up (as it's impossible to use them without a tripod that, due to their weight, needs to be a lot sturdier and more costly).

After you've done all that you'll probably have a good idea what it is exactly you want from a scope and start forming a short list of telescopes you're considering to buy. Just my 5 cents.

Thank you mate i will take all of this into consideration and do some research.

The first thng you have to realise, blud, is that you are not going to see a techniclolour wonderland of the cosmos when you put your eye to the eyepiece.

I didn't really expect it to be that amazing bro. but what should i be expecting?

[RikM]

I didn't really expect it to be that amazing bro. but what should i be expecting?

Take a look at some of the sketches posted on the imaging forum. Imaging - Sketches and Unconventional - Stargazers Lounge

These will give you a good idea what things actually look like through a telescope.

[M0rgan freeman]

Thanks Rik.

Just ordered Nightwatch by T'Dickinson

Thanks for that advise Newman

[newman]

No problem. You won't be disappointed by that book, it's a great resource. I went through the motions of getting properly acquainted with the hobby relatively recently so the process is still fresh in my mind

[M0rgan freeman]

I got it for a nice 2 quid on Amazon so that should be a nice start.

I think, unless the book convinces me otherwise i'll skip the bino process and jump straight on to the scope, where would you recommend getting one for future reference?

[newman]

Any local vendors near you? They have the benefit of being able to see the scope before buying it. You most likely won't get the full idea of their size before seeing them live. And if portability is of any importance to you, you definitely want to see one before buying.

As for the binos, easy enough to buy them later on if you decide you want one. Most amateur astronomers have at least one as their quick grab and go instrument. But it's possible to do a lot with just your eyes too. If you happen to have a smartphone like the iphone, there's a lot of very good astronomy apps for it that are great for learning the sky. If you have a PC, there's an app called "stellarium" that is excellent for that too. Not really sure if there are MacOS or Linux versions, as I don't use those. At any rate if you have something to run it on, apps like those can be a great help in learning the sky.

[M0rgan freeman]

I've been looking and they're huge. A lot bigger than anticipated.

Some dude just Pm'd me offering celestron 130mm nexstar gt for 185 quid, thoughts?

Financially i would prefer to grab one 2nd hand

edit; no local vendors near me that i'm aware of

[Nexus 6]

Hi,

another book that gives a good idea of what to expect to see when using a scope is

Play.com - Buy Turn Left at Orion - Guy Consolmagno ; Dan M. Davis online at Play.com and read reviews. Free delivery to UK and Europe!

well worth getting

[RikM]

Take a look at the website of First Light Optics 'FLO' at the top of the page, sponsors of this forum. They are very reputable astronomical retailer and will give you good advice. I have bought virtually all my major equipment from them and have no hesitation in recomending them.

Can't comment on that particular scope but I personally wouldn't purchase any significant second hand astro-equipment if I didn't know exactly what it was I was buying, and what condition it was in. I always like to see the thing before handing over any cash.

There are as many different types of scopes as there are observers. What ever scope you buy, it's only 'any good' if it gives you the views you want of the objects you want to look at, and you need to be able to physically use the thing for it to be worthwhile.

[newman]

Unless this is a latest revision, I'd wait till they print a newer version. It's a good book, but from what I heard the current version's charts included won't be current for long.

As for the scope, in a nutshell; it's a small newtonian reflector on a computerized mount.

Pros:

- small, lightweight and portable;

- easy to use mount with computer control will make it easy to target anything you're looking for (arguably, it will also act as a crutch preventing you from learning the sky for yourself - there's two diverse schools of thought regarding this);

- not too expensive;

Cons:

- Newtonians generally need frequent collimation. Depends on a specific model just how often. Not a huge deal though, as it's not too difficult to learn to do.

- A relatively small aperture will probably leave you wanting more before long. As it's a computerized mount there'll probably be plenty of targets you will be able to auto target to, but unable to see (or just barely make out if the seeing is good). This sort of thing usually results in frustration and/or full blown aperture fever.

In general however it's probably not a bad little beginner's scope that shouldn't lose resell value. Used scopes are most often in good condition as their owners tend to take care of them and optics generally age well. Still a good idea to see the thing before buying though.