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Newbie From Northampton (UK)

Sunny84

By Sunny84
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Sunny84

Sunny84

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

My name is Sunny, I've been interested in Astronomy for a few years now but haven't had a chance to see any planets or moons due to not owning a Telescope, only seen images on the internet and tv.

Over the last year I have been glued to the Discovery Channel and Eden channel to watch "How the universe works" and "Wonders of the solar system" i can't get enough of it :D

So now I think it is time to buy my 1st telescope, I am a newbie in regards to telescopes but I do not want to buy a entry level scope as I plan to keep it for a few years. I have come across this telescope "Sky-Watcher Deluxe 90mm" would this telescope be fine for viewing Earths Moon, Jupiter + 4 Moons, Mars in reasonable detail?

Link:

Sky Watcher Sky-Watcher Deluxe 90mm starter kit with FREE Astro Box!

Any help or guidance would be appreciated

Thanks

Sunny :)

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Sunny and welcome to the forum.

I would certainly echo Damian's words above in making contact with an astronomy club or observing group to get your eye in on some scopes first before purchasing anything. The reason is so as to help construct your own benchmark of what type and size of scope will best meet your own expectations. In a way, television programmes are both a blessing and a curse in this regard as they help create enthusiasm but often mislead in what can actually be achieved, particularly with visual astronomy. You won't see much colour if at all and resolution of detail is both scope and weather dependent which can produce a great deal of frustration in amongst all that enthusiasm. I'm trying to be honest from the start in order to help manage your aspirations and guide you in the right direction.

The scope you have linked to is a refractor and will certainly afford you some good views of the moon and of the larger planets like Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. The remaining planets are too far away or too close to the sun to provide any variation of detail that will sustain you in the longer run. That then leaves us turning our attention to deep sky objects (DSO's) which include galaxies and nebula. As they are faint and very distant, we need to capture as much light as we can from them because light equals detail (resolution). As you might imagine 90mm of aperture will not help generate a lot of detail for you to examine and so only the brightest of galaxies will be available to you. To this end I would like to suggest and alternative type of scope to you that might yield better results - the dobsonian >I have included here a link to two scopes one of which is within your budget whose aperture (150mm or 200mm) is significantly larger than the refractor in terms of its light grasp of which the latter one is the most popular and for good reason.

In conclusion I would suggest that you attend a public viewing session first of all and have a look at either of these two scopes to see the difference for yourself. It might mean that it is better to save up a little be more to get hold of something that will keep you going and to build on your existing enthusiasm than something a lot smaller that you will want to resell fairly soon. These scopes will also perform well on planets and the moon.

Hope that helps

James

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barkis

barkis

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Posted

Hello, and welcome to SGL Sunny.

You will soon feel at home on this forum, it's packed with friendly members, who will be ready to help you whenever you need them.

Please do not rush out and buy a telescope until you have done some homework.

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The suggestion that you join an Astronomy Society is a very good one, as it will surely have a membership who will own many scopes of various types. Decide which area of astronomy interests you in particular. It could be the Moon, Planets, Deep sky objects, which could mean Galaxies, Nebulae, Open and Globular clusters. And Double stars.

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No single telescope will encompass all these different objects, so joining a Society may afford you a chance to sample several of the various types, and guide you to a more informed choice.

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Remember also, that there are some good second hand bargains to be had, and that saves money too.

Good luck.:D

Ron.

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Double Kick Drum

Double Kick Drum

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Hi and welcome to SGL.

Just a little additional to some of the good advice that preceeds this post. Although some telescopes may be more suited to planets, they still can be used to look at DSOs and vice versa. Don't think you have to look at one or the other.

Apart from some cheap 50mm - 70mm telescopes which advertise phenomenal magnification, most are at least servicable in more than one field, even if they don't show much detail.

Dobsonians generally give the best bang for your buck but if storage is an issue you may want something smaller like the refractor you mention.

As advised above - Try before you buy!

Happy scope hunting.

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Cunhaval

Cunhaval

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Hi, Sunny, & welcome the forum.

Take your time with the decision & see and handle your choice before you buy - so joining an astro society, where you'll get the chance to examine other members' gear (in the nicest possible way :D) is a really good idea.

And bear in mind that, whatever you get, there will come a time when you want a bigger, faster, longer, shorter, more techy, less techy, scope. Seems to be an inevitable fact of the astro life! :):D

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DarkWispa

DarkWispa

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Hi Sunny, welcome to SGL :D Like all above find groups near you, do some research i got my scope at a car boot for £65 and slowly built it up with extra lens and bits, borrowed a camera mount for my first pics then recently got a SPC900NC Webcam with IR filter and 1.25" adaptor for £29 and love it my scope is not the best in the world but have learnt to use it and push the old girl to its limit with great results. So good Luck and have fun :)

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todd8137

todd8137

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Hi sunny and welcome from me ,i have a meade 90mm 800mm ect its not a bad scope it does give so so views of some planets as suggested get out and take a look at what others have if i was you ,i would save a little more cash whilst waiting to choose the scope looks fine but i think most of the money would be for the mount and not the optics

cheers

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