City scope

[Gliese 581g]

Will I be able to see much in the way of stars/planets within the city lights? If so whats the best beginner scope?

[Double Kick Drum]

Not sure i've had enough experience of different scopes to give good advice but Venus, Mars and Jupiter are usually the brightest stars you will see and Saturn is almost as bright. You should be able to see them without difficulty.

Jupiter is in the evening sky in the East / South East at the moment and is the brightest thing by a distance (not including the Moon) and Mars rises in the small hours of the morning.

Unless your light pollution is so bad that you cannot see any stars, you will be able to find the planets, if you know where.

[rightguard]

if all you want to do is observe rather than image then get a 6 inch dob, that will give you some nice views and all the money will go into the optics rather than the mount.

skywatcher 150p dob is the only example i can thin of atm since im not big on dobs. if size and usuage isnt restricted by stairs etc then an 8 inch dob will give even better views.

[nicnac]

yep, planets and moon can be found, have a look at the maksutovs, they tick the boxes

[Si W]

You shouldn't have much of a problem if you stay in the shadows away from street lights, say behind a building, a light pollution filter is a must (certainly where i am 4 miles from Manchester City Centre), with regards to a scope, light polution doesn't govern what type of scope you can get so you shouldn't need worry about that.

[ollypenrice]

You will struggle to see more than the moon and planets. The received wisdom is that long focus (slow) refractors beat the light pollution the best and fast reflectors are the worst. I can't say I've tried out the theory but it makes sense to me. Refractors have the highest contrast and that's what you need.

Olly

[nicnac]

the LP i get barely registers in the mak, different story in the TAL at f5.

maks do tick the boxes here i think

[Si W]

You will struggle to see more than the moon and planets. The received wisdom is that long focus (slow) refractors beat the light pollution the best and fast reflectors are the worst. I can't say I've tried out the theory but it makes sense to me. Refractors have the highest contrast and that's what you need.

Olly

I have to dis-agree with you on the short focal lengths, i certainly can see a lot more than the moon and planets, ok, admittedly it is a 10 inch Newtonian with a LP filter and a Dew shield to keep out stray light from surrounding houses, i've tried frac's and TBH i cant notice the difference other than the inherant better contrast that a frac have over a reflector, but as far as light polution goes there's no difference.