What upgrades can i get for a 50mm?

[Alec S343 UNSC]

50mm National Geographic telescope.

what kind of upgrades and modifications can i get for my little starter telescope?

it came with a 20mm eye piece and 4mm. can you get lower mm eye pieces to few planets better? and can you make the zoom better but hold detail?

EDIT:it also came with a 2x image erector,what does this do?

the instructions are abit confusing so could anyone give me tips on hints that could make my planet viewing better please?

[Merlin66]

Alec,

As you say, it's a starter telescope....

The upgrade, unfortunately would be to go for a larger scope...

Are the eyepieces 1.25" barrel size? If so you could find a 10mm eyepiece which may be more usable...

Getting more magnification on the planets which a small scope is not a good option; the available light grasp isn't there to "take" the magnification.

OK for the moon and the brighter double stars, star clusters.....

I think the x2 attachment is for terrestial viewing, not for astronomy.

[Alec S343 UNSC]

i figured i would need a better one.

the eye pieces just say F = 20MM and F = 4MM, im a total noob at this lol

im going to spend 100 pound on a new one at the end of the month, what would be the best for that price?

[cosmological]

I would save up a bit longer and get something a bit better, £100 will only get you a slightly better telescope.

edit: unless you look on ebay.

[John]

Yes, keep on with the one you have to keep your enthusiasm going and try and save £200-£250 which will let you get a really good scope.

[Alec S343 UNSC]

Yes, keep on with the one you have to keep your enthusiasm going and try and save £200-£250 which will let you get a really good scope.

enthusiasm is a not the word i would use,after seeing jupiter for the first time in a scope,it felt like i fully connected with her,i actually cried it was that intense,i hope to have many fond viewings of othere planets

so i should save then? i cant argue with that, the universe will always be there and she will always be waiting

[JimStan]

That is a great attitude to have, Alec. Yes, you should save for a better telescope, and I would not just go incrementally better, but consider a fairly significant jump to the next scope. I would suggest something in the 8 inch ( 200 mm ) size as being a scope you will love and be able to use for the rest of your amateur astronomy life. It is large enough to reveal much of the heavens, and small enough to be easily transportable to remote viewing spots, even if you would "graduate" to a much larger scope in days to come.

Don't give in to the temptation to get as much magnification out of that little scope as you can, because most likely the images will be fuzzy, shakey, and pretty unacceptable.

Save the money, and be patient. You will be rewarded soon enough!

Jim S.

[ismangil]

As my wife said: The stars have been there billions of years, what's the rush?

Perry Ismangil

[Chris H]

I looked up the National geographic 50mm scope on Amazon it said it was suitable for age range 1 month to 12 years. Can you imagine a one month old out stargazing, might stop them crying a bit.

Seriously though if you have a tight budget you can get the Skywatcher Heritage 130p telescope for £120.00, it is a good telescope. It has a 5inch diameter mirror and really performs well, I used to have one.

[Alec S343 UNSC]

i just still cant believe i went all these years looking at the stars with amazement and never once thought about getting a scope untill last friday,what a perfect night to buy a scope

i do love my little scope and shouldn't mod it thanks guys,your advice has been taken on board.

[cantab]

EDIT:it also came with a 2x image erector,what does this do?

the instructions are abit confusing so could anyone give me tips on hints that could make my planet viewing better please?

The 2x image erector will both turn the view right way up, and double the magnification for each eyepiece. You should put the image erector into the scope, then put an eyepiece into the image erector. I think the 20mm EP will give you a 36x view with the erector. Provided the image erector isn't total garbage (and it might be), that should be good for the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn. I'm not sure what the image erector will do if you try using it together with the diagonal mirror.

[Dude]

Add your self to the east mids group, and then come along to the next meeting. you can see other scopes for yourself and take a look through them.

[onesmallstep]

The Skywatcher Heritage 130P or Skyliner 150P for £150-200 depending on where you buy. The latter is a 6-inch Dobsonian scope and is a definite upgrade from the 50mm.

Some basic scopes use an older eyepiece design of 0.965" which is too small for modern EPs. The following link is for an adaptor so that you can use 1.25" EPs with the scope, you will still only get the smaller aperture but you can upgrade to standard EPs to improve the viewing of your current scope.

ScopeTeknix ScopeTeknix 0.965" to 1.25" eyepiece adaptor

HTH!