Which telescope to chose?

[NDAC]

Hello fellow stargazers ! :-)

Christmas is approaching fast and a telescope is at the very top of my wishlist.

I'm just wondering what model to put on my list, I was thinking something like the Skyhawk 114P or should I go for the Celestron Powerseeker 114 EQ, or maybe even a third one?

Maybe anyone could list some pros/cons?

But what can I expect to see with the two?

I would love to see some stars "up close", but on the other hand it would be cool to see M42 and Andromeda up close - but is that even possible using a cheap telescope?

Does anybody have som pictures taken through does two telescopes?

[umadog]

Welcome!

Photos won't be useful to you, since what you see visually will be very different to what is seen photographically. e.g. you will see no colour with the naked eye and details are fleeting. Seeing detail in deep space objects is possible but it does require patience and experience. Don't expect to head outside and see anything that resembles the photos you've seen.

Where do you live and where will you be observing? Most have to fight light pollution and drive to an observing spot. This is a consideration when choosing a telescope.

The scopes you mention are probably fine. You will get more bang for your buck with a 6" or 8" Dobsonian, however. They're easier to set up and provide a larger mirror for the money. We generally steer beginners towards such scopes and plenty of us, myself included, never stopped using them.

[NDAC]

Welcome!

Photos won't be useful to you, since what you see visually will be very different to what is seen photographically. e.g. you will see no colour with the naked eye and details are fleeting. Seeing detail in deep space objects is possible but it does require patience and experience. Don't expect to head outside and see anything that resembles the photos you've seen.

Thanks :-).

Wow, seriously? Like, no color at all? I can hear I really need to read more about telescopes then.

Where do you live and where will you be observing? Most have to fight light pollution and drive to an observing spot. This is a consideration when choosing a telescope.

I live in Denmark, near Copenhagen. But the main thing is that I'll use public transportation to get out to the observing places. And from what I can see a Dobson is easier to get around.

The scopes you mention are probably fine. You will get more bang for your buck with a 6" or 8" Dobsonian, however. They're easier to set up and provide a larger mirror for the money. We generally steer beginners towards such scopes and plenty of us, myself included, never stopped using them.

I just looked through some other sites with the EU, and there seems to be alot of money to save compared to buying it in Denmark.

I was thinking about selling my Canon 17-40mm L lens and then just use my 18-55mm stock lens for widefield astrophotography.

I assume I can get around €400 for it, so I was thinking about the SkyQuest XT8, but as far as I can tell it's only for planets and the moon?

[umadog]

You need to do lots of reading

Yes, seriously, no colour at all in deep space objects. You'll see some stars have colour. You'll see colours in Jupiter's bands. Colour on mars. Uranus and Neptune look blue/green. Saturn has subtle coffee shades. An *experienced* observer under *dark skies* sees this through an 8" reflector: Deep Sky Sketches - Deep Sky Watch You will see significantly less when you start out. For me, the thrill comes from finding these objects and learning to see detail in them. Also, you have the pleasure of actually seeing it for yourself rather than just looking at a photo. Learning about what you're looking at really helps to appreciate it. It's amazing, for example, that the Crab Nebula's glow is powered by a collapsed star that's spinning 33 times a second! You should also know that light pollution makes a vast, vast, difference to what you can see. A small telescope taken somewhere dark can easily show more than a very big telescope stuck in a light polluted area. Google the "Bortle Scale" to figure out how light polluted your area is.

A Dobsonian will be easier to handle but an 8" might be a little too much for public transport. It depends how strong you are and how dedicated you are, but those things are bulky. A 6" Dob may work better. However, go and see one in a shop. You may be in for a surprise: don't work off dimensions alone they are very deceiving. The XT8 is an 8" telescope and is great for all objects including deep-space objects. In don't know what would indicate it's only good for moon and planets. There are more portable telescopes out there too. Little SCTs which fit into back-packs and so forth. I'm people will chime in on those. There is always an aperture/portability trade off.

To help make the best decision possible, I'd really recommend you sit down with a book or two. Turn Left At Orion is great (it's mainly a field guide for DSOs) and Nightwatch is a good general intro to everything. Do ask here if you have any questions at all, though.

[rory]

thanks for the deep sky link umadog. nice sketches there.

[NDAC]

You need to do lots of reading

Yes, seriously, no colour at all in deep space objects. You'll see some stars have colour. You'll see colours in Jupiter's bands. Colour on mars. Uranus and Neptune look blue/green. Saturn has subtle coffee shades. An *experienced* observer under *dark skies* sees this through an 8" reflector: Deep Sky Sketches - Deep Sky Watch You will see significantly less when you start out. For me, the thrill comes from finding these objects and learning to see detail in them. Also, you have the pleasure of actually seeing it for yourself rather than just looking at a photo. Learning about what you're looking at really helps to appreciate it. It's amazing, for example, that the Crab Nebula's glow is powered by a collapsed star that's spinning 33 times a second! You should also know that light pollution makes a vast, vast, difference to what you can see. A small telescope taken somewhere dark can easily show more than a very big telescope stuck in a light polluted area. Google the "Bortle Scale" to figure out how light polluted your area is.

I see, you learn something new every day! :-)

A Dobsonian will be easier to handle but an 8" might be a little too much for public transport. It depends how strong you are and how dedicated you are, but those things are bulky. A 6" Dob may work better. However, go and see one in a shop. You may be in for a surprise: don't work off dimensions alone they are very deceiving. The XT8 is an 8" telescope and is great for all objects including deep-space objects. In don't know what would indicate it's only good for moon and planets. There are more portable telescopes out there too. Little SCTs which fit into back-packs and so forth. I'm people will chime in on those. There is always an aperture/portability trade off.

I'm not really that big, so I think I might get a shorter one. I was thinking something like the Skywatcher Flextube 130P it seems small and handy and makes great for transportation. For now I just think I want to watch the stars, like this: http://burro.cwru.edu/Academics/Astr201/Winter/orion.jpg

But is it even possible to get that close with the 130P?

To help make the best decision possible, I'd really recommend you sit down with a book or two. Turn Left At Orion is great (it's mainly a field guide for DSOs) and Nightwatch is a good general intro to everything. Do ask here if you have any questions at all, though.

I'll look into them, when I have finished reading my current book about astronomy.

[John]

....I'm not really that big, so I think I might get a shorter one. I was thinking something like the Skywatcher Flextube 130P it seems small and handy and makes great for transportation. For now I just think I want to watch the stars, like this: http://burro.cwru.edu/Academics/Astr201/Winter/orion.jpg

But is it even possible to get that close with the 130P? ....

Even an 8" dobsonian is only about 1.3 metres tall.

You can get views like that though decent binoculars eg: 15x70's. A scope will take you closer in than that.

[umadog]

Look at the sketches. There's one of the Orion Nebula there, M42.

[NDAC]

Thanks a lot for the help guys, I'm gonna order the Skywatcher Flextube 130P tomorrow!! I can't wait :-)