Jump to content

My first telescope

bcfc151

Recommended Posts

bcfc151

bcfc151

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

My name is Adam. I have been interested in Astronomy for a long time but never really got into it, I would always use a friends telescope. I have now decided to get my own but don't know where to start. I only have a small budget, max £200, I have been looking at these two telescopes.

Celestron Astromaster 114EQ at Amazon for £99.99 or

Skywatcher Skyliner 150P 6" Parabolic Dobsonian at First Light Optics for £197.00

I only want the telescope for observing.

I love deep space objects and would love to be able to have a decent view of different nebulae, do you think any of the above telescopes would deliver this? or is that out of my price range?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I am also open to any suggestions.

Thanks and I wish you all clear skies

Adam.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ecosse

ecosse

Posted
Posted

I would say the 150p dob is the better choice. It has a 6" apperture compared to the 4.5" of the 114. This will give you more light gathering power which in turn will give brighter images and more contrast. Plus it is on a dob mount so it set up and used in no time. It is however more expensive so would leave no money for extras so you would have to make do with the standard eyepieces for now. The only extra I would say is essential really is a collimation tool which you would need for either 2 of these scopes anyway and is about another £25. sure you will get a lot more opinions but hope this helped :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DOBBY

DOBBY

Posted
Posted

Hi there...& welcome to the forum

Of the 2 you are looking at...I would lean towards the Dob.

with the larger mirror you will collect more light, and therefore 'see' more clusters...galaxies etc

you will however need a UHC filter to bring out nebulae.

the other advantage with the Dob. is the setting up time...no tripod to level.

both 'scopes will need collimating...I suggest a 'cheshire' rather than a laser.

many places are holding public open evenings on the 21st Jan to go with the BBC Stargazing-Live...pop along to your local one...loads of 'scopes to look through & people to ask questions of...before you part with ya hard-earned...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
Posted

I agree with the dob recommendation. I would though ask that you measure your expectations. 6" is a good aperture but forget the images you see of the Hubble etc as these are not achievable with visual observing even with very large apertures. You will see many wonderful objects, planets, the moon, various nebulae and star clusters etc but they will always be a shadow of the way they are portrayed in images.

Best advice is try and get a look through one or two before you buy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bcfc151

bcfc151

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for all the advise.

I think I will go with the 150P Dob but I will definitely wait and try some scopes out at one of these event's Dobby mentioned.

The only thing that put me of the Dob was that it is all manual, to track objects, but I suppose I would get used that.

does anyone have a photo of what to expect from a 6" telescope, as from what Moonshane said, my expectations may be to high.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.