First scope

[Freeflow]

It's been asked a million times and I certainly won't be the last

I've been thinking about getting my first scope, nothing serious at the moment so something cheap and cheerful to get me started. Storage space is likely to be an issue (my orders from SWMBO) as well.

I've done some research online so far and saw the Skywatcher heritage 130p (£135 - FLO, £144 - SnS) which looks like it could fit the bill being reasonably cheap and compact

Any advice / other recommendations?

What could I realistically expect to see?

cheers

[Zul]

Well i think if you can pay a bit more money for telescope then it would be better to get 6 dobsonian.

[DOBBY]

Hi there... for an extra £40 you could go for First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian

the extra light gathering is worth it + being a longer focal length, you will save on extra eyepieces as the 130 will be more demanding on the cheaper ranges where the 150 isn't

[Freeflow]

fair comment but looks considerably bigger and heavier, storage of the scope being a key factor here.

[Freeflow]

I've had a search on the forums to see if anyone had this scope and what they thought, people who have it seem happy with it's performance.

[Tinker1947]

You won't go far wrong with Skywatcher scopes, the bigger the better..

[Freeflow]

yeah I get that idea but for starting out and to have the flexibility of G&G it looks ok?

SnS have them with a 2x barlow for £144 inc delivery

[sabana]

The Dobsonians take up a large footprint. As do goto's with the need for power supplies.

How about some high power bins with a nice recliner to lie down on?

[Freeflow]

local costco is doing the celestron 102GT for £162

102mm (4") refractor

skyalign (goto) altaz mount

5 eyepiece set (4, 8, 12.5, 20 and 25 mm)

or does this come under the banner of the 'department store scopes' ?

[E621Keith]

The 102GT seems to be a 102 f9.8 Achromat on what is probably a predecessor of the SLT mount. It should be ok, but given a choice I will go for Heritage 130p dob. The larger aperture will let you see dimmer objects and the dob mount has less to go wrong.

The Heritage 130p is the cheapest scope that I will recommend, below that I'd suggest binoculars.

[Freeflow]

Looks like the heritage then, birthday today so we'll have to see what I get.

[freelander86]

My Celestron 130 has been a great intro into astronomy....

Would highly recommend you have a look!

Freelander 86

[Freeflow]

do you have any more info on this model?

there are a number of celestron 130's

[freelander86]

There are really only two Celestron Astromaster 130. One has an MD suffix which means it includes a Motor drive to help with tracking stars.

It is a great choice as a first scope but with hindsight a book I am ready suggest you choose at least a 150mm scope to start as this will see you further should you get very involved!

Freelander86