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I can't think of a clever title so I'll go with "hello"

mrphildog

By mrphildog
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mrphildog

mrphildog

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Hi folks,

I Recently registered and thought I'd say a quick hello.

A few months back I was walking home on a clear night and my 8 year old daughter looked at the sky and said "I wonder how much a telescope costs". I am always keen to encourage her to learn new things so I said I'd look into it and I pointed out a couple of features that I knew - Jupiter and Venus.

I knew that a decent scope would cost a couple of hundred so it wasn't going to be something I just bought there and then however my wife decided to buy a cheap starter scope from Tesco or somewhere. It was a nice thought but it's not much use really. I didn't have the heart to take it back so it's being used on the basis that it gets us started.

I plan at some stage to get a Skywatcher Skyliner 200P or 150P but in the meantime I bought some Helios Naturesport-Plus 10x50 bins from FLO (which arrived very quickly - well impressed).

The idea behind the binoculars is that my daughter and I can easily use them without much setting up and fuss and hopefully it will get her interested enough to help me justify the 200P :D

So at the moment I don't really have much the way of stargazing gear but I'm both glad and sorry I found this forum. Glad as reading a bunch of threads has given me a good idea what I am looking for in a scope and sorry as my wallet isn't infinite.

I have one quick question though. Is this a winter hobby or is there something to see in the summer too?

Cheers

Phil

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Tyr

Tyr

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Welcome to SGL Phil,

You can certainly enjoy astronomy all year round, although you may have to wait a bit later for it to get dark in summer and what you'll have available to look at will change throughout the year.

Tyr

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mrphildog

mrphildog

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Thanks for the responses to my question. I wasn't sure if heat made the atmosphere too tricky to see through during the summer...plus the issue with the sun taking forever to set in the summer. I kind of had visions of everyone packing up until it went dark again. :D

I'm glad that's not the case as I probably can't buy a better scope until summer time. I'd hate to have to wait months to use it!

It's a fair point about it being too late for my daughter by the time sun sets in the summer. I guess I've got between now and then to get her hooked.

I had a quick look through my binoculars last night at Jupiter and I think I could see a moon to the left of it but my 40 something year old hands weren't still enough to be totally sure. I didn't realise how tricky it would be to keep the view steady even with 10x50s so I'm getting an adapter for my tripod. Fortunately I have a decent tripod as I've been into photography for years. That said, I was standing up not leaning on anything, maybe it would have been easier sitting down.

Cheers

Phil

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Phil and welcome to the forum. Binos are a good start for sure and will continued to be used alongside any future scope. Using a tripod to help target an object might be a wise investment if you are sharing, especially if the object is small and goes 'missing' in the hand over. Given the choice of two scopes, I would certainly plump for the 200p as that extra aperture will resolve just that bit detail. Having said that, why not take advantage of the many astro star party events that are current being organised to coincide with the BBC's Stargazing Live. You will clearly see what difference the sizes and types of scope make when observing. Even your local astro society will have a timetable of similar 'parties' that are always run at this time of year. This research will help you establish your own benchmark of what will suit your needs.

Clear skies

James

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mrphildog

mrphildog

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Yeah. One of my thoughts regarding using my tripod with the bins was that it would save frustration for my 8 year old trying to find things if I could find them first and she could just look at what I had pointed them at.

I'd love to go along to a stargazing live event but I am currently alone in charge of my 2 daughters, the youngest is two so I'm dealing with less night sky and more Night Garden (CBeebies kids tv if you don't know :-)

Will definitely look into local clubs to see if I can pop along to see some gear up close.

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