I feel the need for a telescope

[a2lt16v]

I want to see as much stuff in as much detail as i can for about £700 im not sure if this is will get me a good scope or not.

I have been looking at the celestron nexstar 6SE is this any good for a beginner. I dont want to buy one that going to straight away mean i want a bigger one.

Also as the above comes with the auto find system, would i be able to get a better one if i dropped the auto find system. My theroy is that with out the motors and software the large diameters may be cheaper.

I want to look at planets and other deep spacey things ( well as much as i can with £700)

can digital SLR camera be fitted to any scope or is it just a case of purchasing a adaptor. I like the idea of being able to use my camera when i find something good

any opinions or ideas - i just want the best i can get meaning i wont have to change it for a while

[Parus major]

A 6SE isn't going to be much cop for DSO.

You can get a lot of telescope for £700 and some of them are mahoosive so I'd advise going to a shop or an astronomy society to look at them. Have a look at the sponser's shop on the icon at the top of the page.

[a2lt16v]

cheers for the info, I dont want to go out and by something that is what im expecting, however, i do think i maybe expecting too much and am not going to actually see what i have convinced my self it will be like

[Catweazel]

Hi. £700 will certainly get you a very good scope, and if you don't go for the GOTO type, you could certainly get a lot more aperture, which means you would see more deep space stuff. However, if you want to get into Astrophotography, then £700 suddenly becomes a small budget (for DSO'S anyway). Maybe it's worth looking at an Apo refractor, and a HEQ5 mount, that way you could do AP, and it would make a good starter scope. Alernatively, you could start off with just viewing, and go for a large reflector scope.

[a2lt16v]

The camera option was just a thought really i have a nikon d7000 but hardly ever use it and just thought this could be a good use for it!

Is the GOTO really as good as it sounds or can it be more fun to just find it your self

[Parus major]

Hi. £700 will certainly get you a very good scope, and if you don't go for the GOTO type, you could certainly get a lot more aperture, which means you would see more deep space stuff. However, if you want to get into Astrophotography, then £700 suddenly becomes a small budget (for DSO'S anyway). Maybe it's worth looking at an Apo refractor, and a HEQ5 mount, that way you could do AP, and it would make a good starter scope. Alernatively, you could start off with just viewing, and go for a large reflector scope.

If he looks at a 250Dob then that's eventually manageable on a NEQ6..... Best of both worlds.

[Capricorn]

£700 is a fair amount, you have a range of options open to you.

The 6SE id pretty good, a 6" scope will, with circumstances, allow you to see most things to some extent. The circumstances are the light polution where you use it and the state of the atmosphere.

Yes you are paying for the computer and motors but do you actually expect Meade.Celestron/SW to give them away free:eek:. The engine, gearbox and transmisson are not given free on cars. The advantage is that when set up they locate things for you, which is useful, especially if others are present to look as well.

You can get a manual scope that is bigger and less expensive, these are refered to a dobsonians and are a standard reflector on a simple to produce dobsonian mount. They are at the base level fully manual. You point them at the right place in the sky to see the object.

The dobsonian scope is best considered not for astrophotography. You simply cannot maintain manually the accuracy need to photograph objects.

The 6SE will allow photography but not long exposure. Short exposure using one is useing a web cam on brighter objects = planets mainly. There are only 3 planets to really image so a little restrictive. How many shots of Jupiter do you want.

Astrophotography is performed with an equitorial mount with a set of motors.

So if astrophotography is the way you want to go that is is needed. It is, or can be, an expensive path.

[dmahon]

You'll get differing opinions about GOTO mounts.

In my mind, it certainly adds expense but IT IS WORTH EVERY PENNY. It allows me to take photos of things I can't see (which would otherwise take an awful long time of trial and error).

[Catweazel]

If he looks at a 250Dob then that's eventually manageable on a NEQ6..... Best of both worlds.

Yes, that's certainly an option worth considering

I do think that if you feel that you would prefer a GOTO, they do make things easier, once you work out how to set them up and use them. First scopes are always a difficult decision, so you are not alone

[rory]

U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell

lots of appeture and tracking.

[Black Knight]

U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell

lots of appeture and tracking.

Isn't that a bit of a bargain at that price?

[twotter]

One thing to consider is your expectations of what you are going to see.

We can make out the colours of stars, and different coloured double stars such as Albireo can be really beautiful. Planets also show colour, and you can pick out surface detail on the Moon, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn.

But our eyes aren't sensitive enough to 'see' all the bright colours found in DSO pictures. Most DSOs, or 'faint fuzzies', show as shades of grey, though M42 looks a little green to me.

How you go about finding them is a big debate in itself. Some prefer to find targets themselves and others prefer to use goto systems. The good news is that both trains of thought are correct, it's just a matter of which is right for you.

For visual you could go for the best of both worlds and buy a Skywatcher 200P Flextube Goto...

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P FlexTube GOTO

[twotter]

Isn't that a bit of a bargain at that price?

Not enough of a bargain for Mrs Twotter

[Squagnut]

For that budget - for some reason, £700 is an awkward amount - I'd look at the SW Explorer 200P - EQ5 Goto.

It's probably not an ideal beginner's 'scope, but it's not far over budget and it ticks all the boxes.

[Black Knight]

Not enough of a bargain for Mrs Twotter

Nor for Mrs Black Knight either

[Moonshane]

I'd advise that you try and get a look through a couple of scopes of different apertures before deciding what to do.

it's a simple fact that aperture is what governs the detail you can see on most objects and even with a larger aperture (I have a 16" scope) you'll never see the sort of detail you see in photos except with a very few objects like the Orion Nebula one or two galaxies and most globular clusters.

this is the key issue I think given your own acknowledgement of your need to manage your expectations. GOTO is a good feature but for any given budget, it does eat into the aperture. I think the tracking dobsonians are extremely good (although I track my big dob manually with no issues) especially as finding objects is not that difficult after a short 'baptism' in the hobby. this is especially so if you buy a red dot finder and right angled optical finder to be used in tandem.

[Dunkster]

Don't forget to factor accessories into your budget. I have a 6SE and what I feel are essential for this scope are a dew shield (and possibly heater), a power source (depending on where you observe, this may be a mains cord or a power tank) and a couple of shorter focal length eyepieces. These need not be expensive to get started, but it adds up to a couple of hundred £ for sure.

This will be more or less true whichever scope you choose, unless you pick up a bargain on AB&S where all the bits are included...

There are a lot of possibilities for £700, but the decision to GOTO or not GOTO is a big one, and the best most will agree on is to go to an local astro society meeting and get a feeling for it. You can get a lot of aperture for that money, but if you don't know how or are not confident about finding things, the aperture is largely irrelevant!

[Moonshane]

Don't forget to factor accessories into your budget. I have a 6SE and what I feel are essential for this scope are a dew shield (and possibly heater), a power source (depending on where you observe, this may be a mains cord or a power tank) and a couple of shorter focal length eyepieces. These need not be expensive to get started, but it adds up to a couple of hundred £ for sure.

This will be more or less true whichever scope you choose, unless you pick up a bargain on AB&S where all the bits are included...

There are a lot of possibilities for £700, but the decision to GOTO or not GOTO is a big one, and the best most will agree on is to go to an local astro society meeting and get a feeling for it. You can get a lot of aperture for that money, but if you don't know how or are not confident about finding things, the aperture is largely irrelevant!

I agree re accessories but do be aware that this is the conundrum:

"You can get a lot of aperture for that money, but if you don't know how or are not confident about finding things, the aperture is largely irrelevant!"

BUT without the aperture many objects 'shown' by the GOTO will be irrelevant.

[Dunkster]

Absolutely agree, Moonshane! I was apprehensive when I got my first scope and plumped for the GOTO. Don't regret it for a second, it has shown me much in my light polluted skies.

However, having got a taste I naturally want a bigger scope! Unfortuately, budget and location are somewhat limiting those aspirations

[Moonshane]

whichever scope one gets it's always a compromise one way or t'other.