Some advice for a newbie please?

[harryajh]

As a complete newbie to Astronomy I'm looking for some recommendations as what 1st telescope I should buy.

I've got a rough list of requirements below which I hope makes sense.

So, my main interest is in Planets (for now) and think I need high magnification (I say "think" coz I've read that this is the usual beginners mistake, not sure if this is true though? - as long as it's easy to increase reasonably cheaply then fine, apparently you use a "Barlow" lens to do this?)

I'd like something reasonably portable as I live on the outskirts of Bristol and may have to take a trip out to see much due to light pollution. Another possible option is to take over to Spain with me occasionally - not really sure how feasible this would be though so not top priority.

Also one that I can just get to automatically point and track objects would be great.

My budget is about £300-£400 - I could possibly go up to £500 as although I'm pretty Green, like a lot of people I've spoken to who are as facinated as me but don't actually do anything about it, I'm really hoping my enthusiam grows and would like to go deeper in to the "darkness". So, if there's a good one maybe around £500, I would def consider going for it.

I've been looking at the 90mm ETX Maksutov which seems to tick most of the boxes would would really be interested to hear what experienced star gazes think - can I add extra mag if required etc...?

thanks in advance

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Harry, if your looking for a planetary scope - then a Mak is the way to go, Skywatcher and Celestron do roughly the same scope but a little bigger - 127mm, at the size your probably going to manage budget wise but going any larger in aperture really becomes expensive for Maks - but really good planetary scopes non the less.

I have a Celestron 127 Mak (SLT) and think, for their size, they are really good scopes - I used to own a 12" Dobsonian and the little Mak SLT really performed well on the moon and planets, don't get me wrong - aperture always wins, but for size and portability and ease of set up these small Maks are very good - been out observing the past few nights and have picked up Comet Garradd in the small Mak. I have quite a light polluted sky where I live so any Galaxy or Nebulae below mag 9.5 - 10.00 is out of the question - so the brighter Messier objects for me, tends to be a little "grainy" at higher powers but for low/medium power (x100 - x150) its fine and a nice low power ep works well with a UHC filter to increase contrast. Cheers Paul.

[E621Keith]

A 127 mak will be good for planets. You should look for one in the used market as they are very common. If you want a new one then you need to be quick as they seems to be out of stock everywhere.

[Doug]

Hi Harry

IMO if you live in a light polluted area and most of you observing will be in your back garden and of course you have somewhere to store it I would go for a skywatcher

dobsonian 200P easy and fun to use and with in you budget leaving you enough to bay a few bit and pieces collamater and a good eyepiece you may like a scope with a Autostar set up that will find the planets ect for you

good luck and clear skies

[Scott]

hi harry and welcome to sgl. i'm very new to astronomy myself and wonder why it took me sooo long. when you talk about magnification you need to know that its the eyepiece (combined with the length of your scope) that gives you the magnification however your max usable magnification is dictated by your aperture (as a rough guide 2 or 2.5 times your aperture). this means for a 90mm aperture you are looking at about 200x. the size of your aperture dictates how much light you can "catch" which means how dim a star you will see. when viewing planets this is not a problem because they are so bright anyway. i think if our solar system is where your interests lie then a smallish (4") refractor could be the way forward but remember, there's a lot more out there to see. i hope this hasn't been confusing and you find it helpful. if i'm wrong then someone please correct me.

scott

[harryajh]

thanks chaps, just caught up with the replies, a lot to digest which is good!

Just took out a sub to "Astronomy Now" which should help as well.

[Tribal-Wolf]

If the 130P Synscan is anything like the 1145P Synscan but a tad bigger it would be a half decent scope for what you need and you would have some dosh left for the 'extras' you will inevitably want too. Collimation is the only drawback with it being a reflector though. Just a change from a MAK.

[harryajh]

well chaps, found this SkyWatcher Skymax 127 SupaTrak AUTO 127mm Maksutov Cassegrain Telescope

sounds pretty damm good to me, could go for Light Pollution Filter & Mains Power Supply & even Flashlight (although not sure I need this?) as well

so will this bad boy do the business?

and then found what looks like an identical one here for £30 less http://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-127-supatrak.html

[Tribal-Wolf]

It is the same scope but FLO, who are this site's sponsor, are quite a bit cheaper than most places and are a helpful lot should you require any assistance.

The supatrak is not a goto scope though so you will have to find the object yourself, it can however be upgraded later with a handset.

[harryajh]

thanks TW but now I'm confused, the review at the bottom of this page First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skymax 127 SupaTrak

says "The mount itself has a GOTO hand controller which after a brief setup will allow you to slew to a variety of targets in the sky although the common ones are easily learnt by a beginner." isn't that a "goto scope" then?

[onesmallstep]

Hi and welcome to SGL

The 127 Supatrak will track the objects once in the eyepiece field of view but you have to find the objects in the first place, the Goto system actually locates the objects once a basic alignment procedure has been completed.

Celestron do an equivalent range of scopes under the Nexstar SLT and SE ranges and the 4SE / 5SE would suit your observing requirements. For planetary viewing consider a long-focus refractor around the 3-4 inch aperture.

HTH!

[harryajh]

thanks oss, off for some googling for Celestron now - what a minefield!