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Cheekyman

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Cheekyman

Cheekyman

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Hi People.... Just a few words from a guy who's been an astronomy and science fiction nut since little....

BUT? Hasn't done a thing about astronomy at all!!

Until now that is.....

I'm retired but have used a computer since they were made!!

My passion for astronomy has been rekindled through passing an Observatory near my home town and

my son said "About time we went their as you promised umpteen years ago!" He's now 25!!

Anyhow we are making plans to visit that place soon and I'm looking for a scope.

This is where you come in and advise me on what I need..... If you be so kind!

Cheers.....

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. In order to assist you, a good starting point will be for you to advise us of a working budget and in particular, what you would like to use a scope for. Are you primarily interested in the solar system (moon, planets) or deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae or even astrophotography? The reason for asking is that different scopes are designed to work in slightly different ways (with some overlap) which results in different optimum performances and goes some way to explaining why many astronomers own more than one scope. In general the dobsonian type scope represents the best value for money when considering aperture, but there are other considerations such as tracking, goto, portability (if you need to visit a dark site) storage, set up and cool down times, collimation (tuning the scope) and general ease of use - to name a few:D:D

Lets use the above as a starting point and await your response for further suggestions. Clear skies forn now.

James

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LukeSuppalot

LukeSuppalot

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Hi and welcome to SGL.

Choosing the right scope can be quite difficult and depends on lots of different things that are relevant to you. ( Budget, what you want to see, where you're observing from, do you want to photograph using the scope etc etc).

There is a good link in the beginners Help and Advice section called Essential reading for those who are thinking about getting into astronomy. Certainly worth a read.

Luke.

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Cheekyman

Cheekyman

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Thanks Guys....

In answer to your questions errr? Well!

My budjet is around £200 - £300

I have a Canon Camera I'd like to use

Obviously want to see the planets and as much as poss

Don't understand Star Charts etc...

Been looking at the tracking ones (Love gadgets) as I use

my computer daily..... Anything to make it easier for me!!

Cheers

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JamesM

JamesM

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Well, on the computer side of things, you might want to start your astronomical journey by downloading a free piece of planetarium software called Stellarium which you view here. Lots of great features to help you find and identify what you are looking at. Has a date/time advance feature which is useful when planning your observation session.

Now with regrards to your budget (which I will now happily spend for you:D) I can recommend the U.K.'s most popular scope, the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P. It is popular because its aperture of 200mm (8") is great for revealing detail and structure on lots of deep sky objects as well as on planets. Being a dobsonian design, most of the money has gone into providing a good size parabolic mirror (that's the 'P' bit) which enables the scopes tube length to be kept to manageable levels for storage and transporting around to dark sites. It doesn't have any tracking or any goto facility so finding your objects will be down to you via Stellarium above and other good star maps. The dobsonian mount is an alt-azimuth type which is intuitive to use and simple to use and set up and affords the smallest footprint for storage compared to an equatorially mounted scope. In short it a well made solid performer. hope that helps.

Clear skies

James

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Cheekyman

Cheekyman

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Well I'm well and truly blown away by the *WELCOME*

I have never in all my life had so many friends say "Hello" all in one go ha ha

The next question is? "WHERE'S THE DRINKS BAR?"

See you all next door........

Frank :D

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