Advice on new telescope (and books).

[MattieHa]

Hi!

My name is Matt. I am 29 years old, and have only started to develop an interest in astronomy.

I'm new to this forum. Although I am a self-confessed complete novice, I have always been fascinated by the stars, and so, have started a (rapidly growing) collection of books on astronomy. I would really love to buy a telescope. My question is this: I have a budget of up to £800 for a telescope, and a further £200 for additional things (i.e. additional lenses/kits, and so forth). Would this buy a good telescope, and which telescope/additional lenses etc. would you recommend I buy given my budegtary constraints? I desperately need advice as I have absolutely no idea where to invest my money.

Also, what books would you recommend I buy? I already have a collection of about 15 or so books on astronomy but always have room for more.

Thanks.

Matt.

[MattieHa]

Oops! Wrong thread. Apologies.

Matt.

[Ganymede12]

Welcome to SGL!

An admin can move the thread to another forum. You just have to ask.

As for books, I would recommend Turn Left at Orion, the Phillips astronomy books and buying Magazines like Sky at Night.

I started off with a Sky-Watcher Mercury707 which is a very cheap but very good scope. I have read that the Sky-Watcher Heritage 130p is also a very good telescope but I don't have one myself. A dobsonian such as the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 200P is very cheap for it's size.

[sologuitarist61]

Hello Matt. With that budget you should be able to get a really good scope, but you could do even better by looking at second-hand (Astro Buy&sell would be your best bet until you have more posts and can use the classifieds here on SGL). Good luck on whatever you finally decide.

[Ganymede12]

I suggest a Sky-Watcher Flex-Tube dobsonian! A large aperture that will fit in a car!

[Capricorn]

Any particular part of Hertfordshire?

There are a few astro clubs acattered round and a vist to one may be advisable.

From the basic information in the post I would guess that you may have a general idea of what you want.

Ask this a the sum is not insubstantial and immaterial of the suggestions from here it is ultimately your money that is being spent and you that will be using it.

[MattieHa]

Thanks for all the advice so far.

"Any particular part of Hertfordshire?"

Bishops Stortford.

"From the basic information in the post I would guess that you may have a general idea of what you want."

Afraid not. I don't really know much/anything about telescopes, so any further suggestions/advice will be much appreciated. I could definitely stretch to the top end of my budget.

Matt.

[nightfisher]

Matt, welcome to sgl, one of the first questions for a new scope is budget, but that is dealt with already, next question is, what would you prefer to look at in the night sky i.e lunar/planets or deep sky smudges----galaxies and nebula

[MattieHa]

Planets/the moon.

Matt.

[Capricorn]

So you are in the barren area of Bishops Stortford, there isn't a club there and it a fair trip to a club no matter which direction.

Hertford AS meet somewhere around the QE2 Hospital in WGC, Wednesday nights I think. A120 then down A10.

Letchworth meet sometime but have observing night once a month on a Friday or Saturday, LDAS.org.uk I think. A120 up A10 then A507.

Cambridge: Possibly a good time to look. There is just starting weekly talks at the IoA, Wednesday nights and afterwards the scopes are set up to do presentations on screens. Scopes are in the 8/14" range and all goto's but it is something to see and ask about. M11 to the A1303 then in to Camb, on the Left about 1/2 mile from the M11 Jn.

You must be the 3rd or 4th person for Bishops Stortford in the last year.

Suggest you put a post up in say The Astro Louge titled Bishops Stortford Astronomers.

The others may read and you could make contact.

Could be rash enough to meet up even start a club.

[nightfisher]

for planets and lunar i would suggest a maksutov on an eq5 mount, the 127mm is very good, and the 150mm is even better, the 150 is also fair on smudges (deep sky)

[sunshine185]

£800, that's a serious amount of money and will get you a super scope. My suggestion would be a 10" dob, either solid tube or flex tube, look for a second hand one it will save a fair some of money. You could get a solid 10" skyliner for between £250 and £350 second hand, for the price this is a phenomenal scope, this will leave you plenty of money left for some upgrades/eyepieces. Once you decide to stray away from the moon and planets, this scope will also give some incredible views of dso's.

[Ganymede12]

Agree with a 10" dob!

[Russe]

The book to buy is "The backyard astronomer's guide" by Terence Dickinson.

I learnt a lot I never knew about astronomy. Made a lot of notes when reading the "which scope" section, went out and bought a completely different one...

Now my brother got interested. I bought him this book and he studied it back to front. Chose as well a scope from there, went to see it, but couldn't buy it due to monetary constraints. So I bought him a skywatcher Heritage 130p.

My piece of advice: don't look for the perfect scope. It doesn't exist. But avoid the ones which are rubbish (not many out there if you stick to the main brands) - if you think you want to buy one, ask out here and someone will give you an idea.

2nd: be portable - if you buy a massive scope first, you will never go outside. Thus, go 2nd hand and see if it is for you.

3rd: Scopes with long focal lengths show you great images of the planets, but they aren't great to see or click DSO's. Scopes with big apertures show you more, but are more difficult to carry around.

4th: don't expect to have only one scope for the rest of your live!

5th: a lot depends on the mount. Cheap windy Alt/Az mounts wont give you much joy in the long run. EQ mounts are difficult to get into at first but that maybe the way to go.

6th: don't listen only to me

Cheers and have fun reading. Try to find someone close to you to show you their scope!!

[CSM]

If light pollution is a problem, and from my experience of Hertfordshire that is likely to be the case, then a GOTO telescope could be a good start, otherwise you may not be able to find anything. Try http://gardenastronomy.moonfruit.com/

[MattieHa]

I've noticed this one....http://www.celestron.uk.com/productinfo.php/telescopes/nexstar_se/nexstar_6_se/3084. It's a GOTO, so deals with the poor light pollution problem in Hertfordshire better. I've seen it on a website for £758 instead of £949.00. Is it any good/any thoughts?

[onesmallstep]

Hi and welcome to SGL

Further to posts regarding Herts-based astronomy clubs I've included links to club websites. As you can see from my sig I belong to all three so send me a private message if you want to know more.

http://ldas.org.uk/

http://hertsastro.org.uk/

http://stargazerslounge.com/forum/120-herts-beds-bucks-group/

HTH!