first telescope purchase

[the1mccloud]

hi everyone,

im looking for my first telescope. ive done some research on brands and have decided on orion. im in the miltary so i travel a lot so i based my seach off portability. i started my search on amazon and found Orion Observer 70mm Equatorial Refractor Telescope. its not necessarily small but its light enough to carry with out worry. then i checked out the official orion site and found Orion GoScope 80mm TableTop Refractor Telescope. this one is much smaller and for the same price. im mainly intrested in bright object observing. but im not quite sure which of these is best suited for it. any advice would be appreciated. thank you

wishing you clear skies,

kyle

[scoobee]

to be honest I would consider some Astronomy Binoculars, if you go over 10x50 you will need either a monpod/tripod unless you have arms like Popeye

[the1mccloud]

i was also considering that. but the telescope is most likely gonna be my christmas present from my mom. so i thot it might be a good idea to have both. that way i can search the sky easier with binos and then after finding something i can use the telescope to see in better detail. im thinking 10x50 would be great for what i want to do and im leaning towards orion again. if any other suggestions id love to hear them.

[brantuk]

"i thot it might be a good idea to have both"

This is a great idea and I frequently have a good look with the wide field of a pair of binocs before honing a scope in on an interesting target - or I plan a star hop using bins first to get the best route to an object. Very useful to have both. Welcome to SGL Kyle

[the1mccloud]

Thats anothering i need to do is study up on using star maps and finding stars. I have a few guide to astronomy books but am always looking for more info. Any suggestions?

[brantuk]

First thing I'd suggest is to download "Stellarium" - it's free planetarium software whiich will show you the sky at your location in real time. The other thing I did when I started was to read the monthly publications like Astronomy Now and Sky at Night. They have a center page chart of the current sky and a list of best targets and events complete with description and finding instructions. I think you have Sky and Telescope in the US amongst others. No idea what's available in Japan.

A couple of good books with star hopping and descriptive info - Turn Left at Orion, Backyard Astronomers Guide, Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders. All available on Amazon. That's just a small selection of stuff to get you going - oh - and you can control computerised scopes from Stellarium at the click of a mouse button. Another good one is Cartes du Ciel that does the same. Hth

[Mr Q]

The below links will get you well under way in star hopping with a 4 part course: