Words of wisdom - a growing collection of experiences

[90mm]

Got a small telescope? Learn what you can see with it at 90 Millimeter Observatory.

[90mm]

Ever need a detailed Moon atlas? Check out The Full Moon Atlas.

[Russe]

A great site with information about astrophotography is Ken Crawford's http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/

[Russe]

Here's a nice guide on how to buy a suitable DSLR for AP:

http://www.astropix.com/wp/2009/09/04/picking-a-good-dslr-for-astrophotography/

[Russe]

More on choosing the right camera for your start in AP

http://www.astropix.com/HTML/I_ASTROP/CAMERAS.HTM

[Russe]

even a smaller telescope will show you the planets, and I have seen saturn's rings through a 20€/17£ telescope.

But as said previously, for more beautiful views of "deep sky" objects aperture is key.

So you can either get a motorized, small maksutov or refractor with GoTo for about £300, even lower if you settle for a not-so-good telescope (Katadiopter, or small aperture).

A 127 maksutov or 130/650 newtonian reflector telescope is a great start and will show some deepsky.

As smaller choices go, a 102/500 refractor will be compact but not good at high magnifications (so not ideal for planets).

As there is no perfect telescope, there's a compromise to be made somewhere :-)

But please don't let Goto and the collimation/adjusting of newton type telescopes fool you.

The GoTo is a nice thing, but planets can be found very Easily, as they are among the brightest objects in the sky. And even fainter deep sky objects can be found by using (free) maps.

Tracking by hand is easy, even at higher magnifications, and collimation is a matter of a minute or two after you've done it once or twice with a manual.

The rule of thumb is, that a telescope with an aperture of 70mm could magnify around 140x, and as you have great conditions there you should be able to use 200-260x quite often. More is often limited by athmospheric turbulances.

So lots of ranting, little suggestions.

If you are into deepsky (galaxies, nebula) as well, get a 200/1200 dobsonian (282gbp), and two to three eyepieces (66 degree UWA for around 27gpp each).

If you are looking for a compact, budget solution, get a 102-127mm mak (150-220gbp on a tripod or ) or short-ish 102mm refractor, or a 130/650 newtonian (325gbp on goto mount or 120-130gbp on dobsonian rockerbox), as they are light/short and cheap mounts can usualy carry them well.

I have seen a current deal, 70/900 on a goto mount, for just 145gbp.

But the mount alone costs the most, these type of telescopes alone can be bought for as low as 20-40gbp. They will show you a nice, tiny saturn and jupiter though, but nothing earth shattering.

Again, aperture is key, even with planets, I would not go for aperture under 100mm anymore unless weight or price is the main criteria.

Here an example for deep-sky.

http://clarkvision.com/visastro/m51-apert/

and

http://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.binoviewer.at%2Fbeobachtungspraxis%2Fteleskopvergleich_deepsky.htm&act=url (automated translation)

keep in mind these drawings where done by a experienced observer and after looking at the galaxy with different magnifications. But I find it does resemble the overall visual experience you get after you are done observing and pack up your telescope...

Even though a goto mount can point at 14.000 objects or more, it does not mean you're going to see much, perhaps a faint smudge in the sky, perhaps nothing at all ;-)

As for planets, excuse my crude sketches, but it will look like this at 140x through a smaller, cheap 70mm telescope

http://ringohr.de/tmp5/2013-05-04_Saturn-h76p_contrast.jpg

while in a 130mm telescope you will start to see more details

http://www.ringohr.de/tmp5/saturn_small_130p_260x.jpg

But of course 70mm is not 70mm. There's the "toy" 70/900 refractor sold many times, and it's decent, but a great 70mm refractor can cost much much more.

Also don't let color images fool you, as especially in small telescopes, the objects will more likely look like these frames at the top of the article

http://www.astr.ua.edu/keel/telescopes/nashville.html

And keep in mind the planet will be small at max. magnification, or if you go above max.mag. you will loose image contrast and it get's darker.

https://www.astronomics.com/how-big-will-saturn-look-through-my-telescope_t.aspx

[CSM]

For really accurate centering of a star and GOTO accuracy use something like a 10 or 12.5 mm reticule eyepiece.

[Russe]

Scot Rosen's guide to DSLR post processing is invaluable: http://www.astronomersdoitinthedark.com/dslr_llrgb_tutorial.php#Introduction

[Russe]

And another great guide to AP by Lodestar:

http://www.astropix.com/GADC/ORDER.HTM

[Russe]

Another good collection of video tutorials from Digital Imaging:

http://www.mlunsold.com/ILProcessing.html

[Russe]

And another great guide to AP by Lodestar:

http://www.astropix.com/GADC/ORDER.HTM

Lodriguss I meant to say