Celstron AstroMaster 114 EQ or NexStar 4SE

[AzSky]

A couple questions on the 2. I really want to see the Orion Nebula. I would like to see other galaxies as well. Is the 114 powerful enough (with the right lenses) to get a good glimpse of these? If not, there I would much rather for up the extra money for the 4se.

Also, I like the idea of the manual controls of the 114EQ to me, that makes the experience more fulfilling. Am I right or wrong? I am just starting to get into this, I was given a 565x60mm Bushnell and fell in love with astronomy. I have been doing a lot of reserserch since.

I found them both on craigslist for a steal, and need to make up my mind before they're gone. 114EQ with 2 Meade optic sets for $100 (+1hr drive) or the 4SE with 1 set of optics for $300 (Its at a furniture store, they refered to it as a "Super-Awesome Telescope" in the add. I believe I can knock them down to $200-$250).

Let me know your advice!

p.s. If the 4SE if your advice, should I get the 114eq still, just for the low cost of the 2 sets of optics. I know each set cost $100 just by them selves.

(Taken with the 60mm & Iphone. Edited in Photoshop)

[rowan46]

welcome to sgl. Both scopes are quite small is there a reason you need that? the biggest that you can handle comfortably in the places you are most likely to use it is the first rule of visual astronomy. If you have a disability or a problem getting a larger scope to the site you intend to use it from. Then small may be the way to go. As you have a car however I would suggest a larger scope up to an 8" dobsonion is quite manageable in the back of a car and this will give you much better views. Reading between the lines the top end of your limit appears to be about 350 dollars you are best looking for the largest scope and mount you can get with that money

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/Dobsonian-Telescopes/Classic-Dobsonians/Orion-SkyQuest-XT45-Classic-Dobsonian-Telescope/pc/1/c/12/sc/13/p/102009.uts?refineByCategoryId=13

something like this second user might be within budget

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-Telescope-Newtonian-Reflector-31057/dp/B000NMOIP8

And if you could stretch the budget

http://www.opticsplanet.com/sky-watcher-8in-dobsonian-telescope-s11700.html

[rowan46]

sorry in my desire to be helpful I forgot answer your question. neither scope is a scope for life both are starter scopes. the nexstar is the better scope but I would get the 114 over the nexstar. here is my rationale for that. Price. essentially both scopes would be a stop gap until I could afford something better. The cheaper scope takes me further along the way to that. However if portability is a must for you if this scope is the biggest you can manage for whatever reason then get the nexstar. its smaller easier and slightly better optics (although the larger apparture of the 114 will mitigate that slightly)

[AzSky]

sorry in my desire to be helpful I forgot answer your question. neither scope is a scope for life both are starter scopes. the nexstar is the better scope but I would get the 114 over the nexstar. here is my rationale for that. Price. essentially both scopes would be a stop gap until I could afford something better. The cheaper scope takes me further along the way to that. However if portability is a must for you if this scope is the biggest you can manage for whatever reason then get the nexstar. its smaller easier and slightly better optics (although the larger apparture of the 114 will mitigate that slightly)

Thank you for your reply. I am not really concerned about the price right now. I am fine spending on both, as a matter a fact, I called the store with the 4se and we are going to be trading my graphic design services for it. So basically, It will be free. I just want the best telescope (for right now) for seeing a decent picture of Saturn, Jupiter, and the Orion Nebula. Will I have better results with the 114eq? Is the 4se much more expensive because of the computerized mount?

[jonathan]

If I were you I would get both, as you're effectively getting one for free anyway. The 114EQ will give you the manual control and experience of an EQ mount, the CG-2 will not be a bad mount (it has to be better than EQ1 or EQ2! Good looking tripod legs) and the reflecting telescope will give you experience of that type too. The 4SE will give you experience of goto and an SCT telescope. The 4SE will probably have a slightly narrower field of view so you will be able to get a better look at things such as the orion nebula and planets with it. In either scope the Orion nebula will be a distinct grey shape, the longer you observe it at a medium power eyepiece such as 25mm, the more detail and shape you should see; 10mm or so eyepiece should allow you to see some of the stars inside it but don't expect to be able to make out the trapezium at this size of scope (you may just see it if conditions are good).

[rowan46]

A lot of the price of the 4se is the mount and its quite a nice one fairly accurate goto's and once you have mastered the learning curve for goto's quite simple to use. neither scope is going to blow you away with its views but certainly both will show jupiter and its moons, saturn and its rings, the great orion nebula and a couple of other large bright messiers and both will be great on the moon. If you want to see further or want better definition you definitely need bigger. The mount on the 114 is not great. Over here its called the eq2 and its fairly notorious for wobbly views and inaccurate tracking it will however do the job after a fashion and with a bit of tweaking and tuning can be improved slightly

[jonathan]

The mount on the 114 is not great. Over here its called the eq2 and its fairly notorious for wobbly views and inaccurate tracking it will however do the job after a fashion and with a bit of tweaking and tuning can be improved slightly

That's not the same EQ2 that comes with Skywatcher telescopes though, it is like the CG-4's smaller brother which is very good in my opinion. It has substantial tubular steel legs and I reckon should be considerably better than 'our' EQ2 which has rather flimsy aluminium square section legs with plastic braces.

[hoops86]

Go with the 4se! im a total beginner but moving from a manual scope to a goto changed astronomy for me! Manual scopes are good for people who know what they are doing and where to look for things. However if your like me and dont have a clue how to find anything except the moon and a couple of planets goto scopes are ideal

If you get the 4se invest in a couple of decent eyepieces and a barlow! you wont regret it.

[Schorhr]

Aperture is key, and there are significant steps that will Show much more Details... In my 4", only brighter deepsky objects are visible and lack of Details (no Galaxy structures, no Single Stars in dense Star Clusters).

When I got the 5.1" Heritage 130p, I was amazed how much more it Shows.. But as it has 60-70% more light gathering surface, and hiigher Resolution, it's not surprising. Still, 5" will just scrape on the surface of something fantastric. With a 6 or better 8" dobsonian, you will have a Live Time telescope that will Show so much more.

I considered goto at the beginning too, but now I'm Happy I went for a larger telescope. Most objects are so easy to find with a red dot foinder or telrad/Rigel quickfinder, especially the easy + well known ones I Don't even have to look up on Star Charts anymore. I Think the overwhelming experience of finding and seeing some new Galaxy or nebula just burns their location into the Memory ;-)

Orion, Andromeda, Ring nebular, hercules star cluster, dumbbell nebula, Pinwheel galaxy, m81/m82... Sure, those are quite visible in smaller telescopes too, but not as spectacular.

check out a visual comparison of m51, though I've seen more on 5" under great conditions and indirect observing then the 6" image, though this get's pretty close.

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

On 4", the galaxies show no details under the conditions here at the edge of town, sometimes the second core isn't even visible but that's due to light polution of the city.

I'm not saying a 4" telescope is bad, not at all. Just if your main interest is deepsky, a larger aperture will be much more satisfying then the 10 seconds you save by not searching the object on a map.

Also a 5" or even 6" with moderate focal length can still be mounted on a mid-range eq or goto mount later (while a 200/1200 would require a very pricy mount).

Also you can strap a end of line, 30-50€ android phone onto the telescope and use it as a push-to guide using skyeye, astro tools or similar free software, that shows you an arrow of where to move the telescope to.

[rowan46]

I wish to correct a mistake I erroneously posted that the cg2 was the same as the eq2 it is in fact the same as the eq1 which is even smaller. I imagine that a 114 will be just about all right for it but the nexstar mount in comparison is a different league. i do think though if you could stretch to a bigger scope you would find it a more worthwhile buy