New Telescope advice.

[Johnny Thunder]

Evening everyone.

I am looking for a new telescope for my eight year old daughter (and me too if I am honest )

She has shown a lot of interest in the Stars and Planets for quite a while now, so I will be looking

for a scope that will see a lot further than the moon.

I have been showing her the pictures that members on here have been posting and she wants to see

the rings around Saturn.

I have absolutely no idea how powerful a scope needs to be, for viewing the distant planets and star

constellations(if that is the correct name).

If the experts could explain what sort of size and magnification I should be looking at, and also what

price range I will have to start at for this type of scope.

I am unsure about refractors and reflectors, but I think that a refractor is the 'normal' type of scope.

Is that correct?

If this is so, then I would prefer a reflector, unless you convince me otherwise.

One thing I would like to try with the new scope, is a little bit of photography using a dslr.

Hope you can point me in the right direction.

Thank you.

John.

[barkis]

Did you manage to take the other scope back to Toys R Us Johnny.?

Ron.

[Johnny Thunder]

It will be going back this week Ron.

[radioactive]

I think that how much are you prepaired to spend be given some thought and thus we could all think a little more

I personally would well opt at looking at used equipment you are getting a good chance very good scope and mount perhaps in the bundle for maybe a third of the new price or better its up to you

hope this makes good sense to you

[Johnny Thunder]

Would a budget of £200-£300 achieve what I am after, or would I have to spend more?

John.

[Keagle]

Would a budget of £200-£300 achieve what I am after, or would I have to spend more?

John.

For viewing, that budget I think would suffice. For Astrophotography...no. You might consider a Dob - these are perfect for viewing.

[radioactive]

yes I think a dob would be a good choice as we are talking for both yourself and you young daughter also I think its an ideal choice first scope for you both

[Johnny Thunder]

What is a Dob? Is that a manufacturer?

[Dangermouse]

Take a look herehttp://www.firstlightoptics.com/categories.php?cat=23

[Johnny Thunder]

Thank you for all the advice so far.

Am I restricting my selection by insisting on the photography?

Would you recommend that I just concentrate on the viewing side of things first?

If so, what other telescopes should I consider?

John.

[iancandler]

Second hand 10" dobsonian here

http://forum.skyatnightmagazine.com/tm.asp?m=55556

If you want to do photography as well then there is a william optics ZS80 on astro buy sell going for £215

[barkis]

Johnny, the astrophotography bit will could add quite a bit to the required figure. It might be wise to concentrate on the observing aspect as a starter. If you were to buy a 62 F5 Dobsonian for example, both you and your daughter can enjoy some wonderful sights for a long time.

If the desire remains, and at best increases, then you can prepare to upgrade. You can do some astrophotography using the Dob, especially if you own a DSLR camera. The moon is a good target for that setup, because the exposure times are quite short for such a bright object.

You would also be able to image Jupiter and it's Gallilean moons. at least you will see the planet as a very bright star with the four moons placed around the planet. Subsequent images over a few days will show how the moons have changed position as the orbit Jupiter.

If your daughter was to take pictures likethat to her school and show the teachers and her schoolfriends, she will become a bit of a celebrity.

It may create interest for others to consider astronomy, after all this is the reason this forum exists. Astronomy is not only lookig at stars and planets, it ecompasses a whole range of sciences.

Sorry for rabbiting on a bit.

Ron.

[Johnny Thunder]

Thank you for all the replies so far.

What is a 62 f5?

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Its a typo, should be 6" f/5.

Astrophotography is massively more complex ( and therefore expensive) as the 'scope has to point exactly at the smae spot in the sky for some time. As the stars track across the sky during the night, the 'scope has to be driven in order to keep up. This involves much more "stuff" than visual use as you can just look through the 'scope and move it by hand.

WRT telescope size, I've seen the rings of Saturn through a tiny £40 'scope from Jessops, just.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[Johnny Thunder]

Thank you for your reply KK.

I have been doing some reading about astrophotography on this site and I think it is probably best

to leave alone that side of things for now.

I am really tempted by the Skyliner 250PX but my boss will take some convincing on the price.

Would the 200P be a good choice if I cannot stretch that far?

John.

[radioactive]

John looks like you have a lot of house chores to do for some time mate,

don't forget to keep telling the boss how lovely she looks

and lets see how things pan out on the new scope front

[Dangermouse]

I have the 200P and am still quite new at all this but the scope is great.

[dweller25]

Hello John,

The Skyliner 200P is an excellent first choice telescope, quick and easy to set up (5 mins max) but with more than enough power to do some very good astronomy.

This scope is no toy and you will get some great views of comets, galaxies, globular clusters, nebula, planets and the Moon with it.

I had a 6 inch dobsonian for nearly 20 years and it was great.

All you need to get going is a good book such as "Turn Left At Orion" and a Phillips Planisphere that will tell you for any time/date combination what is up in the night sky or if you have a PC you can download "Stellarium" for free - just Google it.

Just remember to remind your daughter to never look at the Sun through a telescope or binoculars.

Best of luck.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

The 200mm (most of us have one, or have had one) f/5 is a lovely 'scope. The Skyliner Dob. version should be excellent.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[Johnny Thunder]

Hi everyone. I have another question.

What are the advantages/disadvantages of the Dobsonian over the Newtonian?

These two types look the same to me, just with different mounts.

Thank you.

John.

[daz]

Correct. Actually, dobsonian refers to the mounting, not the telescope.

With the dob mounting, set up is fast - plonk it down on a level surface and that it's it!

Cheap, easy to use, fast to set up.

Downside is that you'll need to constantly adjust the scope to keep an object in view.

The other way of mounting newtonians is on an equatorial mount. More expensive and more complicated, but (once set and aligned) keeps the object in view.

Right now, I would go with the dobsonian mount - you can always buy an EQ mount later and put the scope onto it.

HTH

[Johnny Thunder]

Thanks for that Daz.

[jgs001]

Sorry to jump in and ask a question here, but does this mean that the OTA on the DOB mount is the same (except for the colour) as the OTA on the Skywatcher EQ mounts ? That to convert the Dob mounted OTA to EQ, you just need the tuberings and dovetail (and the mount of course) ?

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Sorry to jump in and ask a question here, but does this mean that the OTA on the DOB mount is the same (except for the colour) as the OTA on the Skywatcher EQ mounts ? That to convert the Dob mounted OTA to EQ, you just need the tuberings and dovetail (and the mount of course) ?

Yes.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[jgs001]

KK, Thanks for confirming that.