Ultra-portable kit list - Will this work?? Advice needed please!

[Simonator]

Can I ask a very basic question, which is 'what do you want to see?'

Fair question.

I'm about to study a 'geology of the solar system' module, so our solar system will be a good start.

... If I can make out Andromeda and the Orion Nebula (even as a fuzzy blur), that would be great.

I'm going to be travelling from place to place, so my option is simply a VERY small scope, or no scope at all!

That ST80 looks nice, but it's significantly bigger, has only half the focal length, and costs quite a bit more than the C70. What are the advantages with this scope, over the C70?

[happy-kat]

On my list of to dos is to either sort out a red dot finder for the c70, or consider trying the startravel 80mm because of it's wider FOV and perhaps less precise eye placement, but as the latter is untested it is a subjective thought.

[Simonator]

Thanks for the continuing input from all of you... VERY useful things to consider!

[GeorgeB]

I would rather travel with a decent pair of binoculars than a small scope any day; my 10x50's have been around the world with me.  You will see more and use them more.  The most useful small scope would be a 70/80 mm wide-field refractor - but you'll see just as much with a decent pair of bins and have a lot less hassle carrying them.  A scope that is good enough for planetary obs (cloud details on Jupiter, Cassini Division on Saturn, Surface features on Mars) will be too much hassle to back-pack with IMHO.

[hoops86]

Based on what your studying.... i would be willing to bet that you are really going to like astronomy! So that being the case i would be tempted to say...dont go out and spend £185 on a brand new starter scope + eyepieces. Because very soon the time will come when you NEED something better

I would say save up just a little bit more like £300 and you could get a very nice small APO refractor plus an eyepiece or 2 on the used market. Very portable and something that will not be replaced for a while and would give you far better views than the starter scopes. 

[Stu]

Fair question.

I'm about to study a 'geology of the solar system' module, so our solar system will be a good start.

... If I can make out Andromeda and the Orion Nebula (even as a fuzzy blur), that would be great.

I'm going to be travelling from place to place, so my option is simply a VERY small scope, or no scope at all!

That ST80 looks nice, but it's significantly bigger, has only half the focal length, and costs quite a bit more than the C70. What are the advantages with this scope, over the C70?

One thing which may help you is to try and get your head around the different sizes of things. You mention a long focal length always as if it were a positive thing, and the truth is sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't!

It matters because it influences the magnification you can get from the scope, and also the field of view. The other inputs generally being the focal length and apparent field of view of the eyepiece you are using.

Planets are small!! Well certainly when viewed from earth. Their apparent sizes are measured in arc seconds, Jupiter being roughly 45 arc seconds at the moment. To see much detail you need magnification and resolution, so the focal length helps here, but the small size and central obstruction of the scope will limit you in what you can see.

Andromeda is about as far the other way as you can get in terms of apparent size, at its full extent it is about 3 degrees by 1 degree so it needs a dark sky and a wide field of view to see it, so a shorter focal length scope, with longer focal length and wider apparent field of view eyepieces will help here.

Other objects fall between these two, open clusters of stars can be large or small, things like M45 being large, whilst other clusters, and globular clusters are smaller and need higher magnification.

Actually, at 750mm the focal length of the mak is not too long, and with say a 32mm Plossl you would get around a 1.5 degree fov which is good for many objects.

My main concern to be honest is the quality of the optics and that it will give you limited satisfaction. The other guys have already pointed out the fact that the central obstruction will limit the resolution. It also has a built in erecting prism, which given the price, won't be of high quality. Generally astro scopes use a mirror diagonal which gives better quality images. I think I mentioned that I have the 65mm version of this scope which is basically the same but won't take optional eyepieces so is limited by the quality (or otherwise) of the built in zoom. It is ok on the moon but very limited even on Jupiter.

To answer the question about the ST80, it has a larger aperture, shorter focal length and is an achro scope. It will show chromatic aberration on planets and at higher magnifications but it has unobstructed optics and will use a mirror diagonal. It will give nice views of widefield objects such as the Andromeda Galaxy, M42, M45 and plenty of others. It will show you Jupiter and Saturn reasonably well but won't cope with very high mags due to the CA but I believe it would be better than the mak because of the bigger aperture and better resolution. One of the options for you would be a small apo refractor as Naemeth says but I appreciate this is out of your budget.

I am just encouraging you not to get sucked in to the marketing messages which are put around things like the C70. It is what it is, it has certain merits but it is limited and you can't beat the physical restraints and design limitations. The advantage of the ST80 is that it is a simpler design and less compromised.

Not sure if my ramblings are of any assistance!! See what others have to say, and buy from somewhere with a good returns policy so you can change your mind if you try it out and aren't satisfied. Bear in mind that astro use is far more demanding than daytime viewing so something that looks good on terrestrial targets can still be disappointing on astro targets.

Cheers, and good luck!!

Stu

[nicks90]

what about a NIPON 25-125x92 Spotting Scope - fairly cheap and offers a decent range of mag and has a useful aperture of 92mm

[Simonator]

what about a NIPON 25-125x92 Spotting Scope - fairly cheap and offers a decent range of mag and has a useful aperture of 92mm

That is a cool little thing.

However... I'm now seriously looking at binoculars, as advised.

Sigh... Back to the drawing board yet again!!!

[Simonator]

I doubt very much that anyone cares... But might be useful to people reading the thread in future if they are in a similar situation...

I've now decided to go for a combination of a slightly bigger scope than originally planned, plus a pair of budget bins too:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-90-virtuoso.html

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios/helios-naturesport-plus.html

... I might well get the GOTO handset to go with the scope too.

I figure this will give me wide-angled joy from the bins, plus decentish magnification and resolving power from the scope... With the mount in my checked-in luggage, the rest should go easily enough into hand luggage.

[Naemeth]

I doubt very much that anyone cares... But might be useful to people reading the thread in future if they are in a similar situation...

I've now decided to go for a combination of a slightly bigger scope than originally planned, plus a pair of budget bins too:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-90-virtuoso.html

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios/helios-naturesport-plus.html

... I might well get the GOTO handset to go with the scope too.

I figure this will give me wide-angled joy from the bins, plus decentish magnification and resolving power from the scope... With the mount in my checked-in luggage, the rest should go easily enough into hand luggage.

Good choice, I hope they fulfill your astronomy needs on your travels .

[Alien 13]

A realy good selection nice and portable im sure you will get lots of use out of them.

[Stu]

Of course we care!!

Looks like a good combination, with better resolving power from the 90mm mak for planetary/high mag stuff, and the binos for widefield. Sorted.

Can you mount the Virtuoso on a tripod if wanted/needed?

Stu

[Alien 13]

Of course we care!!

Looks like a good combination, with better resolving power from the 90mm mak for planetary/high mag stuff, and the binos for widefield. Sorted.

Can you mount the Virtuoso on a tripod if wanted/needed?

Stu

 

I just looked at the link and it does mount on a tripod if required i would buy one for the camera mount..

[Stu]

The good thing with those mounts is the encoders. I believe you can manually slew it if you want and it will keep track of where it is, and continue tracking objects when you find them yourself.

Stu

[happy-kat]

Nice :-)

This is the same base but with a refractor in the US but good to read positive user experience using the mount.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/201352-what-do-you-think-of-this-little-tabletop-refractor/?fromsearch=1

[astronymonkey]

Id be tempted just to take a good pair of ED binoculars like the hawke ed frontier 10x42. They will give good widefield views and will be great for daytime use.

im not sure id want to take something which really only has an astro use and will need separate tripod, eyepieces and power if goto is to be used.

I appreciate that you will have your own criteria for what you are after but it would be bins all the way for me.

cheers

[jpython]

I think you will enjoy both those choices.  I own a 90 mm  Mak (as well as a 133.5 mm Mak) and I love it.  Its a scope you can bring anywhere, very portable and very light, as well as very sturdy and durable.  I can bring it on a plane, back pack, etc  which makes it more used than a heavy scope.  I also don't mind bringing it out even when I have a short viewing time.  (I keep it in an unheated room so its always  temp adapted. Its a fun scope I plan on keeping for that reason alone.  One other feature I like is I can use it for birding by day and take photos thru it without interferience of the thimble.

Enjoy it

Phil