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Skywatcher Telescopes

stargazer1981

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AlexB67

AlexB67

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If visual is what you are after and don't mind nudging the scope manually and its size, weight and portability are fine for you, something to think about, IMHO the 8 inch Dob is the obvious choice. More light gathering, all important for DSOs, and higher resolution to boot means more detail on planets.

Good luck with what you end up buying :smiley:

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Ohmsie

Ohmsie

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Am a newbie myself but i reckon the Skyliner 8" has the most light gathering abilities , so the more power so to speak..  hope that helps, but im sure some ppl on here will have better advice . 

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HumptyMoo

HumptyMoo

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Yes... next thing you will tell me they also do your washing up and ironing :grin:

Last time the sky was clear (in a galaxy far far away...) I had a session with my 8" dobbin, after I'd finished my newbie fruitless attempt at locating m82 I brought it in and let it settle in the kitchen....next morning I came down and the kitchen was clean as a whistle, all washing and ironing done and a cup of tea waiting on the top next to a bacon sarnie*.....the 8" dob is truly a faithful companion :)

*some Stella may have been involved in the above observation but the sentiment rings true regardless.

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Charic

Charic

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Can anyone advise me which of the following scopes would be more suited to planetary and galaxy viewing? Skywatcher. Explorer 150P EQ3-2 or Skyliner dobsonin 8inch? I am looking to buy and want a a lot of power to view with ease? Thanks

stargazer1981..........Hi, The telescopes you admire are both Newtonian reflector telescopes. Only the aperture differs and so do the mounts, between these two telescopes. At the end of the Night, you'll want to be able to see  something in the sky.
The EQ mounted telescope will allow you to manually track or motorised tracking (additional) of a single object, This is a better idea if you need or want to take images with a camera.
Visual astronomy and astro photography are two different entities, with their own vices. You need to take steps to see if your main interest will just be simple observation, or do you want the more complicated setup for astro photography?
The 150 will need critical alignments to set up the scope for each and every session, if you remove the telescope everytime. This task is simple enough when you know how, but it must be done, nevertheless. Then once you have studied something and want to move onto the next, there can be a lot of fiddling around in the dark to change a minimum of two axis, to align onto another target, and more than likely, to keep the eyepiece in some sort of usefull reach/position, you may even have to rotate the telescope tube every so often.
I've had the fun of all this with the cheap and cheerfull Celestron 127EQ. The setup will be no different than yours, but your 150 aperture will allow better light capture. 
That said, the 8" 200P does'nt need any critical setup. You just place it on a level surface, and can literally use it straight away. Both telescopes need a cooling period from moving from indoors to a cold night. You may see thermal currents in the final image under magnification, until the telescope and mirrors have cooled to ambient temperatures. You can view straight away using wide angle low power eyepieces, working up to the higher power eyepieces as conditions improve.
I dont think I'll ever mount a telescope for myself on an EQ mount again, simply because to much to mess about with.
The Dobsonian mounted Skyliner is great value, and a great bit of kit.
As to your original question.............which of the following scopes would be more suited to planetary and galaxy viewing?.....with ease?........
I would suggest the 8" 200P Skyliner for visual observations.
Dont expect Hubble type images from these two telescopes, either by looking or photographing, and always remember, what you see is  dependent on the sky conditons. My Skyliner is two telescopes in one? From my back garden it works, and weather permitting, Im taking my time to locate items of interest. I can see M31 Andromeda Galaxy as a small grey patch of silvery light (the core of the galaxy)
Take the telescope to a very dark viewing site, and its like I'm using another telescope. What I can see from the better site on a Moonless night is just mind blowing. M31 Andromeda fills my 25mm  skywatcher lens, so had to buy a better lens to get it all in, hence my 32mm lens. Its just the time it takes to prepare to go somewhere.
Skyliner will arrive in two seperate boxes, 28Kg for both parcels arriving at your door. Approximately 12 Kg for the base  and 9Kg for the OTA giving  21 Kgs overall weight for the assembled telescope.
.
Stands about  132Ccm (4' 6") high and consumes about  53 cm (1' 9") floor space. Can be seperated very easily and transported on the back seat of a car, using some soft cushioning, and the base sits on my front seat with belt?
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stargazer1981

stargazer1981

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Thanks peeps, really helpful advice. I am new to this and im enjoying being able to be part of the lounge. Charic thanks for all the info. :-) another question, how aligned is the collimation when bought new? Is it easy to re-align or can it be a pain?. I was thinking of popping to Astronomia to purchase the dob unit and I think they will re-collimate for free. :-D

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