Do I need to spend this?

[meridian man]

I'm looking to get a scope, but I'm afraid to spend "big" IE:£450 but as I have a young son (2) I think I could/might get value from it.

I'm in Dublin suburbs so light pollution is quite bad , should I get a £150/200 scope or should I get a scope which could have potential as the years go by.

I wish I was a star.

[Schorhr]

It is hard to give advice for a telescope as it depends on a number of factors :-)

Do you plan on just using it there, or are you also planning and willing to put it into a car or bike hanger to get it out of town, to a darker location?

Does it need to be portable?

What do you want to observe?

For deepsky objects a dark sky and a large aperture is key. If the milky way is not visible or if you choose a telescope with less then 8" aperture, you will not see any spiral structure of galaxies, many things will be just a faint smudge or not visible at all.

This is a simplified summary, of course other factors do play a role as well.

For observing planets from your balcony or back yard (thus limiting the things you can see) something like a 5" Mak can be a nice telescope.

Mak=Maksutov type telescope.

On a Goto mount such the "Nexstar SLT 127" it starts at 370 gbp / 450 eur, and is much more expensive then a 8" dobsonian (260gbp/300-330eur) that would be much more suited for deep sky as well as planets, but requires more space and needs to be moved manual (not as hard as it may sound, if you have a good map, planets are found without one easily).

For traveling a 4" Mak and a GOOD camera tripod can be nice, but it is not great for DSO.

For that a portable Heritage 130p might be better, it does not really perform better on planets though despite the aperture.

4" Mak - very portable, with GoTo-Mount kind of pricy, not for deepsky, maks have a long cool-down time

5" Mak - a bit heavier (requires a better mount), great for planets, narrow field of view limits it's deepsky-use

5" 650mm focal length Newtonian (Heritage 130p or similar on a GoTo Mount) - Nice entry level, a bit of everything, a great starter scope and later portable travel scope

6" dobsonian - Great value, large, beats the previously mentioned even though it is cheaper

8" dobsonian - THE best value money can buy, universal, will fit on virtually any car's back seat

Dobsonians will be problematic on a balcony due to their low mount.

10"-12" You may get one of these used or even new within your budget. The typical aperture ratio requires better (=pricey) eyepieces for best performance. Those may not fit in some cars! IF you are able to move these around and have the space for them, they will be a great value deep-sky-telescope.

General advice: Avoid the cheap 100-200 gbp kits. Many of those come with a weak mount and do not do what the advertisement promises. Dobsonians may not look like the "typical telescope" but they are much more stable and easy to use.

"Go-To" is overrated, and for the price of a small computerized telescope mount you can get a large dobsonian. With a good star map or book (beginners: "Turn left at Orion") along with a telrad or rigel quick-finder it will make them almost as easy to use as a go-to telescope for a fraction of the cost and/or much larger aperture that will show much more. Also some Go-To mounts may not be pushed manually, powering them and setting them up can be a hassle while a "stupid" (manual) telescope is just ready within a minute.

What to expect to see

4" Telescope http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/

6-8-12.5" http://clarkvision.com/visastro/m51-apert/

Deep-sky (nebulae, galaxies...) requires a dark sky and careful observation to spot Faint details. It's not those colorful, spinning 3d animations you see on TV ;-)

http://stallarium.org - Great for bad weather and planning observation nights.

The 5" Heritage 130p is a table top telescope but works well on a box or simply on the ground when seated on a camping pad/mat or one of those folding tripod stools.

The small dobsonian is also great for children, and I would say a three year old would be able to handle it to view the moon himself if you give a bit of instructions. Still, this telescope is far from being a toy, and it is the telescope I use the most despite owning a 10". It just goes everywhere, quickly set up, back-yard, balcony, car... And shows a huge field of view due to it's low focal length. It is not the best at planets but I saw the Saturn rings' Cassini division, Jupiter's great red spot and a bit of structure in the ring nebulae and the galaxy M51. It lacks of two or so additional eyepieces, but all telescope really just come with some basic eyepieces that have to be replaced sooner or later.

Even if you get a larger telescope later it will be a nice secondary scope.

[JemC]

WoW....

Now that's an answer

[RichM63]

By heck, great answer above!

I'd still opt for the £450 if you can afford this much, even if you later decide that astronomy is not for you, there is a good S/H market for quality kit.

Doubt that any 2 year old will be able to use a telescope though.

[NGC 1502]

Great advice above.  Another option is to go to an astronomy club http://www.astronomyclubs.com/country/Ireland

Most clubs are very friendly and will give advice, and you may be able to see member's telescopes up close, better than online viewing, as you can get a bit of a shock when the enormous package arrives at your door.....

Or perhaps visit a store with a showroom.

All the best, Ed.

[Schorhr]

I completely forgot about the visit-a-club suggestion while rambling on and on,, it's probably the advice that saves the most money.... Or can result in the urge to buy an even larger telescope :-)

Yeah, 2 is a bit young, but from three on the moon will be a nice target, but it will take a few more years for a child to really get into the subject and to have the patience to observe longer then a few minutes. All I was saying is that with 3 or so a small dobsonian like that will be usable by a child, while anything larger won't ;-)

[meridian man]

Thank lads, especially sub dwarf, lots of info to think over.

Cheers

[dweller25]

Some excellent suggestions above about visiting your local club.

Try to check out an 8" F/6 dob, at just £280 you cannot go wrong  and they are VERY capable on deep sky, the Moon and planets.

If you loose interest you will get £200 back for it.........

[LukeSkywatcher]

The only scopes you will be able to see first hand in Dublin will be Celestron scopes in Astronomy Ireland who are out in Swords. You will have better choices if you visit a local club and see different brands used by members. Then you can research online and finally use First Light Optics (see the banner advert above) to import whichever one takes your fancy. I've just moved from the Dublin "burbs", and i'm not missing the light pollution.

[Bart]

Meridian Man

Welcome. Don't forget to talk to Stephen in KTec Telescopes. google him.  I bought my last scope off him and he is a pleasure to do business with. He will give you some advice also. Very nice guy.

Good luck. LP would be reasonably bad but if you get into it, a bit of a drive out of Dublin will allow you to get deep into space.

Barry

[scorpio1948]

Hi Meridian Man

This may help.

Less than a year ago I bought my first scope.  A Celestron AstroMaster 114EQ. A little later I bought a Skywatcher AZ Goto Mount for it.

Still not satisfied a few weeks ago I bought a Celestron Nexstar 8SE.

I am a pensioner and that lot really  took a chunk out of what little savings I had.

The first two are now sitting in a cupboard gathering dust, so I wasted quite a bit of cash there.

Second hand value is greatly reduced because I made some drastic alterations to help with my arthritis.  Probably give it to one of my Grandchildren.

Anyway, my advice is to get the best you can afford, try out some friends scopes first to help you decide

Hope this helps

Cheers

Pete. 

[andyb505]

+1 for the Sky Watcher Heritage 130P. I bought it for around £150 (with a Barlow) as I did not know if I would really use it. It is very simple to set up and use and takes about 2 minutes to take from the garage to the back garden to start viewing. I have already taken it to Cornwall on holiday and have just ordered my first additional eyepiece.

For the money and the ease of use (not to mention the views it gives you!) I am really pleased I bought it.

I am sure your young son would get plenty out of it.

Andrew

[LukeSkywatcher]

+2 for the Sky Watcher Heritage 130P. It may be small and compact (that's a bonus in anyones book), but for its size (5 inch), it really packs a punch and fights well above its size and weight. It literally takes about 2 mins to set-up (not allowing for cooling down time.........................20mins is fine). It is great for both adults and children alike.

It is advertised as a tabletop scope but it aint. I'm in a wheelchair and can happily use it from my seated position (kitchen chair height) when it is placed on the ground.

Its a cheap starter "Dob" that will serve you well for a few years, or until aperture fever sets in after about 6 months.

[Schorhr]

Thank lads, especially sub dwarf, lots of info to think over.

Cheers

Sub dwarf is just the forum rank ;-)

Let us know what you decide on and if you have any questions prior to buying :-) Better safe then sorry

Every telescope has it's use, and a solid mounted telescope plus one, two, three good eyepieces can give years of fun.