New to forum and Astronomy

[Butehawk]

Just found this site and have not had time to fully look around.

Very much an amateur but have always loved looking upwards.

Bought a cheap Aldi National Geographic Dobson telescope 76/350 to look at the moon a couple of weeks ago.

I have spent more time looking at the Stellarium software that was included and getting to know the sky than looking through the less than perfect Aldi Scope.

I am looking for a better scope and doing a lot of research on the web but as soon as I find something I like or is recommended I find someone else slating it or or saying that they would not touch one for a million pounds.

I like the look of the Celestron Nexstar 6SE or the larger 8SE.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Roger

[ChrisLX200]

Welcome Roger. There are as many opinions as there are different scopes but it's true that generally you get what you pay for. For purely visual astronomy (as opposed to taking images) it's difficult to beat the simple Dobsonian mounted reflector, and one of approx. 8" aperture is an excellent starting point.

ChrisH

[valleyman]

One thing you can be sure of here on SGL Roger is, ask a question and you will get an honest answer.

Don't worry if you think a question is a bit silly, Any question is better than no question.

As for the 6SE or 8SE, they are both good scopes for Luner and Planetry observing, you could also do some basic web cam videos of the moon and larger Planets.

Best thing to do is tell us what it is you want to do and I am sure the answers will come flooding in.

Hope you did not pay for Stellerium, its a free download on the web.

Pat

[PeterCPC]

Hi Roger and welcome. Yes you really do get what you pay for when it comes to scopes. The Nexstar SE is a good scope for a beginner as it will help you to find objects that you might not otherwise be able to easily track down. I was amazed when I got my first GOTO scope. Generally speaking the bigger the scope the better it is as it collects more light. You have to weigh that (literally) against the portability and the ultimate use that you want to put it to i.e. observing or imaging. Don't rush into a decision - wait and see what others suggest and do some reading of the threads. If you have an astro club nearby you could go along and see others scopes and what their pro's and con's are. 

Good luck

Peter

[swamp thing]

Hi Roger and welcome to the stargazers lounge.

The 6&8 SE's are both good all round visual scopes and can shoot good webcam planetary stuff.

Let us know what you wanna do with the scope and you'll get plenty of good advice

[wookie1965]

A warm welcome to SGL

[Schorhr]

Hello Roger, welcome to the forum :-)

One of my first telescopes was a 76/300, so pretty similar to yours.

They are not bad, will show the orion nebula, the andromeda galaxy, m81/82, many star clusters such as h and chi, m44...

Depending on the time of year of course.

The main problem next to the not-really-perfect mirror are the eyepieces, you can barely get higher magnifications with those, and due to the mirror quality, you can not go as high as you may like.

So it is basically a neat wide-field scope.

Another problem is the lack of a good book/maps to really get you started out on the field. While Stellarium is awesome - you should get the most recent version online - A map and a good finder scope (Telrad, Rigel, 8x50...) will be as good as any goto. And a dobsonian is set up within a minute while goto, power and alignment can be a hassle sometimes, especially in the middle of the night.

I did manage to see the rings of saturn and the cloud bands of jupiter with the small telescope, but the planets will be baraly "pea size" and I would not reccomend buying a 2-3mm eyepiece as you can probably never use it with a larger telescope due to overmagnificating at longer focal lengths.

Even on larger telescopes the seeing/athmosphere limits the max. magnification.

If you are interested in deep sky observing - galaxies, nebulae and star clusters - aperture is key.

A 8" dobsonian costs a fragment of the smaller goto telescopes and will show a lot more.

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

http://clarkvision.com/visastro/m51-apert/ - only after long observation under dark skies, at the beginning many nebulae/galaxies may only look like faint smudges in the black sky.

If you plan on deep sky observation, apperture is key. And getting away from light pollution and warm buildings that will cause turbulent air. The latter will even limit how far you can magnify on planets, even though observing those are not as much as a problem under moderate light pollution.

But as only few planets are really showing details and are not up in the night sky all year long, you should at least consider enough aperture to show you some deep-sky as well.

Another good idea is to visit a local club, buy "turn left at orion" and perhaps some binoculars as they make navigating and learning a lot easier.

Also do not buy eyepiece sets, zooms or cheap barlows, as most are not good...

...Rather get three to four decent eyepieces. Stay clear of most telescope+mount sets as they are usualy on the weak side.

Good luck!

When in doubt, ask here, this place is full of helpfull people.

[brantuk]

Hi Roger and welcome to SGL

As above, it all depends what you want to do that determines the "type" of telescope you need. Then budget determines the precise make and model. You can choose from three basic types - refractor, reflector, or compund (like the Schmitt Cassegraines you mention in your first post). You can also choose the "mount" type - AltAz, or Equatorial. And then a variety of pointing methods - manual or motorised, with or without goto, and hybrid, which combines manual with goto using encoders to keep track of pointing.

No one type of scope and mount does everything perfectly so bear in mind you may choose more than one scope to satisfy all your aspirations. The one good choice you made so far is coming to SGL for advice - enjoy!

[ollypenrice]

Forums can be contentious places but this one usually isn't! You will find a very high degree of concensus on certain issues;

The Dobsonian telescope (with Newtonian optics) gives the best value for money in visual observing. It is hard to beat a 150 or 200P as supplied by FLO, the sponsor.

For planetary imaging and observing the SCT is excellent.

For starting in deep sky imaging a small refractor on something like an HEQ5 or NEQ6 mount will punch above its weight and is the easiest option.

Webcam based cameras are best for planetary imaging.

The most important part of a deep sky imaging rig is the mount.

For visual observing big aperture is good, but...

Only a scope you actually use is going to show you anything.

Don't under-estimate binoculars.

Don't look at the sun in an normal telescope or one with only a rear end filter.

I don't think any of these claims will start a riot.

But if you want to light a fire (don't do it!!!) ask, 'Why would anyone pay £10,000 for a small apochromatic refractor' or 'Should I buy a CCD camera or a DSLR?' or 'Is one shot colour better than monochrome?' or 'What is the F ratio myth?'

Oh, and don't mention astrolo...   We don't even print it in full here!

Olly