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Newbie from Derby

Webbo

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Webbo

Webbo

Posted
Posted

Hi To all,

My name is John and just getting started with astronomy at the tender age of 67!

Any help or advice welcome,not got  a scope yet as when you buy one clear skys disappear,Lol.

Not sure which way to go,but leaning towards a 8 or 10 inch dob.

Any wiews on this would help.

Many thanks.

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damnut

damnut

Posted
Posted

Hi John,

Welcome to SGL, there is also a local group to you, East Midlands Stargazers http://www.eastmidlandsstargazers.org.uk/ , we also have a dark site at Belper. In terms of kit, the best idea is to come along to one of our meets and see what other people have and what suits you best

Best bang for buck are the Dobs, but you may wish to start out with a pair of binos, and a couple of books 'turn left at orion' and 'sky&telescope pocket star atlas' will gduide you round the sky. Also download a planetarium program, lots out there but try stellarium its great and free, to be found here :-- http://www.stellarium.org/ ..

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JamesM

JamesM

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Posted

Hi John and welcome to the forum. Good suggestions regarding visiting your local astro club to actually look through different types of kit (......with different budgets! ) as we all different expectations of what we would like to see. Damian above is right in that Dobsonian scopes offer the best bang for your buck and aperture is everything when it comes to observing. Will you need to take the scope to a dark site or even down a flight of stairs to access your own observing site are further considerations regarding size that may or not apply but which can influence the final purchase. My personal view would be that anything over 8" will be great in for you to capture some structural detail on deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae and to see those that are very faint.

As a furture suggestion, why not post a report in the astro lounge of your experience at your local astro club meeting and what conclusions you might have come concerning your original thoughts on what kit to get. I think It would be very helpful for others starting out to read about your experience at one of these meetings and to help give members here the confidence to do the same - it can be great fun!

Clear skies and hope you enjoy your stay here.

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rwilkey

rwilkey

Posted
Posted

Hi John, and welcome to the forum.  i am in my mid-sixties too and my only thought about you with your chioces of fairly substantive dobs, is, how mobile are you?  For me mobility is a problem so you may like me, after consider your options carefully!  Just a thought, but go for it, they are great scopes.

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drmum

drmum

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Posted

Welcome John. I would highly recommend joining your local astro group. I've always found stargazers to be a friendly bunch. Also, when you do pick a telescope and buy it, you will have already made friends with the people best placed to help you set it up for the first time. 


 


Good luck and clear skies


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