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Hello Fellow Stargazers

PaulG

By PaulG
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PaulG

PaulG

Posted
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Hello fellow Stargazers

What a great site this is! :hello1:

I’m Paul from Nottinghamshire and after 45 years of astronomical ignorance I’ve purchased two telescopes in that last 8 days. Due to my son gaining an Astronomy badge at Cub Scouts I’ve been sucked into a new interest. After seeing Comet Hale-Bopp in 97 through a local Astronomy clubs 24” reflector I was never that impressed with telescopes in general. The view from my eye seemed better, probably due to the wide screen view of my naked eyes. So getting back up to date, while our son was taking his Astronomy badge recently I dusted down an old telescope that we bought him 4 years ago that he never took any interest in. It is an EDU Science 600x60 refractor with a 12.5mm & 4mm lens (enough to put any newcomer off for life). It’s quite a challenge to navigate the sky as the mount is as stable as a Rowntree Jelly, it’s one of those telescopes with a silver rod to alter the Latitude angle. The view of the moon was ok with the 12.5mm but awful with the 4mm. Saturn was just a smudge with very very vague ring detail :). So after a lot of frustration we bought a second hand Zennox 900x70 EQ1 telescope with 10&20mm eye pieces for £30.00. I swear it looks like a TAL 100RS from 10mtrs away. WOW what a difference like chalk and cheese. The clarity from the 1.25” eye pieces was amazing. After 45 years I saw Saturn, this has got to be in the top 25 things to see before you die. For a £30.00 outlay I was chuffed until I saw a Celestron 70EQ Firstscope on Ebay. I wasn’t that bothered about it because it was the same spec as the Zennox but with only one bid at £30.00 I won the auction at £31.00. So I had won a totally mint Celestron used once and boxed :lol:. After comparing the two scopes they both resolved the same detail night or day which surprised me as I thought the Zennox was perhaps a Mickey Mouse scope. The only real difference was the Celestron 20mm eye piece had a wider view and seemed less strain on the eye. So I gave my mum the Zennox and I’ve kept the Celestron, It’s sat here waiting for a clear sky. Typical isn’t it, I’ve had it for 3 days and no clear sky :rolleyes:. Hopefully you’re still awake after my ramblings, looking forward to learning more from fellow forum members and Lunar Astronomy on the “cheap”.

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phillc

phillc

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Hello and welcome Paul :wave:I'm a newbie here myself and to astronomy so can't comment on your scopes but i hope the skies soon clear for you to start using the one you kept. I certainly enjoyed your first post.

phillc :rolleyes:

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barkis

barkis

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Welcome to the best Astronomy Forum on the planet Paul. Well done on your boy getting his Astronomy Badge.

I hope you both maintain your interest for many years, it is a very rewarding activity.

Just a word on Comets, telescopes are not usually the best instrument for looking at a comet. Unless you are looking for coma detail.

Binoculars or naked eye are the best view providers.

Look forward to your posts as you progress.

Ron. :rolleyes:

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PaulG

PaulG

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Thanks for the warm welcome and the Comet advice.

After queuing up for an age and having paid my pound coin, I left the observatory wondering what all the fuss was about.

Here's the link to the observatory, I'm sure the telescope is up to the job :rolleyes:

http://sherwood-observatory.org.uk/

We are very keen at the moment, just waiting for those rare clear skies :?.

Paul

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