Any other "essentials"?

[wingman]

Hi all

I am a total novice as regards astronomy. It has long been something I wanted to get into, having had an interest in space travel which started with the Apollo missions and my main goal is to get good views of the moon. I have a very limited budget (max £150) and am unable to hold binoculars due to disability. I had made up my mind that a Skywatcher 1145PM would be a good place to start but have now found an Explorer 130PM for £140. Should I go for the 130 do yoou think? I also have asked for a copy of Turn Left at Orion from the kids for fathers day and downloaded Stellarium.

I would be most grateful for your opinions as regards the 'scope and are there any other "must haves" I should be looking at. Initially I will be in the garden but I am fairly isolated in Oulton Broad and luckily there is not much light pollution.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this, I expect you get fed up with this sort of question!

Regards

John

[DanDare]

Welcome to SGL John.

I've no experience of the scopes you mention but I'm sure someone will be along with some advice. Get as much aperture as you can is the usual mantra. There's a whole raft of "must haves" but I wouldn't rush into anything, perhaps just a polarising moon filter to start with.

Roy

[Ant]

We have a list here of a few little things that may get overlooked.

It may or may not be usefull to you?

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,24784.0.html

Welcome to SGL BTW

Ant

[PaulG]

Hi John

Welcome aboard, my main interest is the Moon also and I use an entry level refractor. It's cheap and light and gives nice detail of the Moon.

I sit on my little low stool and set the tripod to a comfortable height and look through the eye piece. I find this a great postion for extended periods of viewing. It's only 70mm diameter telescope but the Moon is a bright object, in fact it's too bright at times.

Here is a similar telescope http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/detail.php?id=28

Paul

[scotastro]

Wingman

Which focal length scope are you looking to get the 650mm or 900mm?. If your budget is limited check out the secondhand stuff on SGL you can get a lot more for your money that way.

As was already mentioned a polarising Moon filter is very useful and quite cheap (£20) accessory. A low power eyepiece (EP) eg 32mm plossl (£20ish) or if you can afford it wide angle type EP - either would be good for seeing larger galaxies or star clusters. The "Turn Left" book is probably one of the best items you could own at this stage. Also, definitely get warm clothing nothing ruins observing more than being cold.

I would not jump into buying too much yet - take some time getting familiar with the scope and see what you like looking at most ie planets or DSOs which will direct your next purchases.

Happy viewing

Scotastro

GAC

Galloway Astronomy Centre

www.gallowayastro.com

[peeceeTal2M]

Hi john, keep an eye out on ebay for Tal 1 (4.5") or Tal2 (6") reflectors, although they're a bit bulky and heavy they have good optics and can be picked up cheaply and will give supurb views of the moon, saturn, jupiter as well as a good many DSO's.

Welcome to SGL by the way :wave:

Phill

[Astro_Baby]

I'm a relative newbie as well and own a Skywatcher 130PM - my main interest was always going to be DSOs mostly but with a little bit of planet spotting as well.

The 130 turns in a good view of the moon but I would think people more expert than myself would suggest a refractor for planetary views. The motorised mount I have found is a real boon, even with very rough alignment it will keep the moon in view for hours with only the occasional 'bump' needed to keep it dead centred.

Theres a link here to a pic I took a few weeks ago. Bear in mind this was shot through the eyepiece with a hand held snap-o-matic cheap digital camera http://forum.skyatnightmagazine.com/upfiles.aspx/3071/67D78E2A830145A2AFBD91249D53DA99.jpg

Extras...well I guess for even a moderately powerful scope a moon filter will be needed to reduce the glare ( or as I learnt last night a red filter ), I had to buy a planisphere but I guess you'd not need one of those for the moon, I suppose a lunar atlas might be worth having at a guess.

Other extras I bought were;

More eyepieces ( again I doubt you'd need a lot for the moon ).

A red beam torch. I made the first one by painting a normal torch lens over with red nail varnish - to be honest if you didndt already own the varnish it would be cheaper to buy a red LED torch I suspect. After a few weeks my partner took pity and bought me a wind up red LED torch.

Some rechargeable batteries and a mains adapter to run the scopes motor with.

Things I need to buy next.....

A very warm jacket and boots ( its cold out there !!! )

A larger thermos flask - one that can hold about 2 gallons of hot choccy

Collapsible camping chairs

I am quite new to it all myself so doubtless people more expert than me will chip in. Oh by the way Skywatcher 130 PMs are around new for around £145 these days and 2nd hand ones for around £90-£100.

Hope thats of some help.

[wingman]

Thanks for the replys everyone, that photo is great astro baby, I did wonder exactly what to expect! This forum is amazing, it'll take me weeks to read all the info here. I found the list you mentioned Ant, about 10 seconds after I'd posted my question (doh!) I think a moon filter and the torch will be must buys, I found another post which had details of the Lunar 100 on it and a link to the vitual moon atlas which is downloading now.

Thanks again

John

[Astro_Baby]

That moon pic was done with a 15mm eyepiece so thats pretty low power magnification at x43 - the scope will easily do x130. I just wanted a whole moon in the eyepiece. The detail isnst as good on that pic as your eye would see as it was just a cheapie digital camera held up to the eyepiece.

As I say though the experts usually suggest a refractor for planetry work. I am jot not expert enough to advise.