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A Newbie ....From the United States....


MarieTharpRocks

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So I'm just heading into my 3 yr harder sci courses at my University  , but I'm most excited about Astronomy.

Even though I currently have the worlds crappiest telescope ....( tonight it took me forever to see Jupiter and after 20 minutes of adjusting and contorting my body , it was a 2 second wow .....before I lost it ).

I grew up in a very unscientific setting , so my decision to major in a science field ( Geology ) was met with a big "huh?? " ....by my extraordinarily religiously obsessed family. 

I sorta felt reborn after finally admitting that I love practically everything about every possible field of science. This of course,  includes Astronomy and Astrophysics. I didn't have the benefit of growing up seeing the night sky up close very often  , but I snuck away every chance I could in Junior high and high school to go to my local planatarium.....and to have a cigarette ....( since I just KNEW my parents would eviserate me if they knew I smoked and I was in full on sneaky rebellion. Although learning more about Science is also WAY up on their  " don't do this or ELSE" list of weirdness). 

So, after all that overshare , I basically am a true newbie. I can spot planets when visible and maybe 5 constallations , and I want to expand that ...hardcore. I'm also looking for a good (decent) travel telescope under $200. I'm going to Denali in Alaska for two weeks in June ,and would LOVE to take a lightweight scope with me. 

Any and all advice is appreciated! 

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Hi Marie, and welcome to SGL - if you have questions in the field of astronomy, astrophysics, and/or cosmology - you've come to the right place. We love helping to find their answers!

As a fellow American, I understand your implied situation in your 'Thread Title.' But a word of advice, If may? Please avoid any political or religious material or overtones. They can cause wars to break out in a very peaceful place on the internet. So please to be careful.

Do explore the many forums you'll find below, and jump into those you feel will be able to answer your questions. It's why we're here. So no need to be shy!.

Starry Skies -

Dave

 

 

 

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Relax. You're with friends here.

:happy11:

Consider taking a decent pair of binoculars with you to Alaska. Out of all the equipment I have bought and sold, the bins are easily the most fun. And travel-friendly, of course! Under a nice dark starry sky, it's all I really need.

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I considered the binocular option, and maybe that's for the best considering I seriously bruised my leg tonight constantly adjusting my $30 celestron "kids edition" .....I can just see me now going "oh I'll just prop this up here on this cliff side" .... then getting frustrated by my inexperience and having a spectacular accident...

"Tonight a young women fell to her death in Alaska while clutching a mediocre telescope". 

My hope was to kill two birds without actually killing something ....like my bank account. I was wanting to get a really decent lightweight scope that also works for when I randomly go out to the local best night viewing spot , or on my back porch.....but I realize that's probably like wanting a four wheel drive SUV on a Chevy Malibu budget :( 

 

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3 minutes ago, MarieTharpRocks said:

I considered the binocular option, and maybe that's for the best considering I seriously bruised my leg tonight constantly adjusting my $30 celestron "kids edition" .....I can just see me now going "oh I'll just prop this up here on this cliff side" .... then getting frustrated by my inexperience and having a spectacular accident...

"Tonight a young women fell to her death in Alaska while clutching a mediocre telescope". 

My hope was to kill two birds without actually killing something ....like my bank account. I was wanting to get a really decent lightweight scope that also works for when I randomly go out to the local best night viewing spot , or on my back porch.....but I realize that's probably like wanting a four wheel drive SUV on a Chevy Malibu budget :( 

 

Indeed. I repeat: relax. You'll get there.

:happy11:

Randomly going out is an excellent approach. Nothing supports this like a good pair of binoculars. Some that are not too big or heavy so you can just hold them and don't need a mount. You will never outgrow them and you will keep using them, whichever scopes should pass through your life in the future.

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Sooooo what you are saying ( other than relaxing ) is that until I pay off my student loans, find buried treasure, or get that inheritance from my wacko great uncle.....I should suck it up with a $200 pair of good binos, and then save up for a Telsa Telescope.....when I'm 50:) 

hehe, ok got it......but I'm gonna be secretly whiney and mopey about it in my head since I really wanted a cool looking telescope ....I'll head to the bino forum for some reading ....thanks guys....and even though I may not type relaxing-esque .....I'm overall super relaxed ...I might even put on that 80's song "Relax" ....hehe 

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Welcome, Marie!

For portability and ease of use, you could go for an 80 or 100 refractor.  And it needn't be anything fancy (ED, apo) - you can get lovely, widefield views from less expensive models.  (You can always upgrade later, when/if you get the bug.)

Have fun!

Doug.

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Hi and welcome to SGL :) 

If you want a scope that's compact for travel, stable, easy to use, and has decent aperture for showing you 'stuff', then something like a mini Dobsonian telelscope might do the job. 

https://www.amazon.com/Meade-Instruments-LightBridge-Telescope-203003/dp/B01C5TG53Y

Meade's Mini Light Bridge comes in under budget. 

They do a smaller 114mm version which will still have a decent mirror, but forget the 76mm version. 

If you get the 114mm version you could probably also buy some binos and still come in under budget? In which case I would go for 8x42 which will be easier to hand hold without the image moving about all over the place. I use 10x50 quite a bit, but in hindsight would have gone for 8x42 for hand held un-mounted viewing.

 

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SGL will provide calming therapy for you Marie. 
You will enjoy the Company here, and make good friends.
Not always necessary to own your own telescope, at least not 
immediately, you could perhaps join an Astronomy Society if there is 
one in your vicinity. Members would be delighted to let you
use their scopes during their observing outings, and probably a fair variety of types too.
As suggested, a pair of Binoculars eg. 10x 50's can be  useful as a
stop gap.
Good Luck with your Geology studies.
Best Wishes :icon_biggrin:.

 

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1 minute ago, MarieTharpRocks said:

Sooooo what you are saying ( other than relaxing ) is that until I pay off my student loans, find buried treasure, or get that inheritance from my wacko great uncle.....I should suck it up with a $200 pair of good binos, and then save up for a Telsa Telescope.....when I'm 50:) 

hehe, ok got it......but I'm gonna be secretly whiney and mopey about it in my head since I really wanted a cool looking telescope ....I'll head to the bino forum for some reading ....thanks guys....and even though I may not type relaxing-esque .....I'm overall super relaxed ...I might even put on that 80's song "Relax" ....hehe 

The whole point is enjoyment. If you're struggling with whatever optics you're using, or trying to use, you enjoy less.

Astronomy on a budget is entirely possible, and fun. But it takes some time to figure out. You need to sustain the enjoyment in the interim.

And good binoculars are such a no-brainer, so easy to use and drag around the planet, if they don't keep you interested, nothing will.

With a magnification of 10x you are already well into the realm of serious astronomy.

When it comes to scopes and bang for buck, a newtonian reflector on a dobsonian mount is hard to beat. These tend not to be especially portable, but show you the most for the money. Take your time and research how different types of scope work and what is involved in using them to full effect. You can get it done cheaply, but you need to know what you're doing.

And always have fun at all times.

:icon_biggrin:

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Hi Marie & welcome.  I (and my wife) are both geologists & I got into astronomy and astrophotgraphy a few years ago.  I am of course therefore biased but, what the hell, reckon you've made a good choice there and you will find them fun, interesting and hopefully inspiring.  They both take a big picture look at the world and Universe we live in through the full spectrum of sciences are are therefore all encompassing, that's what got me interested.  You cannot go into space but looking and imaging is still very worthwhile and, as a geologist, don't just do the studying but get into the field - that's where the 'real' geology is.  

On the point of a telescope, I'd recommend an +/-80mm refractor + if you can afford it, a tracking mount - easy to use and look after + decent results.  Good luck with your new found interests, I'm sure you won't regret your choices.

Regards, Graham

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Hello Marie, welcome to SGL. Your enthusiasm is going to get you a long way so keep it up! As an astronomer of 35 years I still use my 10x50 binos for viewing and am always amazed at the views you can get. Beware that not all binoculars are good, and there are many virtually useless makes out there. You will get terrific advice in the bincular section. I would certainly advocate going to a local club ahd having a look through some member scopes before buying one, although you will get good very advice here. Perhaps check out a star party near you?

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Hi Marie, 

Welcome to SGL :)

SGL really is a safe haven against all the things that are wrong in the world right now. 

I wonder what you class as "a travel scope", I don't look through a scope much these days but I was extremely impressed with the views that I had with the skywatcher 6" F8 dob. It does come in over budget at £209 - but there may be something similar over your side of the pond that comes in slightly cheaper. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

This scope would easily fit in a car boot (trunk?), and leave plenty of room for all the other stuff you need. It doesn't require power and is very simple to use. This scope punches well above is weight!

But, if by travel scope, you want something that you can carry across fields and up mountain sides - then is not the scope for you. 

Cheers ant

 

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Hi Marie, Welcome from another geologist! Well technicaly an "ex-geologist", as its some years since I last wielded my hammer so to speak. Enjoy your studies, and if you can combine an interest in both geology and astronomy you will have plenty to keep you going.

Steve

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Hi, and welcome.

We regularly travel from UK to Australia (our son emigrated some years ago) and bought an Orion ST 80-T to take with us. However, it soon became apparent that, as compact as that 'scope is, we needed bigger suitcases if we were to take both it and a reasonable mount. A reasonable mount is an important element. A wobbly mount suffers from shaking and will ruin your stargazing experience. If you can't take a half-decent mount, or a steady tripod at minimum, IMO you'd be better off with binoculars.

Similar to our Orion, Skywatcher produce an 80mm objective, 400mm focal length acromat, which we gave to our son last Christmas. IMO, the Orion gives a crisper, higher contrast view -- but that's probably because it came with better eyepieces (Orion bundles a couple of Sirrius plossls while the eyepieces that came with the Skywatcher 80/400 AZ3 are modified acromat). Here's the bundle we got. Both of these are just air-spaced doublet acromats, and you will get chromatic abberation (CA) around bright objects. We can live with this happily to get the affordable portability -- premium optics come with a premium pricetag.

 

HTH and Clear Skies, Geoff

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13 minutes ago, Ant said:

Hi Marie, 

Welcome to SGL :)

SGL really is a safe haven against all the things that are wrong in the world right now. 

I wonder what you class as "a travel scope", I don't look through a scope much these days but I was extremely impressed with the views that I had with the skywatcher 6" F8 dob. It does come in over budget at £209 - but there may be something similar over your side of the pond that comes in slightly cheaper. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

This scope would easily fit in a car boot (trunk?), and leave plenty of room for all the other stuff you need. It doesn't require power and is very simple to use. This scope punches well above is weight!

But, if by travel scope, you want something that you can carry across fields and up mountain sides - then is not the scope for you. 

Cheers ant

 

Nice thanks for the tip! By travel scope I meant one that I can take with me in its own backpack on an airplane or , yup in my car "boot" :) 

I do lots of Mountain cabin trips with friends, so I thought it would be pretty cool to have one we can set up and use. I've already been wanting one just for my own use at home ( although it's pretty pointless with all the light pollution being 5 miles outside of Detroit), and at the State park I work at as a summer park ranger (35 miles outside of Detroit so much better viewing ).

So I figured I might be able to find something to cart around that not just me, but everyone can enjoy...like the kids I do night hikes with and our special programs at my park like  "Stars and S'mores" night :) . Some bring binoculars, but not a single person has brought a scope yet. ( most of them just come for the free s'mores ) 

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The Meade 130 Chris linked to might be ideal for you, that and a pair of bino`s and your good to go under dark skies up at the cabins, remember that a 130 under dark skies is going to be as good as a 200 in the city

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