telescome Need help for buying my first ever telescope

[Alipentouce]

Hello everyone, I hope you are all OK.

I just signed up for this magnificent website and I thought asking you guys some questions could be helpful.

Well, astronomy isn't my college major but I've studied a lot about it and I consider myself an amateur astronomer.

I needed to buy my first ever telescope and I can't decide which to buy!?

Considering a Celestron Powerseeker50AZ and a Celestron FirstScope, Which one do you think is suitable for me and why?

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

We will need a little more information before we can give advice. What is your budget. Where will you observe from ? What do you hope to achieve.

[Alipentouce]

15 minutes ago, laudropb said:

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

We will need a little more information before we can give advice. What is your budget. Where will you observe from ? What do you hope to achieve.

Thanks buddy, my budget is around 300$ and I will be observing from Ahwaz, Iran. I want my telescope to allow me to observe our own solar system, and maybe a bit further? ? 

[Ricochet]

Where will you be buying the telescope from? In the UK neither of those would cost anywhere near $300. Are telescopes very expensive in Iran and/or are there large import fees? In the UK a budget of that size would buy you a Skywatcher Skyliner 150p. Is such a telescope available to you at anywhere near your budget?

If the choice is limited to the two telescopes you listed I would pick the Firstscope because it has a larger aperture. I think that 50mm is really far too small for astronomy.

[Ben the Ignorant]

Hi.

Don't bother with scopes smaller than 70mm in general for beginners, and since your city has more than one million people, light pollution must be an issue, so get a larger scope to pick up as much stuff as possible. 300$ can get you something much more satisfying than a childish 50mm scope.

[Alipentouce]

7 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

Where will you be buying the telescope from? In the UK neither of those would cost anywhere near $300. Are telescopes very expensive in Iran and/or are there large import fees? In the UK a budget of that size would buy you a Skywatcher Skyliner 150p. Is such a telescope available to you at anywhere near your budget?

If the choice is limited to the two telescopes you listed I would pick the Firstscope because it has a larger aperture. I think that 50mm is really far too small for astronomy.

Well, since a lot of sanctions have been imposed on us, goods are expensive here! Thank you so much for your advice buddy! I'll try to pick the Firstscope then. 

[Alipentouce]

7 minutes ago, Ben the Ignorant said:

Hi.

Don't bother with scopes smaller than 70mm in general for beginners, and since your city has more than one million people, light pollution must be an issue, so get a larger scope to pick up as much stuff as possible. 300$ can get you something much more satisfying than a childish 50mm scope.

I appreciate your help man. Well, as I mentioned in a reply of one the comments above, goods are expensive in my country so my budget does not allow me to buy any other telescope than the ones I mentioned. I can understand from your opinion that the Firstscope could be a better option for me. Thanks again buddy.

[Ricochet]

29 minutes ago, Alipentouce said:

Well, since a lot of sanctions have been imposed on us, goods are expensive here! Thank you so much for your advice buddy! I'll try to pick the Firstscope then. 

I thought that might be the case. Enjoy the new scope.

[domstar]

Hi.

Welcome to the forum. I have a 70mm scope and have seen a great deal of things it. The moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the Andromeda galaxy, globular clusters, open clusters,and too many beautiful things in Orion to mention. You're going to have a great time. The difference between a 70mm scope and no scope is amazing.

Good luck.

[Alipentouce]

45 minutes ago, domstar said:

Hi.

Welcome to the forum. I have a 70mm scope and have seen a great deal of things it. The moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the Andromeda galaxy, globular clusters, open clusters,and too many beautiful things in Orion to mention. You're going to have a great time. The difference between a 70mm scope and no scope is amazing.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice pal, hope you enjoy your time with your scope 

[Dave In Vermont]

My first scope was a 50mm, and it was wonderful! I then got a 75mm, and it was much better!

I'm sure you'll have a great time with a 70mm!

Best Wishes -

Dave

[Nyctimene]

With a 76/300 mm Skywatcher Infinity ("Blue Penguin") I was able to make out moon craterlets of about 5 km diameter, the Auriga clusters (including NGC 1907 and 1893), three trapezium stars in M 42 and much more, using mag 30x. The capabilities of such small scopes are astonishingly good!

Here's another source of motivation - the Year - Long 60 mm Telescope Challenge:

https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/articles/the-year-long-60mm-telescope-challenge-r2784

Welcome to this friendly forum, and

Clear Skies!

Stephan

[Red Dwarfer]

7 hours ago, domstar said:

Hi.

Welcome to the forum. I have a 70mm scope and have seen a great deal of things it. The moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the Andromeda galaxy, globular clusters, open clusters,and too many beautiful things in Orion to mention. You're going to have a great time. The difference between a 70mm scope and no scope is amazing.

Good luck.

I had to use my 70mm TravelScope late last night in order to see all of M45 Pleiades and found X 15 magnification about right for this target ... In short , smaller scopes always come in very handy for the bigger targets ?

[domstar]

51 minutes ago, Red Dwarfer said:

I had to use my 70mm TravelScope late last night in order to see all of M45 Pleiades and found X 15 magnification about right for this target ... In short , smaller scopes always come in very handy for the bigger targets ?

Ha. Well according to your signature it looks like you've got a big selection to choose from. Incidentally, you have the Celestron firstscope that @Alipentoucer is interested in. What do you think of it? 

p.s. M45? that's pretty hard core for this time of year. Late to bed or early riser

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi there, welcome. 

[tony210]

Hi and welcome - enjoy your new scope!- Tony.

[Red Dwarfer]

20 hours ago, domstar said:

Ha. Well according to your signature it looks like you've got a big selection to choose from. Incidentally, you have the Celestron firstscope that @Alipentoucer is interested in. What do you think of it? 

p.s. M45? that's pretty hard core for this time of year. Late to bed or early riser

The FirstScope is quite good for widefield views of the sky and for waxing and waning Moons . The lenses that come with it are the very basic Huygen design , so I would recommend upgrading them with a couple of Kellner or Plossl lenses ...

I just happened to be up very late a couple of nights ago and luckily seen M45 before dawn ???

[ronl]

Hello and welcome to the community, my first scope was a Skywatcher Evostar 90mm, which I still use

as my grab and go, I also use it for white light observing, I have had a great deal of pleasure, and lots of wonderful views from it, 70mm is not much smaller so I am sure you will get the same views and you will get the same amount of pleasure, have fun with your new scope.

Good luck and Clear Sky's.

 

[Charic]

On 24/07/2017 at 09:37, Ricochet said:

I think that 50mm is really far too small for astronomy.

.........unless you buy some binoculars?

Everybody and everyone at some stage will have a pair of binoculars aside their telescope and  10x50 (50mm)  are suitable for the task.

Of the two scopes the OP mentions , I would rather buy some binoculars, just to study the constellations and look at the moon. I think you will see 'more' with the binoculars, with regards to how wide the field of view is, and to be honest, the telescopes listed in the OP won't get you onto the planets to see their beauty? I  can struggle sometimes  on Jupiter with a 200mm telescope? the seeing conditions need to be at their best, and as the Planets are so very small,  you need a fair bit of aperture in order to see them, or whatever  object your looking at. 

I do like domstar's mention of 70mm is better than nothing, and everyone's view (excuse the pun) will be different, based on/from their own experience's, but still do consider some binoculars. My last scope was 127mm, my present scope is 200mm, yet I still describe and feel that my last scope was about as useful as a chocolate fireguard in performance, and would not recommend it to anyone, my reason to think that 70mm on a scope is inferior, but then spend a small fortune on something like an 80mmED Apo refractor for astrophotography, and its a different ball game altogether!

If there was just one telescope, just one! it would have been made by VW or Heineken?

Unfortunately, there is no one telescope that suits everyone. You will find one though, the one thats right for you, the one that gets used.

Enjoy the process, welcome to the SGL.

[Mr niall]

I had a celestron 70mm for a while (different to the firstscope though) and thought it was brill. I agree with other comments a 70mm or even a 50mm must be better than no scope at all!.

[Ricochet]

38 minutes ago, Charic said:

.........unless you buy some binoculars?

Well I was really talking about for telescopes. Personally, I don't really like binoculars for astronomy and at this sort of price point would always choose a mini dob over them, both for the quality of the image and because it is more comfortable to bend your neck down to a focuser than up with binoculars. Of course something at the other end of the scale with top quality optics and angled eyepieces is another story but such an instrument comes with a suitably hefty price tag. 

[cletrac1922]

Hi and welcome from the land down under

Get asked the question all the time, when doing field nights with astronomy club belong to

What sort of scope should I buy

Don't rush out and buy a scope

Most clubs have loan scopes

Then ask yourself, what am I going to use the scope for

Just observing deep sky objects, or want to try your hand at astrophotography, which requires a scope with tracking facility

If just observing deep sky objects, then cannot go past a Skywatcher 10" collapsible scope

Easy to transport and set-up

If want to do astrophotography, then something like a ED80 on an EQ5 or 6 mount

Happy Viewing

 

John

  

 

 

 

 

[popeye85]

have you considered going for second hand?? is amazing how much more you can get for your cash! I managed to get a 8"dob for £100!

[Charic]

5 minutes ago, popeye85 said:

I managed to get a 8"dob for £100!

Some folk are just born lucky 

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire :-)