New Stargazer

[Tracy OShea]

Hi,  I have always been amazed by the stars and sky and after having a tour of a real observatory,  I now want to get my own telescope.  Can anyone recommend what telescope to get please?   Tracy. 

[Knighty2112]

Ah, the million dollar question! First things first; would help to know a rough budget as there is a bewildering choice from low, mid and high range to chose from!  

[Tracy OShea]

Budget of around £500.00.

[andrew s]

Welcome  Tracy. Any thoughts on what you want to observe? 

Regards Andrew 

[laudropb]

Hello and welcome to the SGL. The choice is very extensive and we really need a little more information about what you would like to see and where you will observe from. For example the usual answer to this question is to get a Skywatcher 200p Dobsonian scope and to  be fair this is in many ways probably the best value for money. However it is a large quite heavy scope and if you have to carry it down stairs or any great distance to your observing site it may be impractical. The best scope to buy as your first is one that you can set up easily and that you can use whenever the sky permits.

Edited October 2, 2019 by laudropb

[Rob]

Welcome to the SGL Family Tracy!. It will all seem a little overwhelming with options at first, but don't worry your in the right place.

Like the others have asked. Its going to boil down to want you want to see/start with. You don't have to spend big to start the hobby.

Enjoy!... Rob

[kev100]

Hi Tracy, That's a pretty decent budget. It'd be a good idea to think about the practicalities next. Think about where you'd be observing (back garden, local park, driving out into the countryside, etc). Where will the scope be stored (garage, conservatory, living room), and how much space you have in your house/car. Scopes and mounts can be heavy, so think about what you can manage to lug around. This latter point is important as a scope that's a pain to carry/transport/set up will end up not being used. Will it initially be just for visual use (or do you harbour ideas of taking amazing astro photos fairly soon)?

Kev

[knobby]

Hi Tracy, welcome to SGL, as said above, before diving in and spending it's a good idea to check what you want from the hobby ... Visual observing through the eyepiece, computer aided with camera or just taking photos ?

But don't worry, we'll all help you spend your £500 😅

[Rob Sellent]

Hi Tracy and welcome to SGL

If I had a budget of £500.00 and I was mainly interested in seeing a bit of everything but not too bothered with astrophotography, then I'd go for an 8" Dobsonian.

The Dob will offer you 200mm of aperture, so in terms of resolution will resolve detail more than any other scope within this price range. It will give you low-power rich field viewing for gorgeous star fields and open clusters and with reasonable dark skies you'll be able to view galaxies, nebulae, globulars, and so on. You'll also get some tip-top views of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and the Moon and it will also train you in the relatively simple art of collimation which will stand you in good stead as a general astronomer. If that weren't enough, it also leaves you around £200.00 to use as you see fit.

You will get more than sufficient magnification on objects (limited like all the other scopes on atmospheric conditions and aperture), it already comes with a good solid mount, so in effect you're placing most of your money in the scope's aperture. Like a refractor, it isn't susceptible to dew formation, so techniques such as dew shields and heater strips become unnecessary as they would necessaily be for Maks and SCTS, but unlike an achromatic refractor, you'll get more aperture and you won't get chromatic aberation. Furthemore, it won't take as long to cooldown as a Mak or SCT and on good seeing nights should give really nice contrasty views on planets.

There are a couple of downsides to the Dob. Some folk find collimation annoying but to be honest, it's really no more than a little tweak of the mirror every session. Some folk don't like diffraction spikes when viewing bright objects, you'll probably need a seat to sit on so as to avoid bending down to view objetcs and with a focal ratio of f5 these scopes are more demanding on eyepieces, so you will probably have to spend a little bit more on quality eyepieces than you would if you had a longer +f10 scope.

Inch for inch, then, Dobs are a lot cheaper than Refractors, Maks or SCTS and because you can afford more aperture for less, you're getting more resolution, brighter images, and the possibility of going deeper and seeing more.

To get an idea of the Dobs size, this site is useful. To get a relative comparison of sizes to other scopes, this picture is useful. Note, the 8" Dob's footprint is a tad smaller than it is for a mount necessary for a Mak 127 or 4" refractor and weight wise is probably heavier than these two scopes but can be split into two manageable parts.

For a first time, all round, general purpose scope to help you enjoy the wonders of the night sky, I really don't think you can go wrong with an 8" or if expenses allow, a 10" Dob.

Hope that helps a little

Edited October 2, 2019 by Rob Sellent

[Knighty2112]

Also, be realistic in what you expect to see with any scope you finally decide. You won’t see Hubble like vistas of any DS0s etc through any scope no matter how much money you spend. Like others have said also yes the larger the light gathering power of any scope is the better you will see things (as long as the scope is collimated Ok), but if the scope becomes a pain to drag out every time and set up and use, then most likely it’ll end up getting left in a corner of the room gathering dust, so before you go big I’d start off with something smaller and easier to manage. Something like this(or similar), would certainly give you a good quality scope that was managable and easy to move around, and easy to use in either goto mode, and with the freedom find technology allow you to move the scope manually around too when scanning the skies. Others who have owned this scope or mount might like to add their thoughts as I’ve not owned this particular scope and mount, but a similar sized one on another goto mount which worked very well.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by Knighty2112

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

The Sky-Watcher 200P Dobsonian is highly recommended. New approx. £285. Leaving you plenty left from your budget for a planisphere, upgraded eyepieces, a collimator for mirror adjustment etc. As previously mentioned, it is a little awkward to carry in its two parts, even for me at 6ft tall and *cough* stone, but provides wonderful views.

There are other options like the less unweildy but still very useable 80mm-120mm refractors and compact Maksutovs at 90mm-127mm as mentioned above which provide high magnification with a smaller field of view.

Basically "the best telescope is the one you use the most" is the right answer, so as asked, give the forum some idea of your circumstances. I.e stature/strength, type of abode, for instance urban apartment/ country cottage etc, storage, particular interests - solar system objects, deep sky - nebulae, stars, galaxies or a combo of all. Also would you want to travel with your chosen instrument?

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[johninderby]

The Skywatcher Skyliner 200p was a good scope for its time and one I used to recommend but now if you can afford to pay a bit more the Bresser 8” dob haa a lot of advantages and is well worth the extra and makes the Skyliner 200p look outdated and badly in need of upgrading. A better buy in the long run as you won’t have to spend extra upgrading it.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-8-dobsonian-telescope.html

 

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by johninderby

[Waldemar]

Hi Tracy,

in spite of all the good advices, I would buy a cheap 10 x 50 binoculars, the book 'turn left at Orion' and a comfortable garden chair.
That will totally cost you about 100 bucks and will give you enough possibillties to explore the hobby and see if you want to go for the next step: a real telescope with all ins and outs.

[joe aguiar]

is weight and portabililty a big concern??

if so the sct is a very good choice in the 6" or 8" size

it can ride ona eq4 or eq5 is better

celestron make the 8se or 6se which is even more compact BUT not sure what these cost there.

I norm like the eq verions its puts the ep at a decent eye level where the dob u need a table to raise it or a chair that u must carry outside too. some dealers sell the astro chair that raises or lowers which is a good choice but its not cheap either. also the eq verion has slow motion controls and u can add a drive later so it follows the planet etc. something like a 6"f/5 reflector on eq4 models

joejaguar

 

[JOC]

I've got a 200P Dobsonian Flex tube (it collapses to become a bit smaller to store and carry (though I am told it makes the tube slightly heaver than if it didn't collapse.  Mine takes up about as much room as a dining chair to store.  I can easily move it in two parts and have had good views of planets, some DSO, the moon and with a filter the sun.

Prior to purchase I would commend this thread to you and suggest that you review the photos to get your expectations sorted out prior to spending your cash:

 

[Tracy OShea]

Thank you to everyone for your replies.   I would like to see the planet's.  When I went to the observatory I saw the rings of Saturn.  Wow, it was amazing.    I live on the outskirts of Coventry, England.  I would be observing from my garden, which is South facing.  I would love a telescope that is strong enough to view the planet's, however not to heavy to move around.  Depending on cloud cover, I can the the ISS flying over most evenings.  

[banjaxed]

If you have a flat area to move your scope to and from where you are storing and viewing it is a simple matter of buying or making a trolley which makes moving a 8" dob very easy. I made mine and can move it from the garage to the garden in less then a minute.

[Cosmic Geoff]

Visually observing the planets may not occupy you for very long.  For £500 you can definitely buy something that will let you see some bands on Jupiter and glimpse its Great Red Spot, and the rings of Saturn and lots of detail on the moon. Somewhere on this site is a guide to 'What can I see?' But once you have looked at these??

You can explore the deep sky with a Dob, but it is a lot easier to find stuff with a GoTo mount.  The latter may involve choosing a smaller telescope to keep within your budget.  Some people though don't get on with GoTo mounts or prefer the old-fashioned simple method.  Personally I would not be without a GoTo mount as most of the things I want to try would be difficult, excessively time-consuming or impossible without one.

There isn't any 'best answer' when buying a telescope as it is largely a matter of personal preference.