Turn Left at Orion

[ericleo1]

I'm impressed by this book and only want a scope for visual observation which gives the North at the top so I can use the star maps in Turn Left. I dont want to go much beyond £150 and wonder if the Skywatcher Startravel refractor AZ3 (80mm lens) would be okay for double star splitting in an urban area? PS> Ive had scopes in the past but am in my 70s now and would only use a scope now and then.

[NGC 1502]

Indeed ‘Turn Left” is a brilliant book for new and old hands at visual astronomy.

The Startravel 80 refractor is a nice scope but a short focus achromat is best as a low to medium power wide field instrument. That’s not to say it won’t split double stars but there are better small portable scopes for that purpose.

I’d like to suggest a small Maksutov as a better alternative for what you require.  You can’t get the really low power wide field views but the Mak is great for doubles, lunar planetary as well.  A 90mm or 102mm Mak is really portable and you would take a very long time indeed to run out of double stars to split, triples and quads too.

Perhaps wait to see if others agree with this.

Ed.

 

[ericleo1]

THanks very much for your advice. I imagine the cost though, will be more than the Skywatcher?

[TerryMcK]

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-90-eq1.html

[NGC 1502]

4 hours ago, ericleo1 said:

THanks very much for your advice. I imagine the cost though, will be more than the Skywatcher?

 

Yes, but a Maksutov is much better for your stated needs, double stars.  If you bought the Startravel 80 and were disappointed with its performance on double stars it would be much more expensive in the long run to sell it and by something more suitable for you.

I’m very definitely not panning short achromats, super portable wide field scopes.  It’s a matter of buying something best suited to your intended use.   Both the mentioned scopes actually complement each other - it’s the old ‘horses for courses’ discussion :-

I used to own an Orion Shortube 90.  It would split the double-double in Lyra, but the stars were imbedded in a very obvious fuzzy glow,  an ETX 90 Maksutov gave a much cleaner crisper view.

But try viewing the Pleiades with the ETX - relatively tiny field at lowest power compared with the ST90.

Ed.

[jonathan]

If you enjoy Turn Left at Orion then I can also recommend the pair of guides here: http://astrog80.astro.cf.ac.uk/mwm/

The Moore Winter Marathon contains some great targets for telescope, binocular, and naked eye, and in my experience was a great next step from Turn Left at Orion.

I don't think these guides are still linked to from the Sky At Night website itself which is a shame as they're fantastic, the form can be used for your own personal records and the PDF guides are still available to download.  Print them off to take outside with you (because you don't want to be reading an illuminated screen and destroying your night vision), I laminated mine so that they don't get damp from dew and frost.  A word of warning, when laminated and covered in frost they are extremely slippery (not to mention cold to the touch!)

Edited August 18, 2020 by jonathan

[ericleo1]

On 16/08/2020 at 10:44, TerryMcK said:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-90-eq1.html

Forgot to say I prefer Alt-Az mount - I can always search for maksutov + mount - thanks