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Any good telescopes for planet photography, or should I just get a dob?


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I'm new to astronomy and I don't really know what a good telescope would be, my max budget is 480€, does anyone know a good telescope that I could use to look at the planets, moon and take pictures with my phone? Or should I just get a dob? I really want to be able to take photographs but I'm unshure if I should just sacrifice it for a better visual experience.

And if so, is this a good option to get?

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Actually - go with the dob.

For the time being, sacrifice photography for visual. Planetary photography is done in particular way with particular type of camera (planetary camera - often also used for guiding in long exposure photography - hence often advertised as guide camera as well) and results with phones or consumer cameras will be poor.

Taking planetary images actually involves taking a video rather than single still image. That video is then processed, best frames are selected and stacked (averaged) and some more processing is done (sharpening, color balance and such).

Dob is not well suited for this because it is not tacking - you need to push it, but there is a way to make dob track the sky - EQ platform that you can either purchase or build yourself (it is not overly complicated and blueprints can be found online). Using EQ platform will allow you to take above mentioned videos and do planetary imaging.

Detail on planets requires aperture so scope with large diameter has potential to resolve more details (but there are host of factors that determine if telescope will perform close to its theoretical capability).

8" F/6 is very good planetary performer, so for the visual - it will beat anything in that price range or even more expensive scopes of lesser aperture. You can think of planetary photography later on when you get the chance to learn more about it (watch some videos and read about planetary or "lucky" imaging approach).

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3 hours ago, sporu said:

anyone know a good telescope that I could use to look at the planets, moon and take pictures with my phone? Or should I just get a dob?

The Mak 127 suggested above is good for what you have mentioned above and it should give you decent views of the brighter DSOs. It also comes with a GO-TO mount so easier to find and track objects.
On the other hand the Dobs you have suggested has a far bigger aperature so will give you ability to see a lot more objects. On the downside it doesnt come with a GO-TO.

The Dobs is a bit heavier to carry around than the Mak, I think. Assuming you need to move them to a suitable site for viewing.

Set aside some money for buying a couple of good eyepieces. They can each cost anywhere from £50 upwards.

Hope this helps you decide. Good luck! 🙂

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I would say for planetary observing (visual) you'll ideally have a fast scope so that you can use high power and high quality eyepieces (typically a lot more expensive, could be as much as £300+ per eyepiece for really good ones, but they do make a difference when combined with a good quality fast telescope).  F6 is reasonably fast, F5 is faster; faster = more light for any given instance (same as with a camera lens), which basically translates to a brighter image at the eyepiece.  You should be able to push an F6 scope to maybe a good quality 4mm or 5mm eyepiece on a clear night, this should enable you to easily see the rings of Saturn, perhaps even the Cassini Division, also the major bands of Jupiter and the Great Red Spot when it's in view.  Neptune and Uranus should also be visible in a large telescope however they will be little more than tiny blue discs or dots (because although technically giants they are very very far away).  When Mars is in a favourable position you should be able to make out the polar ice caps and also the main darker regions.

To give you an example, my 8" SCT is a slow scope at f10, it can't use my 3.5mm eyepiece (everything is just blurry/fuzzy and dim, even a bright planet such as Jupiter), normally it is limited to about 10mm for anything useful at the eyepiece on a typical night, occasionally if the seeing is especially clear I might be able to get something out of my 5mm.

Edited by jonathan
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12 minutes ago, jonathan said:

I would say for planetary observing (visual) you'll ideally have a fast scope so that you can use high power and high quality eyepieces (typically a lot more expensive, could be as much as £300+ per eyepiece for really good ones, but they do make a difference when combined with a good quality fast telescope).  F6 is reasonably fast, F5 is faster; faster = more light for any given instance (same as with a camera lens), which basically translates to a brighter image at the eyepiece.  You should be able to push an F6 scope to maybe a good quality 4mm or 5mm eyepiece on a clear night, this should enable you to easily see the rings of Saturn, perhaps even the Cassini Division, also the major bands of Jupiter and the Great Red Spot when it's in view.  Neptune and Uranus should also be visible in a large telescope however they will be little more than tiny blue discs or dots (because although technically giants they are very very far away).  When Mars is in a favourable position you should be able to make out the polar ice caps and also the main darker regions.

To give you an example, my 8" SCT is a slow scope at f10, it can't use my 3.5mm eyepiece (everything is just blurry/fuzzy and dim, even a bright planet such as Jupiter), normally it is limited to about 10mm for anything useful at the eyepiece on a typical night, occasionally if the seeing is especially clear I might be able to get something out of my 5mm.

I would say: quite the contrary - slower scopes are better planetary scopes as one can use longer FL eyepieces (better eye relief less expensive) to achieve higher magnifications needed for planetary.

For faster scopes - it's better to use barlows.

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7 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

I would say: quite the contrary - slower scopes are better planetary scopes as one can use longer FL eyepieces (better eye relief less expensive) to achieve higher magnifications needed for planetary.

For faster scopes - it's better to use barlows.

Oh.. you mean I've been doing it wrong all these years?  No joke, I always thought I got better results from my refractor on planets than I do from my 8" SCT because I can use my 3.5mm Pentax, though I do see your point.  Certainly a slower scope can't make good use of high mag high quality eyepieces in my experience so one saves money in that respect.  But then again the SCT has a narrower field of view, perhaps ideally suited to planetary stuff.  Still, I'd quite like to try a big 8" reflector and see the difference for myself.

Edited by jonathan
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Agree. Longer focal lengths are better suited to planetary observing. One thing that many don’t realise is that a long focal length scope has a greater depth of focus which comes in handy when observing planets as the whole planetery disk can be in sharp focus.

Yes I am a fan of long focal length scopes. Have an f/10, f/12, f/13, f/14 and an f/15. 😁

Edited by johninderby
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6 hours ago, sporu said:

I'm new to astronomy and I don't really know what a good telescope would be, my max budget is 480€, does anyone know a good telescope that I could use to look at the planets, moon and take pictures with my phone? Or should I just get a dob? I really want to be able to take photographs but I'm unshure if I should just sacrifice it for a better visual experience.

And if so, is this a good option to get?

I may be missing something but first light optics has that exact telescope for £289 I believe.

 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

Edited by HutchStar
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Just now, HutchStar said:

I may be missing something but first light optics has that exact telescope for £289 I believe.

Well total budget seems to be 480e, but OP mentioned settling for dob mounted scope for the time being and just going for visual.

I think it is good option - save some of the budget for accessories later needed - eyepieces, barlows and later on - EQ platform and planetary camera if and when photography bug strikes :D

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Thanks a lot to everyone that commented!

I've spent quite some time trying to decide what I would get, and with some more help and information on the end I think that my best option would be the dob!

It's aperture, length and price seem to be the best combination for my start, FLO seems to be giving pretty good prices so I can even afford a add-on or two.

(I could even get a 250/1200 if it wasn't for shipping taxes)

hopefully the dob will be a good purchase as many others say they are. :)

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14 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Well total budget seems to be 480e, but OP mentioned settling for dob mounted scope for the time being and just going for visual.

I think it is good option - save some of the budget for accessories later needed - eyepieces, barlows and later on - EQ platform and planetary camera if and when photography bug strikes :D

when I wrote the topic I was only looking at astroshop(very dumb yes), but later I realized that FLO sells it for a lot cheaper(astro 479€ w/o shipping cost, FLO 403€ w/ shipping cost)

so I will either buy a good accessory or I will save it for something else.

thanks for the info and help! :)

but it is quite weird how FLO can give it for so much cheaper than astroshop

Edited by sporu
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8 minutes ago, sporu said:

but it is quite weird how FLO can give it for so much cheaper than astroshop

Indeed. For me, it is postage on all bigger items that makes it more expensive than alternatives.

I used to purchase most items from TS in Germany - they had the best shipping fees - something like 10-15e per smaller item and 25e at most for larger item. This is now changed and they are quite expensive.

You might find that overall cost is lower in Teleskop Austria for you, since it is very near and shipping prices should be low:

https://teleskop-austria.at/SWD200py#m

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29 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

You might find that overall cost is lower in Teleskop Austria for you, since it is very near and shipping prices should be low:

for me it would be about 35€, (10€ +1€ for each kg, so 35€ for the 25kg dob)

on TS-austria the dob is 389€ so 424€, so FLO's 403€ is a bit cheaper

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13 hours ago, sporu said:

I'm new to astronomy and I don't really know what a good telescope would be, my max budget is 480€, does anyone know a good telescope that I could use to look at the planets, moon and take pictures with my phone? Or should I just get a dob? I really want to be able to take photographs but I'm unshure if I should just sacrifice it for a better visual experience.

And if so, is this a good option to get?

 

I have not had much success using phone camera to eyepiece of my 10" flex Dob

Looking at getting an ASI 120MC using the ASI App

Not sure if I will require the ASIAir as a WiFi unit to connect the 120MC to my Android phone

The ASI 120MC is suited for Lunar, DSO, Solar and Planetary

Alternate is the ASI 290MC

Has anyone else tried either ASI camera for single shot with a Dob

John  

 

 

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9 hours ago, vlaiv said:

Indeed. For me, it is postage on all bigger items that makes it more expensive than alternatives.

I used to purchase most items from TS in Germany - they had the best shipping fees - something like 10-15e per smaller item and 25e at most for larger item. This is now changed and they are quite expensive.

You might find that overall cost is lower in Teleskop Austria for you, since it is very near and shipping prices should be low:

https://teleskop-austria.at/SWD200py#m

Thank you very much for the suggestion! 
I have found the 150/750 on EQ5 for pretty cheap here and I emailed them regarding shipping safety and costs. 
 I’m definitely thinking that this setup will be amazing both for aatrophotography and visual (especially for AP). 
I’ll invest in a good RA motor drive for long exposure photography later this year. 

Edited by Astrid
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