Newtonian Reflectors

[eccentric]

I am still in my search for my first telescope, Whilst looking I am intrigued by the newtonian reflectors. I have stumbled across the Celestron C6-NGT - Newtonian Reflector Goto Telescope. Are all Newtonian reflectors computerized? As (now i am going to seem really stupid here) but that doesn't mean having it attached to a computer whilst using it does it? Its something i have thought about for a good few years and am willing to spend a fair amount of money on something good (roughly around 500-600) rather than something cheaper and then wanting better!!

thank you

[Doc]

Hello and welcome.

Go-to scopes have a computer built into them you don't supply your own. All it does is find and track objects you input into it's computer.

Not all newtonians are go-to's. You can get manually operated newts on a EQ mount ot a newtonian on a Dob mount called dobsonians.

problem with go-to's is most of your budget is swallowed up by the computer and encoders. Where a dobsonian most of your money is in the aperture.

And as aperture rules this is good.

[daz]

Just tweaked the post as the font had gone wonky....

OK - No it does not mean it is attached to a computer. The handset is the computer in this instance, and everything is controlled from there.

As to what you should get.....

What do you want to look at?

How dark are your skies?

How much space do you have to store it?

Are you physically fit?

Are you willing to travel to a darker location?

How much time you have to spend with it?

[eccentric]

thanks for the text edit!!

I would love to look at the obvious objects like planets and stars etc, but also if my budget could also more deep space like nebula etc.

I live (currently during term times) in southampton, The skies are not that bad here, On a clear night the sky is pretty good but not as good as it obviously could be in some areas with little or no light pollution etc.

I have a pretty big room not being used which it will happily sit in!!

I am indeed a physically fit 20 year old!

The traveling to a darker location I am more than willing to do, gives me an excuse for the odd holiday.

I am a uni student who doesn't go out clubbing/drinking, is in a fairly laid back flexible course who spends most of her time playing xbox and would rather spend her time doingsomethingmore productive!!! so i haveallotof time I am willing to spend with it

What would you recommend? My budget is to most about £500 but would be great if there wassomethingcheaper so I could spend money onaccessories! so maybe about £300

[thing]

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=dobsky200

a 17 mil one of these http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=hyperion

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=cultimabarlow

A 33 mil one of these http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=WOswan

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-Orion-Hundred-Telescope/dp/0521781906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232833878&sr=8-1

Sorted.

[Leegsi]

I think there is a meet with HantsAstro in the next few weeks if your able to make it to Intec in Winchester or Butser Ancient farm in Petersfield.

Be a chance to see the difference that each scope provides.

[eccentric]

I will have to try to get to intec, that would be really interesting, thanks for the info!

What would be the alternative to the dob if I wanted a tripod type mount?

[John]

.....What would be the alternative to the dob if I wanted a tripod type mount?

Something like this:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=200eq5

You can add motors or even a GOTO system to that mount ad an add-on if you wish.

John

[eccentric]

adding the skywatcher to the list, out of these 3 which one is best in your opinion? the skywatcher explorer 200p eq5, celestron advanced c6-n gt (goto) or the sky watcher skymax 102 synscan AZ goto?

I'd really like the motor included and i like the goto as well, so with the first one might work out to expensive to add these extras?

[John]

"Best" is a very subjective thing and depends on your criteria. In performance terms (ie: what you can see and how well you can see it) the Explorer 200P wins every time. In terms of how many things you can see in a session the C6-NGT might win because the GOTO will find stuff (assuming it's set up correctly) rather than you having to hunt them down - you just won't see the objects as well as the 200P would show them. If portability is paramount then the Skymax 102 Synscan will be way ahead of the others but there will be objects in it's GOTO memory that you will find it difficult or impossible to make out because it's only a 4" aperture scope.

I guess it depends where your priorities lie.

John

[eccentric]

Yeah id deffiently be paying more for the goto with the ones that have it.

If i was to get the SkyW 200 and I wanted the Goto addon i assume I would need the motor as well as?

[GazOC]

For visual use 4" GOTO scopes are very expensive for what they are. As John says, you're paying a lot of the total cost for a computer to show you where objects are but the scope may be too small to give satisfying views.

If you def. want GOTO then fine but don't compromise on the size of scope too much, theres no getting around the fact that a big scope will show you more than a small scope.

[eccentric]

so the 200p wins hands down? would it be worth adding the extra to get the skywatcher explorer 200p eq2 goto ? even tho id be adding that (give or take) extra £200?

[GazOC]

It all depends if (how much) you want GOTO. If you went for a 6" scope with GOTO over a 8" without GOTO then thats a judgment call, you've weighed the convienience of GOTO against the better views of a 8" scope but I think a 4" GOTO scope gives up FAR to much to a 8" scope in the way of views to be a good call.

There is a noticable difference between what a 8" scope will show you and what a 6" scope will show but a 4" is obviously another step down again.

[eccentric]

so looking at this onehttp://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=200eq5 how do i tell how muchapertureit has?

[GazOC]

"200" is the aperture of the main mirror in mms ie. 8 inches.

You find that most of the products with numbers in them are either the aperture in millimeters or inches. You might get a C8N (8" Newt) or a 200EQ5 (200mm Newt) essentially the same size scope , same with 150 and 6" etc.

[eccentric]

Well I think its the 200p then!! But if I wanted to add the GT surely that wouldnt cost £625 like I think I have found?

[GazOC]

The GOTO system includes the motors, you may or may not decide to get them (they can spoil the fun finding things for yourself) but the way to look at it IMHO is that you can always add GOTO to a mount later on, you can never add more inches to a telescopes mirror.

[eccentric]

Am I then right in thinking this is what I would need?http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=proheq5Surely not that much? : :shock:

[John]

Am I then right in thinking this is what I would need?http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=proheq5Surely not that much? : :shock:

If you go for the EQ5 mounted scope then the GOTO upgrade is this one:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=EQ5GOTOkit

John

[tinvek]

another thing to remember is for a goto to work properly you have to "align" the scope accuratly first, to do this you need a reasonable knowlage of stars so ironically the idea that goto is usefull for people that don't know the sky is probably wrong.

since no one else has said it yet, give steve at first light a call or email, i'm sure he'll be glad to help you out and point you at the right scope for what you want.

[philsail1]

Hello "eccentric" and welcoms to Stargazers Lounge!

I can see you are at that exciting (and "£" dangerous) stage of the hobby - where you want to rush out and buy your first telescope.

As you can see there is so much choice of instruments you can start off with. As others have implied, all the scopes you have looked at are excellent - but all have different qualities, advantages, and disadvantages when compared with eachother.

There are two well used maxims in Amateur Astronomy:-

"Aperture is King."

"The best telescope, is the telescope you use most."

Telescopes with bigger apertures are always going to give you better views of Deep sky objects.

Smaller scopes are generally more portable, but as others have said, will not even show you most deep sky objects.

However, the deep sky objects you can see through a even a big telescope (8" Newtonian), will be nothing like those photos you see in magazines.

The two photos below show the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). The first one is the actual view you would see with your eye, when looking though a Skywatcher 200mm Newtonian Reflector. (I took this colour photo using a simple point and shoot Canon digital camera fitted to the eyepiece of my 200mm Newtonian).

The second photo comes from a magazine. It has probably been taken through a similar sized scope, but using imaging equipement. You can see the difference!

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

The views you will see through a typical 200mm scope, will be of the order of the first photo. (with a smaller, say 4" scope, you probably would only just be able to see M31 as a much fainter "fuzzy blob").

I haven't shown you them to put you off in any way, but just to try and put in perspective the views you will see through even a quite large scope.

Where smaller scopes are (in my opinion) "equal" to larger scopes, is when viewing the Moon and Planets. I started out with a Skywatcher 130PM (motorised 5.5" Newtonian Reflector), which gave me just as good views of the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus, as my current 8" scope does. Even most of the deep sky objects were identifiable in the 5.5" scope. The 8" simply allows you to see these deep sky objects that "tiny" bit better.

Now the diiference between those scopes is not so much noticeable in optical terms, but in terms of ease of use. The 5.5 scope was so much easier, and quicker to set up and put away. It was easier to use, in swinging the tube around the sky, and the motor control was easy to use, and economical on batteries.

The smaller scope took less time to "cool" and was much more of a "grab and go" scope than the bigger 8" is.

Before you buy a scope, it would be ideal if you could actually look through some scopes to get an idea of what views you are likely to get, and perhaps more importantly, how the various scopes work, in terms of setting up, and actually using them in the field.

However, I (and everyone else on SGL) are more than aware of your eageness to buy a scope of your own, and get out there and start looking at the wonders of the universe! We have all been at that stage, and for some of us, it was difficult to make a "rational" choice in deciding what scope to buy when starting out in the hobby. Most people start out with a smaller scope, then progress on to bigger, and bigger, and more sophisticated scopes. We spend thousands "£" on scopes - only to quite often realise that we got as much enjoyment out of our first modest scope, as we are getting from the "all singing and dancing," "bells and whistles" scope (costing £££££££!) that we presently use.

So to end my long piece of advice! You might be wise to either try and get to actually look through some different scopes before comitting yourself, or start at the smaller end of the market, and buy something bigger later on. (I'm sure if you put out a request on SGL to visit someone living near, they would be more than happy to let you look through their scopes - and see how they work).

Best wishes in what ever scope you finally choose.

Regards,

philsail1

[eccentric]

Thank you so much for that very long and very informative reply. Your all so great!!! I think now that the most important thing is portability so a dob is out of the question, I think the 200p for now suits perfectly. When I purchase the telescope are there any filters/eyepiecesthat I should consider? I assume the moon filter would be a good one?

[John]

I don't want to confuse you further but I have owned both the equatorially mounted 200P and the dobsonian 200P and I found the latter easier to carry around, setup and use. The dobsonian also takes up less room when it's not being used as it's footprint is really quite small with the tube pointing upright.

You get 2 eyepieces with the scope to get you going - there are literally hundreds of other accessories including further eyepieces, filters and goodness knows what but it might be good to get the scope and have a go before splashing out more dosh.

John

[eccentric]

So its easier to carry the dob down stairs if i was to keep it my my room and then take it outside? Oh i am confused now!! :s hehe