Telescope recommendations please

[Mannybee]

Hi

my son and I would like to purchase a telescope to observe the stars and we have a couple of telescopes in mind, a skywatcher Mercury 707 and mercy 705. 
Our budget is approximately £150 . We’re just starting out so figured these may be ok.

any advice or alternatives you could recommend within our budget 

many thanks 

Manny

[JOC]

You would probably find a Skywatcher heritage a better starting point.  https://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage.html Possibly a 100P or a 130P, look out for such things second-hand.  If you could find a 200P secondhand you would be even better off, but you might find one secondhand.

Edited November 1, 2022 by JOC

[Mannybee]

Thank you, we were thinking about going out and setting up in a dark sky area to look at the stars, the ones you recommended don’t have tripods , I’m guessing that you’d have to buy a special one to mount them. 
 

we can’t use one from the house because it’s too light at night in our area 

 

[andrew63]

The skywatcher 707 would be ok, as the other one is set up for more daytime use. You will get nice views of the moon, rings of Saturn etc. Though these are small telescopes and limited to some extent, they will still give plenty of things to see in the night sky. The other ones mentioned ,Heritage are also good, as you say don't have a tripod, but the unit can be placed on say a garden table to give you height to look through. I'm sure he'll love either.

 

[Mannybee]

Thank you for your replies. Food for thought indeed 

[cajen2]

The Mercury's a good little scope but be aware you'd get coloured fringes on bright objects. If that doesn't bother you, fine. The suggestion of one of the Heritage range is a good one: the 100p, the 130p and the 150p all have excellent optics for the price. They are designed to be placed on a sturdy chair, stool, table etc and are very easy to pick and set up. 

[allworlds]

For the tabletop telescopes, you just need *something* to put them on, but you do want it to be something good and rigid. I use a wooden stool, and another one to sit on. I have heard of people using the 130P with both the scope and themselves directly on the ground, probably works best with a picnic blanket on a nice lawn.

Or some of them can be fitted to a tripod, you'll need a decent one though.

[Mannybee]

Thanks for the advice really helpful and appreciated, I noticed that currys have reduced a Celestron 114 az from 189 to £89 , are these an option or would I be better sticking to the original and suggested ones? 

[wulfrun]

1 hour ago, Mannybee said:

Thanks for the advice really helpful and appreciated, I noticed that currys have reduced a Celestron 114 az from 189 to £89 , are these an option or would I be better sticking to the original and suggested ones? 

Avoid! Curry's price was the legal-definition of "sale", so they jacked the price up for the required 28 days and then claim it's "reduced". The mount looks very flimsy too, it'll be wobbly & frustrating. If there's a problem with it, they won't have a clue how to deal with it. You'll pay a little more but stick to an astro supplier that knows what they're selling.

[JOC]

11 hours ago, Mannybee said:

Thank you, we were thinking about going out and setting up in a dark sky area to look at the stars, the ones you recommended don’t have tripods , I’m guessing that you’d have to buy a special one to mount them. 

They don't need tripods they sit on tables or stools - nothing special, a picnic table would do.  You sit them on a table, point them at the stars and off you go.  Significantly easier than setting up a tripod.  the vast majority of people in the know start of with small Dobsonian mounts like those.

[JOC]

12 hours ago, Mannybee said:

currys have reduced a Celestron 114 az from 189 to £89

I would recommend avoiding buying a telescope from Curry's, Amazon, National Geographic or any other multiproduct store.  Buy the telescope from a bone-fide telescope supplier like the SGL sponser First Light Optics (FLO) and you will be much more likely to buy something that is fit for purpose rather than over-advertised with unachievable statistics designed to 'con' the more gullible among the population.

[Guest]

I would advise not buying anything.  I would find an astronomy club and go look at all the different scopes out there.  Spend a few nights with them, figure out what it is you like looking at and then find the scope for the job.  

[bemak187]

21 minutes ago, Mike Q said:

I would advise not buying anything.  I would find an astronomy club and go look at all the different scopes out there.  Spend a few nights with them, figure out what it is you like looking at and then find the scope for the job.  

This is good advice.  Also gives you some experience actually observing to see how much you enjoy it.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, bemak187 said:

This is good advice.  Also gives you some experience actually observing to see how much you enjoy it.

Well it always turns into a dobs vs fracs argument anyway, and that sure isn't helping anyone make a decision is it.  Since i am as guilty as anyone else, my new reply is; go get hands on a scope or ten.  Figure out what you like looking at and then find the scope that achieves what you want to do.  

Edited November 3, 2022 by Mike Q

[cajen2]

Indeed. It might also help with seeing the ease (or difficulty) of various mounts: dob, alt/az and EQ, plus the various push-to and go-to options.

Edited November 3, 2022 by cajen2

[Mannybee]

It’s mainly for my son who’s obsessed with the night sky, so much so that he drags me out every night up a local hill to look at the stars,  he’s downloaded an app that shows him exact where certain planets and stars are and is always excited when he sees Jupiter, if he could see Saturn and Jupiters moons, that would make his day!

Hes got a few issues and things like this absolutely help him deal with the issues he has, an escape into a different world  for him if you will. 
Weve contacted a local observatory and are saving up for a heritage 100p for him, more than likely buy it through FLO. 
 

thanks for your advice, really appreciated 

 

[cajen2]

He'll be pleased with that scope, I bet. As soon as finances allow, try to upgrade the 10mm eyepiece as it isn't very good. A BST Starguider 8mm is very good for the price, as is Skywatcher's own UWA range. Check out FLO's site.

[Mannybee]

Well we ended up getting the heritage 100p and last night we tested it out, my son was buzzing because he saw Jupiter and its moons! 
 

We found it using the 25mm eyepiece then switched to the 10mm to make it clearer, however am I right in saying that if we use the Barlow lens along with the 10mm, we’d get a better picture of Jupiter? 
 

thanks for your help with this 

 

Manny

[Mr Spock]

Yes, the 10mm will give you x40; adding the Barlow will give x80. You should be able to see belts at that magnification.

[Carbon Brush]

Really good that you have had a positive experience.
Be prepared for your son's jaw dropping to the floor when he sees Saturns rings for the first time. Have a camera ready😄

By all means try increased magnification. A couple of cautions though.
The object will pass through the field of view quicker at higher magnification which means nore nudging to keep track.
The scope is more sensitive to knocks - kicking the table legs and the like.
On some nights, higher magnification does not give a better view. If the air isn't clear, or unstable, there are limits.

Another good one for next time out is the Pleiades cluster, the seven sisters.
This goes from a naked eye patch, or half dozen stars to 40+ stars as soon as your eyes are assisted.

Enjoy the experiences and keep posting on SGL. Continue to ask questions.

David.

 

[Alan64]

I have one of those kits, branded "Zhumell": a 100mm Newtonian, and at an astro-photographic f/4 if so inclined, but I use my own for strictly visual observations...

I had gotten the kit for a sporting chance to see the galaxy in Andromeda at its most encompassing, at 12.5x, but I've yet to attempt it.  The Pleiades may certainly be seen in its entirety this winter, and Orion.

A 32mm Plossl(12.5x) is desirable, for all telescopes at that, for the lowest power and widest view; but not a 40mm, unless for a special need of which I'm not aware, although a 40mm would produce 10x with the telescope, like that of a binocular.  The Moon through my 30mm Plossl at 13x...

At the other end of the magnification scale, I then took the kit's 10mm eyepiece, inserted into my Klee 2.8x barlow, and for an effective 3.6mm eyepiece at a power of 111x...

Those are afocal-shots only, through this eyepiece and that, taken on the fly with a small point-and-shoot camera. 

The telescope is unique at 100mm, for a Newtonian, and bright in its own right.

Edited November 15, 2022 by Alan64