Which Telescope would you get?

[Karl Perera]

What telescope (either OTA only or with mount package) would you advise someone to use for:

• deep sky imaging
• as a beginner or intermediate
• average budget

Also, what are the most important things to consider when buying such a telescope?

I'm looking to get answers to this for the content I am writing on my website and your opinions would be really appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Coco]

Deep sky?  you mean planetary nebulars and distant small galaxies with good detail  or  wide field large nebulae.

 

Here is my bundle for a starter in astro photography .

Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED DS-Pro OTA £329 & StellaMira 2" Field Flattener with M48 Adapter £79 ( for wide field)
Or
StellaLyra 6" f/9 M-CRF Ritchey-Chrétien Telescope OTA £459 ( planetary nebular, Moon in detail, small galaxies & interested areas of nebular )

ZWO ASI 585MC USB 3 Camera £385
ZWO ASIair Plus, ASI120MM-Mini and Mini Guide Scope Bundle £577
Sky-Watcher EQ5 PRO Go-To Astronomy Mount £689
Allow a few hundred quid for accessories.

£2000 new should get you imaging, £1200 second hand.

 

Most important thing is the mount, without a sturdy mount you’re wasting your time,

 

A  DSLR and camera lens with fast optics can give you excellent wide field also, that’s how most start off.

 

[vlaiv]

1 hour ago, Karl Perera said:

average budget

This point is very ambiguous.

To someone starting just starting out in AP - average budget can mean something between £500 and £1000. For someone longer in the game that can mean £2000-£3000

1 hour ago, Karl Perera said:

Also, what are the most important things to consider when buying such a telescope?

Not the telescope itself. Number one concern is the mount.

You start by getting the biggest/best mount you can for your budget.

[Karl Perera]

All good points but Vlaiv I just wanted an answer on what telescope in particular you think would be best, ie. a newtonian or a reflector? what size? Which model possibly?

I am mainly thinking of DSO ie. small or wide-field nebulae and galaxies.

[vlaiv]

3 minutes ago, Karl Perera said:

All good points but Vlaiv I just wanted an answer on what telescope in particular you think would be best, ie. a newtonian or a reflector? what size? Which model possibly?

I am mainly thinking of DSO ie. small or wide-field nebulae and galaxies.

Well, there is no simple answer to that question.

It will very much depend on camera selected to be paired with a telescope.

Camera and telescope should be viewed as a system and same telescope will perform differently depending on which camera it is paired with.

Closest thing to all around scope on a budget for beginner for imaging would be F/5 newtonian in 5" or 6" size.

 

[Elp]

I think you need to look at Trevor Jones latest video, pretty much covers a lot of queries for newbies:

https://youtu.be/KXABDwAxT1s

 

[Xilman]

20 minutes ago, Karl Perera said:

t, ie. a newtonian or a reflector? what size?

A Newtonian is a (type of) reflector!

If you meant a refractor, I'd personally go for a reflector in that they are purely achromatic and you tend to get more aperture (i.e. light collection) for a given price.

That said, I strongly advise spending perhaps 50% of your budget on an adequate mount.

[Tiny Clanger]

OP is not a beginner, check out their post, this is a request for content not advice .

5 hours ago, Karl Perera said:

I'm looking to get answers to this for the content I am writing on my website and your opinions would be really appreciated!

Thanks!

 

 

[vlaiv]

6 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

OP is not a beginner, check out their post, this is a request for content not advice .

 

Not sure what you are trying to point out here?

Regardless of whether OP is a beginner or not - questions have been asked in "beginner" fashion (most likely because content is geared towards beginners).

Still, from the question - we don't have enough information to go by to give sensible answer.

In general, when planning an imaging system, you really need to answer following questions:

- what types of targets I want to image

- what sort of money do I want to spend in doing so.

Based on answers to those questions above - you proceed to:

- identify the best mount (if any) that is suitable to fulfill that task (you can't expect to image close up galaxies with mount such as EQ5 - it simply won't allow for 1.2"/px resolution)

- identify working resolution and needed FOV - which will allow you to pursue particular camera / focal length combination

- see what scope will fit your budget at given focal length and needed correction given the sensor size.

If you want a scope that will satisfy multiple roles - then that is much harder thing to find. Most imagers end up with at least two scopes for different uses. Small APO refractor for wide field and larger reflector for close up imaging.

 

[Moonlit Knight]

4 hours ago, Xilman said:

A Newtonian is a (type of) reflector!

If you meant a refractor, I'd personally go for a reflector in that they are purely achromatic and you tend to get more aperture (i.e. light collection) for a given price.

That said, I strongly advise spending perhaps 50% of your budget on an adequate mount.

Reflectors are not achromatic 

[Elp]

I dont think you can steer your content if you don't have personal experience with said equipment, most of us have learned from hands on and as @vlaiv has said most imagers end up with more than one setup, it is also mentioned in the above video link I've posted that different requirements need different setups. Perhaps it needs to be broken down further into more specific segments, a users budget also plays a massive role in recommending equipment and further complicates providing any answers.

I could suggest a widefield apo refractor, it would suit a beginner but if they cant understand the concept of how to polar align then it's not a beginner's recommendation, being apo is also not necessarily within a reasonable budget (it can be), and is also not deep deep sky due to short focal length. A reflector will be better bang for buck but for a beginner? Mount will need to be bigger, need for better guiding etc etc.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Elp

[ONIKKINEN]

Without a specific budget its difficult to advice. If you can, get an EQ6 and the best scope you can afford after that.

If youre writing a website with scope advice it should also be bracketed into budget categories as no one scope can fit all purposes on all budgets. Beginners reading that article should walk away from reading it with the knowledge of mount 1st, mount 2nd, mount 3rd and then maybe start thinking whats left to buy a scope. You can always upgrade a cheap initial beginner doublet for a better scope but a bad mount will be bad forever and only a waste of time and money in the long run.

But my 2 cents on a scope that does a bit of everything would be an 8 inch newtonian on an EQ6. Aperture to cost ratio is very good, unlike apochromat refractors (but there is a catch, of course). Will require plenty of elbow grease and/or further investment into upgrades to bring a factory standard newtonian up to demanding imaging spec, but its not something you necessarily have to do right away.

For example i have spent maybe 1800€ on upgrading my VX8 with a carbon tube, focuser, secondary spider, corrector, rings and plate, to bring it to astrograph standard. At this price point its comparable in price to triplet apochromats with half the aperture. You could substitute half of what i spent with DIY if needed so the deal only gets better.

[vlaiv]

1 hour ago, Moonlit Knight said:

Reflectors are not achromatic 

Original meaning of the word achromatic (a-chromatic = without color):

Achromatic refractors where indeed achromatic (in above sense) with respect to singlet lens of the day (back when they were invented).

If we go by the definition of the term achromatic - then yes, reflector telescopes are achromatic

 

[Xilman]

37 minutes ago, vlaiv said:

Original meaning of the word achromatic (a-chromatic = without color):

Achromatic refractors where indeed achromatic (in above sense) with respect to singlet lens of the day (back when they were invented).

If we go by the definition of the term achromatic - then yes, reflector telescopes are achromatic

 

Thank you.

I accept that I can be unduly pedantic at times but I do try very hard to be accurately pedantic.

[Alkaid]

Wasn't a smart choice for start-out  / intermediate imaging an ED80 + HEQ5?  That's where I would be, something like ED72, ED80 or new ED82...on a HEQ5.

Edited December 20, 2022 by Alkaid

[KP82]

ED80 + HEQ5 + 533MC Pro for hassle free (relatively speaking) start of AP

or

130PDS + HEQ5 + 294MC Pro if you don't mind learning collimation of a newt

Both are for wide field DSO imaging. Like others have said the most important part is the mount. You may also want to grab a 30 - 50mm guidescope with a 120MM for guiding.

[Karl Perera]

Thanks so much for the last couple of answers. It's been difficult getting answers for this as indeed so many factors but feel free to describe how those factors would affect your choice. You can advise a person what to buy according to different constraints ie. what kind of DSO targets, what level of imager etc.

Any positive contributions welcome. I am aware of the problems in my question but just asking for an answer that could help someone looking to get into astrophotgraphy.

 

[Xilman]

1 hour ago, Karl Perera said:

Thanks so much for the last couple of answers. It's been difficult getting answers for this as indeed so many factors but feel free to describe how those factors would affect your choice. You can advise a person what to buy according to different constraints ie. what kind of DSO targets, what level of imager etc.

Any positive contributions welcome. I am aware of the problems in my question but just asking for an answer that could help someone looking to get into astrophotgraphy.

Something to bear in mind is the camera technology. OSC cameras make life easier than imaging several times on a monochrome camera through a selection of filters. DSLRs are generally much noisier than cooled cameras but are generally much cheaper and can be used for terrestrial photography.

One day you may want to branch out into scientifically valuable observations, in which case a monochrome camera makes life much easier than trying to calibrate the spectral response of your OSC device.  Worth keeping in mind so as to avoid significant future expense.

In the end of course, and this applies to all equipment, stuff which is not used is a complete WOMBAT. Most beginners are best advised to practice on kit which doesn't cost a fortune and which is relatively easy to drive. The write off that initial investment as the price of learning the trade. If you find that it's not for you, you haven't lost too much money when you sell the kit for half what you pad for it.

I recognize that this is not directly addressed to your question, but I do feel it is very important that beginners are aware of it.

Edited December 20, 2022 by Xilman

[vlaiv]

3 hours ago, Karl Perera said:

Any positive contributions welcome.

If you want ideas for the content for your article - just explore previous posts here on SGL.

Countless threads where were started on what would be a good combination of equipment for particular AP purpose and equal amount of answers given over the course of years.

Edited December 20, 2022 by vlaiv

[Karl Perera]

Yes that's what I have done Vlaiv and compiled my results into a table. I also wanted some personal recommendations from astrophotographers such as yourself to add and have got a number of responses. I do realise though that the subject is not so simple as my question suggested.

Thanks anyway.

 

[Lee_P]

I like Askar refractors. The smaller ones in particular are lightweight, and relatively easy to use for beginners.

[ollypenrice]

On 19/12/2022 at 11:57, Karl Perera said:

All good points but Vlaiv I just wanted an answer on what telescope in particular you think would be best, ie. a newtonian or a reflector? what size? Which model possibly?

I am mainly thinking of DSO ie. small or wide-field nebulae and galaxies.

That is like asking, 'What car would you buy for club racing, track days, towing a caravan and collecting materials for building a new house?'  The question cannot be answered.

May I ask you a blunt question? I don't wish to be rude, but if you don't know this, why are you writing an article about astrophotography?

Olly

Edited December 21, 2022 by ollypenrice

[Xilman]

25 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

but if you don't know this, why are you writing an article about astrophotography?

Devil's Advocate is a valuable role. I play it quite often.

[ollypenrice]

1 minute ago, Xilman said:

Devil's Advocate is a valuable role. I play it quite often.

I don't see the connection, to be honest. I just feel that social media are full of tutorials made by beginners who - OK, I'll say it - don't know what they are talking about. Yes, I know I take an unfashionable view of this.

Olly

[newbie alert]

On 20/12/2022 at 16:03, KP82 said:

ED80 + HEQ5 + 533MC Pro for hassle free (relatively speaking) start of AP

Agree with this...should see you learn the ropes for a good few years ,fairly hassle free