I need help choosing a telescope

[Celerondon]

The NexStar 5SE is a fine scope for beginners but as such, it is limited in many ways.  This is not necessarily a bad thing because all telescope setups will carry some limitations.  No one has endorsed the 5SE yet because we astronomers tend to recommend telescopes that we would like to have, even for others.  A good beginner’s telescope with modest capabilities is not as exciting to us as the 10” Dobsonian that davhei just recommended.  Even though I don’t currently own one I think that an 8” or 10” Dobsonian would be a great starter telescope for you on your farm.  As davhei said, it could end up being a lifetime scope for you as well. 
 

I have one piece of advice regarding astrophotography.  The bewildering array of options and ideas that we blast you with may make astrophotography seem expensive and endlessly complex. (Trust us, it can be!) But you can also get involved with nothing more than your cell phone.  In fact, it is possible to produce impressive results with an 8” or larger Dobsonian, an eyepiece, and this inexpensive cell phone adapter.
 

I just purchased this new Move Shoot Move product last week and I was impressed by the all metal construction and ease of use.  I was surprised to find that the MSM Tridapter costs less (in the USA) than the plastic Celestron NexYZ adapter that I bought several years ago. 

Edited May 4 by Celerondon

[happy-kat]

There is no rush to making a choice, a large 8" or 10" dobsonian is not for everyone. If you like electronics and go to perhaps the az-gti with it's freedom find capability and ability to be used in EQ mode gives you some of everything while you learn leaving some budget free

[Tiny Clanger]

1 hour ago, Raulvdzande said:

i live on a farm
its a clear route from the place i keep the telescope and the place i use it
now i can carry 10 to 12KG
no i dont have electrical power available but i can use batteries and if realy needed i can make it so i ave electrical power
i live in a smal town with no big buildings so a clear sky
i live in the netherlands

OK, so no limitations on storage or moving the kit apart from a weight limit.

A biggish dobsonian (200mm aperture and manual, not a go-to with motors) will be well above 12kg , but if split into two parts (base and tube) to take it out you might manage. Check the weight of anything you consider, sturdy tripods and mounts are not light, neither are telescopes.

As you are somewhere populous, there should be a club within reach where you can see some telescopes in use, that should be your next step.

[dweller25]

Hello @Raulvdzande and welcome to SGL.

The Celestron 5SE is a good choice, but if you want more aperture for less money consider this Starsense scope, that uses your smartphone as a GOTO system.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-series/celestron-starsense-explorer-8-dobsonian.html

Edited May 4 by dweller25

[Raulvdzande]

3 minutes ago, dweller25 said:

Hello @Raulvdzande and welcome to SGL.

The Celestron 5SE is a good choice, but if you want more aperture for less money consider this Starsense scope, that uses your smartphone to as a GOTO system.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-series/celestron-starsense-explorer-8-dobsonian.html

that a good one but i have the budget to go up to 1200 euros so if there is one for that price name a better one for beginners

[dweller25]

4 minutes ago, Raulvdzande said:

that a good one but i have the budget to go up to 1200 euros so if there is one for that price name a better one for beginners

Voila…. although the 12” is getting heavy….

I would choose the 10” and then buy some good eyepieces with what’s left of the budget.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-series/celestron-starsense-explorer-10-dobsonian.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-series/cel_starsense_exp_12_dob.html

Edited May 4 by dweller25

[davhei]

2 minutes ago, Raulvdzande said:

that a good one but i have the budget to go up to 1200 euros so if there is one for that price name a better one for beginners

Remember to save room in the budget for accessories, not just the scope. Eyepieces being a notable such accessory.

The ones included, though functional, might leave you wanting more and a set of eyepieces can easily be more expensive than the scope itself. They don’t have to be mind you, but the point is that you should be aware of it before spending the full budget on scope only.

[Raulvdzande]

i know but can you give me a idea what to buy? what scope and othert things as a beginner

[dweller25]

6 minutes ago, Raulvdzande said:

i know but can you give me a idea what to buy? what scope and othert things as a beginner

You need to first decide what scope to but, then you will get better advice on accessories 👍

[Raulvdzande]

i dont know which one i need to buy or is the best one for me

[dweller25]

4 minutes ago, Raulvdzande said:

i dont know which one i need to buy or is the best one for me

In that case I suggest you slow down, read as much as you can and perhaps join your local astronomy club .

When you have more knowledge you will be able to make your own choice with confidence 👍

Edited May 4 by dweller25

[Raulvdzande]

i thought maybe a full telescope like scope and everything else with is is a good idea, is it? and if yes which ones are good than

 

[Bivanus]

Here are my sugestions:

Sky-Watcher SKYMAX-127mm (AZ-GTi) WIFI Maksutov (robtics.nl) 775 EUR - it comes with Alt Azt WiFi enabled mount , includes a RedDotFinder , a 1.25" diagonal and  two eyepices (10mm and 25mm)

To this I would add a finder ( of course you may like the RedDotFinder and not need it by I find it usefull) Sky-Watcher 9X50 Angled Finder Scope with Bracket and Corrected Image (robtics.nl) 106 EUR and one more Eyepiece like this UFF : APM Telescopes. APM Ultra Flat Field 18mm Eyepiece 65° FOV (apm-telescopes.net) 119 EUR course

It so happens that the total is exactly 1000 EUR , but you must also pay for transportation , so I thing you are just within the 1200 EUR

[Tiny Clanger]

31 minutes ago, Raulvdzande said:

i thought maybe a full telescope like scope and everything else with is is a good idea, is it? and if yes which ones are good than

 

There are no simple answers to your question, if there were, there would only be one telescope available in that price bracket.

As others have said, you need to slow down and do some research, otherwise you could make a very expensive mistake.

You said you could carry a 10 to 12kg weight ... that's not much, and makes me wonder if you are either small or quite young ?

[Bivanus]

Oops ! Now I saw my post lacks the end of a proposition: "and one more Eyepiece like this UFF : APM Telescopes. APM Ultra Flat Field 18mm Eyepiece 65° FOV (apm-telescopes.net) 119 EUR of course you may also choose at the same price the 15mm APM Telescopes. APM Ultra Flat Field 15mm eyepiece 65° FOV (apm-telescopes.net) That would give you the following magnifications: 150x for 10mm ; 100x for 15mm ; 60x for 25mm"

 

[happy-kat]

If you go for a electronic goto telescope that uses a mobile phone, check that your mobile phone uses a compatible version of either android or iOS you can check this in the relevant app store

[Elp]

If you're unsure see if you have anyone local to you with scopes or a club.

Don't trust the word of typical retailers, this forums sponsor FLO have a telescope buyers guide on their site.

I think you'd do well with a 6 inch or 8 inch Newtonian (therefore dobsonian because the rocker box mount will be more stable than mounting onto a tripod and mount head, it will cost considerably more to get a stable tripod and mount to hold an 8 inch Newtonian well, and listen when I say this, your setups NEEDS to be reasonably stable, vibration is one of the worst things that can happen when you're viewing (also when imaging, probably even more important when imaging)). A Newtonian however can suffer more from vibration from mild breezes due to the box volume size of the scope, even more reason to consider the dobsonian type mount, so consider your weather too, unless if you can shield around you whilst using it (IE a building, wall etc). 

But, if you need to carry it, a smaller setup like those suggested herein will be better, you'll use it more the less hassle it is to setup and use trust me.

If you're holding out for that "best scope" you'll be waiting all your life, everyone has their own preference. Id suggest as an alternative maybe get a decent brand used scope, less initial outlay, if you don't like it there's minimal loss. But buy from someone who's passionate and been doing astro for a while. There's a Euro classifieds section on here once you've contributed to the forum discussions for a bit, it doesn't take long at all to gain access if you participate.

[Cosmic Geoff]

5 hours ago, Raulvdzande said:

i thought maybe the Celestron NexStar 5SE is a good one for me

That is a good choice. If you are being baffled by the varied advice offered, you could buy the Celestron Nexstar 5 SE.  My first GoTo scope, and my first serious astro scope, was the Celestron Nexstar 127 Mak - same aperture, same Nexstar operating system,  also an alt-azimuth GoTo. and with an even longer focal length.  The  field of view is not huge, but if you are not concerned about not being to get a few famous star clusters all in the field of view, that really will not be a problem.  People tend to exaggerate the problems of long focal length scopes. If your interest is in looking at the Moon, planets, double stars, globular clusters, and suchlike small things, it will work just fine. 

It's not very suitable for imaging things, with the exception of  planets or the Moon.

As for imaging, I suggest you leave that alone until you have gained some experience with a visual scope.  Before you ask, there is no scope or mount that is equally good for visual use and for imaging.  Or buy a Seestar S50, which is very affordable and gives you a complete imaging outfit and software in one small box.  If you like what the Seestar does and want bigger and better, then you can buy a bigger and better (and far more expensive) outfit.

[Raulvdzande]

1 hour ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

That is a good choice. If you are being baffled by the varied advice offered, you could buy the Celestron Nexstar 5 SE.  My first GoTo scope, and my first serious astro scope, was the Celestron Nexstar 127 Mak - same aperture, same Nexstar operating system,  also an alt-azimuth GoTo. and with an even longer focal length.  The  field of view is not huge, but if you are not concerned about not being to get a few famous star clusters all in the field of view, that really will not be a problem.  People tend to exaggerate the problems of long focal length scopes. If your interest is in looking at the Moon, planets, double stars, globular clusters, and suchlike small things, it will work just fine. 

It's not very suitable for imaging things, with the exception of  planets or the Moon.

As for imaging, I suggest you leave that alone until you have gained some experience with a visual scope.  Before you ask, there is no scope or mount that is equally good for visual use and for imaging.  Or buy a Seestar S50, which is very affordable and gives you a complete imaging outfit and software in one small box.  If you like what the Seestar does and want bigger and better, then you can buy a bigger and better (and far more expensive) outfit.

that is a good one but if its for beginners and there is one for beginners can you search for one that a maybe more expensive and better with max 1200 euros

[Raulvdzande]

because i like a thing that i can use for 1 or 2 years

[Raulvdzande]

i thing that is good enough to use but the best i could buy with 1200 euros

[Cosmic Geoff]

The Celestron C5 telescope was used by NASA astronauts on their missions. If it was good enough for them...

[franticsmurf]

I started with a Skywatcher 127 Mak on an Alt/Az Goto mount. I still have it 14 years later and use it mainly for planets/the moon but also the odd deep sky object and for splitting binary stars. When I started out, I found the things that made astronomy easier for a novice were important; Goto to take me to the interesting stuff, simple set up and operation and not having to collimate (adjust the mirrors). I kept my interest going though the early days of setbacks, enforced early finished due to work and disappointingly cloudy skies because I knew I could get out there quickly and see some good stuff without having to chase all over the sky.

 

When considering your first setup, do your research (this thread is full of good suggestions) but make sure your final choice of kit is something you'll be able to learn to use quickly and won't be so complicated that it risks putting you off. Good luck and enjoy. 🙂

[Nyctimene]

Hello, Raulvdzande, and welcome to this friendly forum!

A budget of 1200 € is very decent for a beginner and will allow you to buy a telescope, that will give you decades of pleasure under the night sky. A lot of suggestions have already been given; my advice is, to take yourself a lot of time, before you buy a telescope. I suppose that you are a younger person in this forum; so it might be, that you had no chance, up to now, to look through a decent telescope (not the department store ones). At any rate, visit a star party:https://www.astroforum.nl/forums/starpartys.47/ ,or a local club, as has been suggested already above. You'll need to see, handle and observe through telescopes of several varieties "in the flesh" to make an informed decision, what will be the best for you. Ask many questions and read a lot, especially in the "Beginners" section here ("Essential reading for those...."). A good start might also be to use some binoculars (type and size don't matter) along with a planisphere and a printed star map, e.g. the "Pocket Sky Atlas". The knowledge you will get with these simple tools will be of good use later. Take yourself time, have fun, and enjoy the steps! Stargazing is for many of us a lifetime hobby (or way of life), so no need to hurry.

Hth

Stephan

Edited May 5 by Nyctimene

[malc-c]

On 04/05/2024 at 13:12, Raulvdzande said:

i want to see the moon and some other planets and stars nothing specificly right now and i want to make pictures with a phone or camera. i dont worry about the future because when i want to upgrade i will make sure that i have to money for the right equipment

From this and subsequent posts I don't think we should really be stating individual scopes.  There is no "one scope suits all".  For planets you need long focal lengths to get the magnification, but then with higher magnification the resolution becomes an issue so you then need a large aperture scope with a long focal length.  A lot of the really clear, fantastically detailed images of Jupiter with its large moons, or Saturn with is banded rings that are seen on forums and in books have been taken with something like a 12-14" SCT, which will have upwards of 2m - 2.5m (or more) focal length, and would take up all (or more) of your budget just for the OTA alone.  So there is already a compromise needed... a 6" or 8" MAK or SCT will still give decent magnification, and have reasonable contrast and resolution to a degree.   These scopes are also good for star clusters, but if you then want to see or image fainter objects then a long focal length scope isn't ideal.  Yes you can get focal length reducers, but in the same way as a barlow lens will double or treble the focal length of a short focal length telescope, adding lenses between the eye or camera sensor and the photons coming into form the distant object degrades the result a little.  This is why a lot of people either put up with the shortcomings when using accessories to change the focal length, or simply have one scope for planets and the moon, and then another for nebula's and galaxies, with a decent mount that can carry the weight of either (or both at the same time, but again, a mount that can take that weight is more than the budget is now).  

To try and give you some idea... I have a 200mm  aperture, 1000mm focal length reflector telescope.  This is an image taken in 2011 when Jupiter was close to the Earth in their orbits.  It's taken with a basic 640 x 480 webcam (nothing spectacular) but I used two 2x barlow lenses to get an equivalent 4000mm focal length.  I was quite pleased with the results at the time... but whilst you can make out some detail in the bands, a lot of finer detail is lost, and due to the glass of the barlow lenses it has a blue edge to the image.

 

Now have a look through the planetary section of the forum for images taken with 12" or 14" SCT scopes and you'll see the difference.  Here is an example I've found of an image taken through a C14  with a decent planetary camera,  

 

Notice the difference.   It's also down to your expectations.  If you are happy to get similar images of Jupiter to mine then sure a £300  reflector would do the job, but if you are already accepting that there will be a time where you will upgrade the equipment, then that is false economy.  If you are really serious and looking at a long term investment then increase the budget and look at getting something that will more than adequately cover you beginning steps, but also be able to provide you with the results you want to eventually end up getting.

 

For me I'm happy with the results my rig gives me, even though I'm in a town and so my skys are  probably a lot, lot more light polluted than yours are.  This is an image taken with a old Canon DSLR attached to the SW Explorer 200P, which I am more than happy with...

 

If this is the sort of thing you are aiming to achieve then you should be able to get a mount such as an HEQ5 / EQ6 / AZ-EQ6 and a 200mm f5 scope for deep sky, with a  100mm f9 refractor for planetary.  But if you think you will outgrow this level quickly then keep saving or increase the budget and step up to the next level.

Its always difficult to advise people what to look for as we all have different expectations.  I know of two people who have had pictures published in national and international astronomy magazines.  One has a 250mm Ritchey-Chretien telescope plus flattener; ZWO ASI 071MC camera all sitting on a Skywatcher EQ8 mount, the other has an Orion Optics ODK12, which sits on one of two EQ8 mounts in his observatory.  One of these guys started off with equipment like mine, but often wish that seeing where they are now had just gone for the mounts they currently own rather than having to constantly upgrade, and often losing out financially when selling the  equipment second hand.

Anyway, I've waffled on far too much, and probably taken this thread slightly off topic so I'll leave it at that.