First post, but no questions!

[Faceplant]

Hi All,

After watching Wonders of the Solar System I thought ' i'd like a telescope', I’ve always had an interest in physics and the starts and thought it will be a hobby that I would enjoy for a long time. What stated as a quick look on ebay has turned into 2 weeks of reading, learning mountains of information and uncovering many, many questions.

Having used lots of forums before I didnt want to come in and ask; What telescope is the best? There is sooooo much info and guides on the net, you just have to look. Granted there is much to learn and it can all be overwhelming. But little bit at a time and I’m gradually learning about different telescopes, stars and how to find them.

One thing that I had a concern over is what will I actually see if I spend £200-300 on a telescope? I don’t want to spend £200 and not see much, loose interest and never use it again. I don’t want to regret not spending a little more to see lots more. I’ve been using Stellarium, to help me get bearings and find locations of start, galaxy’s and nebula. But I keep coming back to ‘what will I see!’

Then I found this; http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/interactive/fov/fov.asp

It is a online application that shows you what you will see from a range of scopes, allowing you to choose eyepieces, barlows and cameras. It looks like a great way to see the benefits are of a range of scopes and parts before you commit to buying.

For the moment I’m scope free, and want to stay away from buying one for another month. If I still have the interest and want to learn then it will be worth my money. The best answer to the best telescope question is; one that gets used! No point buying a scope at any price and not using it.

I’m not sure if the app has already appeared on the forum, but I thought other newbs might like it. Hope it helps in some way.

Thanks

FP

[Doc]

Welcome to SGL

Best advice don't buy from E-Bay and only buy a well known telescope brand such as Skywatcher, Celestron etc. Have a look at First Light Optics, see logo on top of this page.

They have some great scopes, maybe give them a ring and I'm sure FLO will point you in the right direction.

[pvaz]

As to buying the scope, you'll be much better of buying from a known brand such as SkyWatcher, Celestron, Meade or Orion (both of them, UK or US).

Skywatcher haves probably the best rate between quality and price.

As to what you'll see, that depends mainly on the aperture of the scope you buy. Don't use images as reference as they show much more then your eye can pick. Take a look at this sketches as they are the closest thing to what you can expect:

Stargazers Lounge - Talitha's Album: Deep Sky Sketches

Resuming:

You will see Jupiter and Saturn bands, Saturn rings, Mars polar cap, color in planets and some stars. Mercury and Venus as fases (similar to the moon), great detail on the moon's craters. Galaxies and nebula will be faint and gray scale, although the brightest nebulas such as the veil or orion's show great structure detail. You'll also see great star clusters, but stars always look like points, even using Hubble.

[Golfmad]

Hi.

I started over Easter and like you my budget was £200 - £300. I ended up looking at the Skywatcher Explorer 130, 150p and 150pl. Ended up going for the 150pl for £250 and it has been brilliant. Have to reccommend it.

Oliver

[Faceplant]

Cool, thanks for the tip, I was looking at the Skywatcher Explorer 150 or 200, tho the 200 is slightly over budget.

I'd be interested in seeing planets, galaxies and nebula, hows the quality on the 150PL?

Where in London are u golfmad?

[Rui]

FP, do you already have or tried binoculars?

To start the hobby and get to know your way in the night sky, inexpensive 10X50mm binoculars, like those you can buy at LIDL (once in awhile) are something very nice. You can already see craters on the Moon, the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, Jupiter satelites (providing you mount the binos in a tripod) and some other starfields.

Meanwhile you learn to search the objects with a much wider field than you'll ever get with a telescope and it's something that will always be useful for a glimpse at the sky.

Later, when you be a telescope, you'll more at easy with it.

[albedo0.39]

Hi there FP - I think you are doing the right thing waiting to see what it is you want to get out of the hobby. It took me 20 years to move from a 4.5" Reflector to what I have now ! (Well, OK - I admit I forgot about astronomy for 18 of those 20 years) but seriously, one of the best ways to learn is to perhaps go to a Star Party and just see what kind of set up takes your fancy

Planetary ?

Solar ?

Deep Sky ?

Imaging ?

There is so much choice and some excellent advice right here on SGL. Good luck

Don't forget that a decent field atlas will help as will some time spent getting into the sky via Stellarium (free to download).

good luck

Steve

[brantuk]

Hi and welcome to the group

[Chris H]

Hi Faceplant and welcome to SGL. You have a decent budget there which would enable you to buy an excellent telescope. You could get an 8" Dob that would give you a great views of enough objects to keep you busy for a long time. A Dob is basically a Newtonian reflector on a simple but highly effective base/mount. This type of telescopes provides the best 'bang for buck'.

[david o]

Hi FP,

A very warm welcome to the forum.

[Golfmad]

Im in zone 2. Havent really had chance to test the scope out down here yet. I was back up north when I purchased it over Easter. I think the quality of the 150PL has been great although I have only been using it for a few hours

I think a big plus is how good the scopes and mounts can look as furniture if you are short of space. No need to pack it away .

[Faceplant]

cool, sounds nice, will save for a purchase the next month, the 150PL seems like a good option. Wouldnt mind the goto system either...

[orionhunter]

ive got the SW 150p dob.

i cannot recommend it highly enough for the money.

im still in awe of seeing saturn and its rings, and with moons!

[Brendan of Borg]

Hello!

[Phil73805]

I had a look at the application and have to say that from my own experience the site presents you with an ideal that will only be experienced on a night of amazing transparency and seeing as well being from a dark sky site with night adapted vision.

[Talitha]

Phil, i was just thinking the same thing. A trained eye makes a big difference, too.

Welcome to SGL, FP!