First post on astronomy forum.

[Astorix]

Hello everyone! This is my first post here!

I was browsing Google looking for a forum to join and this one seemed friendly:)

I want to get into astronomy more. Currently i just have a pair of rather small Binoculars, however really enjoy going for long walks with my dog and just gazing up at the sky. I know there are probably many posts for beginners on what types of scopes there are and what are good scopes for the lower end of the market. But i just thought i would post here, Say hi

Hi:hello2:

And see if anyone could give me some ideas?

I am looking to spend no more than £200. I have done some research, and one name kept popping up, Sky watcher? I am not sure eactly what this means but they seemed to be good value for money, and a good all rounder scope?

Many thanks

[Doc]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

If I was beginner with £200 I would look for something like this:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 130P SupaTrak AUTO

[Astorix]

Wow thats looks very nice indeed!

So what is so good about the skywatcher range? is it the cheaper brand or something? because there are scopes i have seen for thousands of pounds!

Also i know this sounds stupid, but you will have to forgive me for i know very little about this. What exactly is apature? if that one has 130m what does that mean?

[insomnia]

Aperture relates to the size of the mirror. 130" is 5 inches.

The bigger the mirror the more light it grabs from the night sky, which means that you are able to see dimmer stuff like galaxies, nebulars.

Skywatcher are a good reliable brand. I am on my 2nd Skywatcher

The scope that Mick has suggested is a good scope, it has everything you need to get going and a lot of people start off with a 5" or 6" scope. You will see lots of good stuff in a 5"

You could also go without the motor drive and go for extra aperture for an extra £20 over your budget you could go for this http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=150eq32

[Astorix]

That is very good news! i cannot wait to get started! i want to purchase it now, however, the other half says i must wait till end of month when i actually "have" the money. That is what credit cards are there for right?

So what kind of thins will be visible then, thank you for the very helpful comments!

[BAZ Senior]

Hi Astorix, welcome to SGL. The above scopes come well recommended, if you check the equipment list in people's signatures, you will see just how many own Skywatcher scopes, myself included. This was purchased on the strength of advice I received off here, and Iam very happy with it. Also as others have advised, download "Stellarium" it's free, and very useful, that will give you some idea of what's about at the moment. Don't forget to see Venus and Mercury, they follow the Sun down.

Let us know what scope you go for.

[Astorix]

I will do! thankyou very much for all the advice! look forwarding to posting again soon!

Many reagurds

[phillc]

Hello Astrorix and a warm welcome to SGL.

phillc

[Astorix]

Thankyou Phillic!

what a warm welcome it has been!

[insomnia]

Give it an hour or 2 and the forum will be heaving

[Astorix]

Wow! and i thought that i had alot of responses quickly now!

can't wait for more!

[insomnia]

If you are confused now about what scope to get....its gonna get a lot more complicated once more members recommend their best choices.

Be ready for a headache

[glowjet]

Hi Astorix,

A very warm welcome to SGL, hope you enjoy the forum and your new scope, whichever one you choose, you will, however, find through advise that aperture rules, so go for the biggest you can afford, they all come with free cloud by the way and just by coincidence, the first night you want to use it.

John.

[Captain Tripps]

Welcome to the forum

Lee

[Astro_Baby]

Hi from me too - sorry a bit late but been very busy

Theres nowt wrong with Skywatcher and plenty of folk on here use them (me included) just steer clear of ebay brands.

The good ones are Skywatcher, TAL, Celestron, Meade, Orion Optics and a few others. If in doubt ask here and you'll get some solid advice from people for sure.

[Talitha]

Hi, and welcome to SGL.

[PhilD]

Hi Astorix and welcome to SGL.

[Rusty Strings]

Hi and welcome to SGL

Another vote for Skywatcher here. Go for a 150 if the funds can be stretched.

[david o]

Hi Astorix,

Welcome to the the forum.

[Brendan of Borg]

Hello bud. Make yourself at home bud - friendly skies here!

[Marc8667]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

As Astro_Baby has said, there's nowt wrong with Skywatcher, I have a 200p and it's fantastic. I started off with a Meade etx 60 which is a good scope with goto but it's only a 60mm aperture and it may be able to find all these deep sky objects but you can only see the really bright ones.

The skywatcher 130 sounds good to me and you'll be able to gather more light with a 5 inch aperture.

[Astorix]

Thankyou to all that have replied to this thread! as i said, even if i stretched my budget to the 150 i imagine some one would tell "Just stretch a bit more and get the next one up" never ending circle! so i will stick with 130p for now! i am sure that i will have lots and lots of memorable sights with it!

[Phil73805]

Hi Astorix, welcome to SGL. You'll not a friendlier forum anywhere, trust me.

As for scopes, I can highly recommend the Skywatcher 150P Dobsonian. From First Light Optics you can pick it up for £179 (Link at the top of the page). It has a very simple altitude/azimuth mount i.e. left/right up/down and offers a 6" apeture for relatively little money. I'm about to buy one myself.

[Astorix]

Hi Phil, thanks for the advice, i have heard good things about dobsonian, however where i live, i need to be able to move it around relatively easily and it looks rat her cumbersome, plus i am interested in simple astrophotograpghy, which the 130p suptrak will help greatly!