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hey guys quick question


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so im completly new to this. i would like a telescope that allows me to look at stars etc. i understand that there are certin types of telescope that allow you to view stars better than planets. i think it may be called a reflector telescope. can someone confirm this for me thanks :D

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The newtonian reflector is a good alround instrument in sizes 6" and upwards. Do bear in mind that stars are still tiny points of light even when viewed through a powerful telescope.

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hmm so am i exspecting to much to look threw a scope and see some detail in stars and nebulae. i was looking at a few pictures in the imaging form so am i right in saying i wont see anything like that?

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what i mean is will i be able to make out galaxies and star clusters. i plan on buying a 6" or 8" during the week if i can find one at a nice price on this site. would you suggest buying new or second hand ?

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hi there

here's an example of what a good quality imager will manage with a camera

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-deep-sky/93527-m31-andromeda-galaxy-part-2-a.html

this is more like what you will see through the scope with good conditions

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-sketches-unconventional/89799-andromeda-friends.html

scroll down in each case.

although you will never see visually what you will capture with a camera, the thrill is in the hunt and also the fact you are seeing things maybe billions of years old and indescribably distant with your own eyes.

it's rare to see any colour in deep space object. you'll see some with planets and some brighter stars but that's about it. the problem is that the light is so dim that on the whole your cones (for colour) have shut down and you are using your rods (monochrome) only.

detail is another thing. there's lots in eg the Orion Nebula and globular clusters etc but again this is not at the high levels in photos.

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Basically 2 types of scope: Refractors - lens at the front, or Reflectors - mirror at the rear.

Reflectors only have one surface ground so will turn out bigger for the money spent.

No star will be any more then a pin point, too far away.

I guess that what you have looked at are galaxies, clusters and nebulae in the imaging section. These all subtend an angle and so you will get a recognised image. A single star will give a point. Does the imaging section not supply information on how the image was obtained?

Before you start wanting to do imaging do some investigation into how they are produced and the equipment necessary.

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hi thanks for the replys. im not intrested in taking images yet alough i wanted to know what exactly i would be seeing if i went out and bought one. thanks for the pictures shanefarrell i think i have a better understanding now

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sorry I didn't answer your main question and agree with Capricorn that you need to think carefully about imaging as it can be an expensive option with specialised techniques and equipment. I am also relatively new to the hobby (so bear this in mind) but you learn quickly and this forum is brilliant for newbies.

as others have said there are different scopes and you can view them as being for different things in some ways.

to my eyes, there are two main features to a scope:

aperture (width of the mirror / lens) - how much light the scope can gather - the bigger the aperture the more light it gathers. aperture also allows more resolution in the final image and often allows more magnification subject to the seeing conditions.

focal length (length of tube approx - actually the distance from the lens/mirror to the focal point of the eyepiece) - this dictates (in conjunction with aperture) two things - magnification / field of view and focal ratio. the longer the focal length, the higher the magnification of a given eyepiece. also, the longer the focal length the higher the focal ratio - a higher focal ratio means that you can use less expensive eyepieces generally and get better resolution on planets and the moon. a lower focal ratio means the opposite but you can also take photographs with shorter exposure times and gather light more rapidly for DSOs.

most types of scope come in various focal lengths and apertures - you just have to take into account preferred viewing targets, your own physical strength, your budget, whether or not you wish to take images, your viewing site - how dark is it?

newtonian reflectors (especially on a dobsonian mount) give the most aperture for your money - an 8" dobsonian reflector is a good all rounder.

refractors give sharper images generally but are more costly and not many people have eg an 8" refractor as it would be extremely heavy and need a very expensive mount to run it even for visual use. as a result most people buy a 3-6" refractor and therefore the aperture is sometimes not adequate for some subjects.

many people end up with 2, 3 or even more scopes for different reasons. I have a 300mm dobsonian and a 120mm refractor and love them both. there is not much I cannot do with the dobsonian that I can do with the refractor. the only possible exception is tight doubles but even then it's usually possible with care to see them in the dobsonian too.

if I was starting again, I'd have no hesitation in recommending to myself that I went for a large dob first. this stands unless I was getting into imaging in which case I'd forget about it until I could afford a good quality mount (maybe £500-800) and then a good quality ED refractor (maybe £500) and CCD/DSLR (£500) camera to go with it (and hours every time I imaged to get the data sorted :D

hope my somewhat long reply makes sense and is helpful. you'll get lots of replies though so consider them all before buying. consider buying used too as you can get some bargains.

the main thing is get a scope you'll use as a scope gathering dust because it's too heavy or does not have adequate aperture for what you wish to see is certainly not going to see anything! :)

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Another recent arrival here.

From what I understand of my reading so far, you'll be needing to investigate time delay imaging to get any worthwhile results when viewing stars or nebulae. I may go that way myself eventually.

Researching prices and portability, I didn't think an 8" was worth it in the end.

I have just bought a 6" reflector. It's big enough to get good views of the Moon and Planets (weather permitting), but portable when broken down. I don't think I would feel out of place mixing it with other astronomers, but it didn't break the bank. :D

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In resume, for strictly visual work, having in mind the objective to see a bit of everything and maintaining a reasonable ratio between aperture, price and portability an 8" reflector is probably the best solution.

I would personally recommend this scope:

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

I have an equivalent one. It's very easy to setup and will allow you to observe on a comfortable seating position. It also haves a very quick learning curve.

Other then the scope you should buy only the very essential extras for now:

- Red light torch to keep your eye dark adaptation while reading charts

- Neutral density filter for the moon (it's too bright to watch on a scope, you need to cut the light down)

- A good finderscope to help you find things. Either the telrad or a rigel quickfinder

And thats it. If planets are a bit interest you could also add to it a nice 5mm EP or a 2x barlow lens. But this can, and should, wait till you have some experience and you start knowing what you really need.

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well i live in the country side and have open skies so im not sure if i would have to travel very far with it. ill keep an eye out in the sales section and mabi i will be able to find myself something nice however im not sure if someone will go threw the hassel of sending it over to me.im in ireland

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It's not exactly a portable sollution, just the cheapest scope, with good quality, you can get with 8" aperture. With 8" many DSOs are barely visible so if galaxy and nebula are a big interest I would not recommend anything smaller. It should allow good views on about 200 DSOs and detection of another 400 or so under dark skies.

An 8" dob is not exactly portable, but it's portable enough if you have a car. It weights just over 20kg so can be carried easily, in and out the house/garage, in one piece and it's about 4,5 feet tall.

For a real portable solution, maintaining the 8" aperture for DSOs (Deep Sky Objects, as in galaxy or nebula), the best choice would be a Schmidt Cassgrain Telescope (SCT) and a focal reducer. An 8" SCT is about 4x more expensive. http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=C8se

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The newtonian reflector is a good alround instrument in sizes 6" and upwards. Do bear in mind that stars are still tiny points of light even when viewed through a powerful telescope.

Unless you observe them out of focus and then the while sky looks like it is full of planets,LOL.

yep i've been there done that.

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i had a look at a few. Phenix 150mm(6 inch) Newtonian Reflector seems quite a nice price for starting out. would you suggest this or is it better to hold out and get an 8"

There are better telescopes than the Phenix 150 reflector telescope. The telescope has a spherical primary mirror which is inferior to the parabolic primary mirror used on the Skywatcher reflector telescopes that have the P suffix.

Peter

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