I need to buy a telescope

[Raza]

I was going to say "Why? Hot neighbor?" But I have no advice.

[tempocalypse]

Your answer was very comprehensive - thank you. You've sold me on the motorised mount for sure - 10 minutes setup each time sounds dull. Thanks temp

You can cut it down to less than 5 when you get used to it! Or you can do what I did and get an Star Sense automated set up camera, though thats 300 quid in the UK on its own... still its super cool to just take the scope out and have it do its thing on its own with no input from me.


That aside an automated tracking scope is totally worth the set up time and all that. You have a nice steady view as your selected object is tracked automatically and you don't end up frustrated trying to manually keep something in view (which would add shake every time you move it too).

I had a little look around with other brands like Orion too, but the problem is that UK dealers seem to just take the US price and change the sign to £. I know the pound is weaker these days but still, your prices are more than US even accounting for VAT.

[Matt]

I just did the rounds on this for my kids and after talking to an astronomer friend of a friend I was convinced that what I really wanted for anything other than professional star gazing was binoculars.

Ten seconds on Google confirmed this, with a slew of articles like this:

http://earthsky.org/human-world/top-...for-stargazing

making the same points over and over again.

He also said that somewhere between 8x40 and 10x50 was optimum and pointed out that while optics coatings have improved quite a lot over the years, you can pick up amazing top of the range stuff from decades past for the price of bottom of the range stuff today. As a result, I did some more research, discovered that some binoculars are specifically designed for low light applications.

Then I discovered that the binocular world is not unlike the watch world in that quite a few manufacturers make optics for other companies and ended up deciding that a pair of 10x50 Bushell Custom Rangemasters was perfect for me as the optics were actually made by Fujinon and yet you could find them on ebay for virtually nothing. They have a tripod mount and are immensely adaptable. However, there are literally dozens of threads in which the best binoculars for astronomy are discussed in the sort of geekish detail that has to be close to the heart of any WIS.

More to the point, they are small enough to be stuck in a convenient draw and can be deployed in seconds, which is great for meteorite showers or, as we did the other day, looking at France from Dover. Given that you have the downs behind you and can wander into the bits with almost zero light pollution on a clear night, they are immensely portable and can be walked into one of the many chalk quarries on the downs that shield you from a lot of light pollution. (for example, the SSSI quarry at Malling Down on the B2192 just behind Lewes (That's through the Culfail tunnel, turn right at the roundabout, up the hill past the fire station, hang a right and then drive down the road for about a mile before pulling up on the right and following the footpath up to the quarry. (it's also historically cool as it's where the Canadians practiced for the Dieppe raid and so all those things that look like shell holes really are...) On top of the Long Man at Wilmington is good too, as is Titch Hill Road between Stening and Sompting.

[geoffbot]

Her birthday is tomorrow so I panic bought this. https://www.celestron.com/products/a...rive-telescope

[tribe125]

Preoccupied with buying a motorbike, almost forgot the wife’s birthday...

Much better than some flowers from a bucket at the petrol station though.

[geoffbot]

Ha yes I think so. She wouldn't want me to spend too much and this one looks like a good option.

[popoki nui]

Her birthday is tomorrow so I panic bought this. https://www.celestron.com/products/a...rive-telescope

A decent choice for a first telescope. She will be able to see star clusters, brighter galaxies, planets, and of course the Moon. She'll be able to take great photos of the Moon. With a proper solar filter (that covers the entire open end of the telescope), she can view and photograph the Sun.

Somehow I missed this entire topic, sorry! Hope she likes it.

~Sherry.

[popoki nui]

How did it go with the new telescope?

[geoffbot]

Haven't set it up yet! Been busy and it looks complex. Now I'm away till Tuesday. Shame, the moon looks epic tonight

[popoki nui]

Haven't set it up yet! Been busy and it looks complex. Now I'm away till Tuesday. Shame, the moon looks epic tonight

Let me know if you need advice setting it up. FWIW- the moon always looks better when it isn't full. First Quarter and Last Quarter are great, but any phase except full are good too. The full moon is too bright and washed out to see much.