| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 64752 | 2005-12-26 10:42:00 | telescope recommendations | DangerousDave (697) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 415814 | 2005-12-26 10:42:00 | Hey guys, I've got a bit of money lying around after the xmas rush and am wanting to invest in a telescope. I'm quite interested in astronomy and want to spend some money to get a relatively decent quality telescope for myself, a newbie to astronomy; somewhere in the range of several hundred dollars. Does anyone have any idea as to what I should get (and possibly read) in relation to astronomy. Recommendations to shops in Auckland would be nice too :). I'm quite a fan of www.heavens-above.com. Thanks, David |
DangerousDave (697) | ||
| 415815 | 2005-12-26 20:02:00 | Go here www.skyandspace.com.au you can buy this mag from a book shop. Probibly best to start off with a pair of 7X50 binoculars. That is all I use. Been an amateur astronomer for about 35 years. Trevor :) |
Trev (427) | ||
| 415816 | 2005-12-26 20:44:00 | I've often thought of getting a telescope, but as Trev says a decent pair of binoculars would be a good starting point. A "few hundred " dollars would not buy anything much better. A good telescope would be more like a few thousand. |
JJJJJ (528) | ||
| 415817 | 2005-12-26 21:19:00 | One thing to consider that has stopped me buying a decent telescope (as I am lazy), is you cannot use them in reality in a city area due to the city lights reflecting back (light haze over city). Years back I had a friend with a decent telescope and when you exited the city to view stars it was 10x better, more stars no tweakiing and could see them far clearer. Coming back to the city basically rendered it useless once you knew what it could do. If you don't mind a long drive often then no problems, or if you live in the country or very small town even better. |
Battleneter (60) | ||
| 415818 | 2005-12-26 22:11:00 | Back over the Christmas New Year holiday period of 1969-70 I think I stayed on a farm outside Dargaville and about half an hour after sunset you could see this comet the head of which was just above the western horizon, it had a tail on it that went past overhead long. Had to come back home a few days later (Napier) and although it was still in the sky I couldn't see a trace of it. Trevor :) |
Trev (427) | ||
| 415819 | 2005-12-26 23:54:00 | Yeah, the city lights do suck! I often drive north a bit anyway, its often hard to believe just how much light the city throws out. | DangerousDave (697) | ||
| 415820 | 2005-12-27 00:09:00 | Glad you've found Heavens Above. It is a wonderful site for spotting satellite passes. Telescopes. It is easy to be distracted by magnification and forget that a telescope is primarily a light gathering device. So high magnification isn't particularly important. I say this because a star that is magnified 1000 times in a narrow scope still just looks like a point of bright light. Diameter is important. The wider the telescope, the more light it grabs and the more detail you can see. Particularly colours. Ideally a Schmidt-Casselgrain 8inch (200mm) scope is what you want or even a 300mm. Meade is the leading manufacturer and Celestron is good. These scopes can come with electronic motors which track stars for you. But these are pricey. A standard reflector (as opposed to refractor - ie magnifying) telescope will do what you want. 100mm is normal but 150 much better. |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 415821 | 2005-12-27 00:14:00 | Having said the above - Trev is right. Experienced astronomers will tell you to simply use large binoculars or a spotting scope, such as is used by bird watchers. Check out your local observatory. Astronomers are enthusiasts and love to share knowledge and advice. Also use Google. There are plenty of sites on amateur astronomy. |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 415822 | 2005-12-27 00:21:00 | Light pollution is a real pain in cities. About half the night sky is obscured by diffracted street lights. Interestingly the Port of Auckland has recognised this and dramatically changed its lighting. Lower energy costs and more effective lights. There are international movements to reduce light pollution. For anyone interested here is the NZ group groups.yahoo.com Finally and just as a note of interest, France is the only nation which has a national policy to reduce light pollution and is doing it. |
Winston001 (3612) | ||
| 415823 | 2005-12-27 02:01:00 | I went down to the local camera shop and it seems quite expensive (read: ripoff). A newtonian reflector looks like something I'm looking for - $350 or so. Has a 114mm aperture. Seems ok however. I never thought physics at university would come in handy :). Some guy I was speaking to was half way through his physics major and still hadn't touched the telescope on the top floor. The physics professors guard it well. There was an episode on the Simpsons about light pollution, hilarity ensues. |
DangerousDave (697) | ||
| 1 2 3 4 | |||||