Everything About Telescopes

Discussion in 'Astronomy, Exobiology, & Cosmology' started by Tristan, May 10, 2003.

  1. azizbey kodummu oturturum Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    129
    need an advice

    hi, i would like to buy a telescope to look at planets and galaxies. i searced about reflector and refractor telescope, but i need and advice from a user which one i should prefer. also, if i can take pictures with it, thanks in advance folks!
     
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  3. danbirchall Pedant Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    8
    Unfortunately, CFHT's web site isn't reachable right now for some reason (not even for me, on the same island as it

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    ) but the URL to look at when it is would be:

    Hawaiian Starlight

    While you wait, you could take a glance at a shot I got of some stuff in that area using the old TeK2048 on the UH 2.2-meter (the same scope and instrument that Jewitt and Luu used in '92 to find the first non-Pluto KBO)... it's not a very good shot since I'm only a scope operator, not an actual astronomer or anything, and I only did 1 exposure in each filter, with no darks or flats, but I dunno, maybe you'll like it...

    Here it is.

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  5. Delicia Registered Member

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    10
    who's a pro with the 130mm spaceprobe?

    Hello everyone,

    I'm new here. I just received my new spaceprobe 1300mm by Orion. I did own a 70mm NG from Meade, which was not as advance as the spaceprobe. I saw the moon which is the easiest celestrial object to located, but I tried to look at Venus using my Plossl 6.3mm eyepeice (which does not come with the scope). I go it in view, but it's just a white blob. I was expecting to see a cresent. Is it me or the telescope

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    ? Also how do you know where to look for other planets like Mars and and Jupiter:shrug: ? I desperately need help!!!





     
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  7. Nickelodeon Banned Banned

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    10,581
    Easisiet is to get some kind of star mapping software. There are free ones like Skyglobe (which despite being quite old, is quite useful), and pay-for ones like Starry Night.
     
  8. Delicia Registered Member

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    10
    Thanks but still confused about a few things.

    Thanks so much. You know my telescope comes with "Starry Night". I'm reading so many different things at once. I have no patience. I want to learn everything now. That's my problem. I only looked at the "Starry night" DVD, but not the software. So I guess I'll be doing that. I'm so excited. I bought a bunch of accessories, and so I'm busy reading. I also bought a book called, "NightWatch" by Terence Dickinson on amazon for $22. This book is AWESOME!!!! Mainly for enthusiastic beginners like myself. If you don't have a telescope yet. Read this book first. The only thing that upsets me about this book is they say and I quote, "The classic trash scope priced at$300 or less is designed not for ease of use...".

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    They also say that a beginner should chose a reflector telescope with an aperture in the range of 6-10 inches. My spaceprobe is 5.1 inch (130mm). I'm worried that I made the wrong choice. To re-package another scope (especially one of this size and weight) would be such an inconvience. What do you think? Should I or shouldn't I?

    Delicia
     
  9. Tristan Leave your World Behind Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    1,358
    No just stick with the scope you have. I mean, it would be nice to have a larger scope if you are in a place with bad light polution (i.e. a city or close suburb) but not necessary. You can upgrade in due time

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    Get the National Audobon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky. Its a fantastic field guide, the best I've found.

    Also, you can find websites that tell you where the planets are currently... not to mention, Natural History (magazine) always has a page devoted to describing where the planets will be in the coming weeks
     
  10. Delicia Registered Member

    Messages:
    10
    Before you buy a telescope

    Hello,

    I'm new at this whole thing too. However, I've read a few books on telescopes, scanned many reviews about telescopes. Anyways, I love this book that I'm reading called "Nightwatch" by Terrence Dickinson. I bought it on amazon for $22

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    . It has everything you need to know and it's simplied. It will educate you to know what the best type of scope to buy so that you don't waste hundreds on scrap. I've learned that it's better to spend a few hundred on a good scope that allows you to see objects than to spend only $100 on telescope and be frustrated that you can't see anything but the moon:bawl: . This book is an easy read, informative and teaches you how to located stars, nebulas ect. easily, whereas, some star charts are very overwhelming with information that scares the new beginner. I highly recommend this book!


     
  11. Delicia Registered Member

    Messages:
    10
    I'm frustrated!!!!!

    Ok,

    I'm frustrated because I have this gorgeous spaceprobe 130mm standing in the middle of my living room and I can't use it

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    . I'm frustrated because everyone on this board who owns this telescope has nothing but good things to say about it. I'm frstrated because people write about seeing planets and nebulas, and I've seen nothing but the moon, stars and venus. I'm frustrated because everyone is saying it's so easy to use, yet I can't figure out this equatorial mount for the life of me! I'm frustrated because I live in NYC and there's so much light pollution, and I can't find POLARIS!!!!!!! I'm frustrated because even though I bought the "ultrablock" filter from Orion, I'm still lost! I'm frustrated because I don't know how to understand the Starry Night program using the RA and Dec coordinates to find the planets. I'm frustrated because I think I'm going to have to send this telescope back and I just finished sending back a previous telescope (with a lower aperature). I'm frustrated because I'm scared that if I trade this in for another telescope, I will be dealing with similar issues...or different ones. What am I doing wrong? Someone please tell me. I think I might just trade this in for a 6 inch Newtonian Dob. At least I won't have to worry about an equatorial mount, and taking an hour to set up. I just have to point and shoot. If anyone has any other opinions, I'll be happy to see them. Thank you for listening. I needed to vent

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    .












     
  12. Pete It's not rocket surgery Registered Senior Member

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  13. Tristan Leave your World Behind Valued Senior Member

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    1,358
    And I'll also say that dobsonians are the easiest to use, especially for a beginner. And yeah, you won't see much living in New York City. If you can get out of the city and farther west into the state, then you'll be able to see stuff.
     
  14. Delicia Registered Member

    Messages:
    10
    Thanks guys

    Thanks Pete and Tristan! I'm happy that there's is someone I could talk to about these things

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    . My friends are not into this kind of stuff. Yeah, I think I'll change my telescope to the Skyquest XT6 Classic Dob reflector. I was also looking at the Celestron Starseeker 100mm to go refractor. The reason why I chose those two is because they are not just for deep space, they are for veiwing panets too. I like the refactor for it's portability, but it doesn't have as much aperture as the 6 in (150mm) reflector. Orion says that refractors have better visibility in city skies. So before I make that FINAL purchase, I just wanted to ask some experts on the subject. What do you guys think?



     
  15. Nickelodeon Banned Banned

    Messages:
    10,581
    I can totally reccommend this, gives you a chance to see what kinds of things you can see through various telescopes. Some enthusiasts spend loads of money on thier equipment and are usually really eager to talk. I remember when I first saw Saturns' rings, amazing, just amazing.
     
  16. Delicia Registered Member

    Messages:
    10
    astronomy clubs

    Yes,
    I went to one last Friday and I saw the rings of Saturn. It was amazing! I also saw Titan orbiting Saturn, what a sight! There were too many people there to ask questions. Actually, it was at the college I teach at Nassau Community college. I used to work in that department (physical science dept) when i was a student there, so I know the Professors there. However, there's going to be another meeting May 6th, so I'm going. Thanks for the heads up. I think I'll learn better that way.

    My colleague is going to buy my 130mm starprobe. So I don't have to spend money sending it back. I'm still indecisive about the Orion sky quest XT6 intelliscope or the classic. The classic comes with the laser colllimator, however, it looks a little bulky. The XT6 intelliscope had the option of buying the intelliscope, but how good does it work? Another option is the 100mm refractor for easy of use and portibility, but that's at the cost of aperture. I want to give it a few days to decide, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open.

    Thank you!





     
  17. Delicia Registered Member

    Messages:
    10
    my new telescopes

    Ok, so here's what I did. I sold my spaceprobe 130mm to my colleague and I bought the Orion skyquest XT6 classic which is a 6 inch Newtonian Dob. The price wasn't bad. Just a bit more than the spaceprobe. They say this line of scopes is frequently sought after, which is strange since I haven't seen as many reviews as the spaceprobe

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    . Anyways, I asked if I can travel with the XT6 on a plane and they said that the mirror may break. So I had to buy an additional telescope because I travel a lot, so I bought the short tube 80-T refractor for portability. So once again, I'm excited! Plus there will be an astronomy meeting at my college (Nassau Community College), so I will be attending that to learn something. Thanks again for the websites!


     
  18. Delicia Registered Member

    Messages:
    10
    I got my new skyquest XT6

    Finally! I got the skyquest XT6 classic this past Wednesday and it's perfect

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    !!!! The light gathering is great for people living in places like NYC like me. If I was livng out in places like eastern long island, NY or places that didn't have so much light pollution, the spaceprobe would have been fine. However I live in Queens and I really don't feel like dragging my telescope for a far drive everytime I want to see something. I will be doing that though, but it's good to know I could take it out on my front porch and just look at the stars and planets. Last night there was so much light pollution, I could only see a few stars (big dipper, castor and pollux, leo, arcturus, spica, ect.). However, when I looked into my finderscope and the eyepiece of the telelscope, I saw many stars that I couldn't see with my naked eye. I'm excited!!! Even Venus looked pretty cool in this scope. I also, saw Saturn, Titan and it's three other moons. It was mezmorizing! I love my new scope. I also bought the short tube 80-T refractor by Orion to travel with because it has a hard case you can buy for it. I haven't been able to test it out yet because it needs a star diagnoal. It only comes with a 45 degree correction thingy and that's only for daytime veiwing. I'll give you guys the update on that. After I packed up and headed in last night, at around after 11pm, I saw jupiter rising. I wanted to pull out the scope, but I didn't feel like lugging everything out again, so that's tonights' mission. Finally a scope that I'm contented with

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    !

    Delicia


     
  19. Pete It's not rocket surgery Registered Senior Member

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    Lovely

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    I'm happy you're happy!
     
  20. nova900 more spirituality,less dogma Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    546
    Sounds great! Glad you are enjoying your new scope.
    I'm waiting on a Celestron CPC GPS 9.25 from a local scope shop. Can hardly wait to start using it. There is a bit of a delay because of the hefty rebate celestron is giving at this time. With the 9.25 it's $400.

    My last scope was an old 6 " reflector of so-so quality so I'm expecting to see an improvement.
    Anyone here have experience using any of the 9.25 SCTs'?
     
  21. (Q) Encephaloid Martini Valued Senior Member

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    20,855

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    Nice choice!!!

    The C9.25 SCT has always had a great reputation for providing excellent views. I've had two of them in the past, including the old orange colored tube version. Mounts were always a problem with Celestron so it would interesting to hear if they've improved on it.
     
  22. Delicia Registered Member

    Messages:
    10
    that's a beaut!!

    I just checked out your new scope. That's a nice upgrade! Maybe in years to come I will upgrade my scope, but for now, I love my 6 inch!

    D.



     
  23. Delicia Registered Member

    Messages:
    10
    I have a question

    I switched my skyquest XT6 for an XT8 since it's better for DSO's. I'm great at locating planets because they're big and bright, but the problem is when I use a book reference (e.g. Left Turn at Orion) to locate galaxies, etc. I have a 9X50mm correct-image right angle finderscope. When I look through it, I don't know where I am on the constellation I'm looking at relative to the other stars in the constellation. Does anyone understand what I'm trying to say? If the whole constellation was in my finderscope, I would know what I'm looking at, but only one or two stars of the constellation are in the finderscope. Moreover, I also see other stars among the constellation that don't belong to that particular constellation that I'm looking at, so the image looks NOTHING like what I see when I look up in the sky (which are the stars that are the most prominent in brightness). Should I get binoculars:shrug: ? Is there a good BEGINNER book of the constellations? If anyone understands my post, your suggestion will be very appreciated. Thank you

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    !

    Delicia
     

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