hi

Hi all ,

Im looking for some info , I am a beginner and am looking to buy a telescope but not sure on what would be suitable for me to get me started, i would be grateful if anyone could give me some advice

Hi Nav, welcome to the site.

What kind of scope you want depends on what you plan to observe, are you planning mostly the moon and planets? Deep sky objects like galaxies and clusters? Or maybe a bit of both?

For the moon and planets it's hard to look past a good refractor, there are many excellent models on the market for a variety of prices and sizes up to 150mm.

For deep-sky you will need a larger scope to gather more light to bring in those galaxies, for that the Newtonian is the scope of choice, they are generally cheaper than a refractor as they consist of a mirror and costs less to make.

There is the issue of the mount, there are three main types, equatorial, which tracks objects across the sky, alt-az, a simple push pull mount for smaller refractors and the Dobsonian mount, used with Newtonians.

If you want to indulge in both Solar sytem objects and deep-sky, then I would recommend a Dobsonian telescope, it is a Newtonian mirror, but it rests on a very simple rocker box base, to move it around to different objects you simply move it back and forth and up and down. An 8" Dob is the ideal beginner's scope in my opinion, it's big enough to show deep-sky, and yet gives good views of the moon and planets, and you don't have to worry about complicated equatorial mounts. There are many manufactuers who sell fine Dobs, Skywatcher, Celestron, Orion, etc., there are plenty on the web and they ususally come with a couple of eyepieces to get you started.

One other piece of equipment you should purchase is a good star atlas, I have a Cambridge atlas that I have been using for more than ten years and I'm happy with it.

Once you get into astronomy you will find the area that interests you most, for me it's the moon, hence the name and it's a great road of discovery.

Hope I've provided some help and good luck with the purchase.

Paul

How much do you have to spend? Any scope you buy will not show you the same thing as some of the images posted on the forum. I would suggest you join a local society and have a look through the scopes the local guys have and then make your decision.

As Paul has pointed out its all down to what you want to see. You can look at the moon with a fairly cheap pair of binoculars and still get the same enjoyment as a guy with a £3000 scope.

Hi all ,

Im looking for some info , I am a beginner and am looking to buy a telescope but not sure on what would be suitable for me to get me started, i would be grateful if anyone could give me some advice

Hi,

You don't give us any idea of just how new you are to astronomy so I'm going to assume you're completely new. If I'm wrong you can ignore this post

I think it's probably the most common misconception about Astronomy that you need a telescope. The reality is that when you are just starting out you can't do anything with a scope! You first need to develop the skills to use it, until you do you won't be able to find anything beyond the Moon and maybe some planets. Many beginners get totally dishartended when they get a telescope too soon, fail to find much, and then just give up on the whole idea. It's very sad to see.

So, if you I'm advising you not to buy a telescope yet, what am I advising you get? A planisphere, a good start Atlas, and a good pair of 10x50 binoculars. First you need to start finding your way around the sky with just your eyes. Getting more and more familiar with the sky till you know the constellations at a glance. Then you can move on to the binoculars. You'll be astounded at just how much you can find with them (I focus on one Binocular object each month in the IFAS podcast www.irishastronomy.org/podcast ). Then, when you've mastered navigating around the sky with binoculars you'll be ready to buy a telescope. By then you should also have figured out what takes you interest more, solar observing, deeps sky stuff or planets. That will then affect the scope you want to buy.

Hope that helps,

Bart.

Welcome to the Boards navman!

Hi Navman,
Since you say you're a beginner, I'll assume you know very little about telescopes, so, there are a number of things you'll need to know before buying one or you will get burnt and end up getting a junkscope AKA hobbykiller.

The most important thing about a scope is aperture, this is the diameter of the front lens or mirror in the scope, the least important thing about a scope is magnification. If you see a scope advertised as 400x power, then walk away. Most smaller scopes are not able to go above 200x as the image gets washed out (loose contrast and detail).

To be honest, you're first instrument should be a pair of binoculars, but since you asked about scopes, I'll stay with them.

When it comes to getting a scope, its all about cost, what can you afford? For a refractor scope (one with the big lens in front), I'd recommend one with a lens of atleast 70mm in aperture, this will show some planet details as well as the moon and some of the brighter star clusters and nebulae.

When it comes to reflector scopes (mirrors), the mirror needs to be at least 6 inches across IMHO. both of these kind of scopes can cost a few hundred euros, you can easily spend a grand or several grand on a scope., so it really is up to how much you can afford. The bigger cost goes with bigger aperture, the bigger the aperture, the brighter the objects appear at the eyepiece, thus easier to see.

some scopes have what is called "GOTO", these are scopes with built in "mini" computers where you can get it to point to an object for you through the use of a hand controller. These are very handy as you don't have to find the object yourself, but can prevent you from learning the sky.

Finally, DO NOT take the first one you find, shop around on the web and I can almost guarantee that you'll save money. Don't be afraid to buy abroad, alot of this equipment is cheaper in the US, its where I get practically all of my stuff.

In terms of manufacturers, the usual makes are Meade, Celestron, Skywatcher, Orion just to name a few.

Any more Q,s just ask.