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Post by chr999chr on Dec 21, 2012 22:06:25 GMT
Hi all
Just starting out and er in doors has agreed to me spending a few pounds on a telescope. I have about £400 to spend and was looking for a GOTO telescope to help me along. Second hand is fine could anyone recommend one or know if there is one for sale anywhere.
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Post by Ronny on Dec 21, 2012 22:19:12 GMT
Hi and welcome. I will leave the recommendations to other more experienced members than me. I have a NexStar 8se and I totally love it. Hope you get what you want and join us for an observing night. We are a friendly bunch and there is a vast amount of experience to glean whilst out, not to mention the craic.
Clear skies!
P.S. let us know what you get because all telescope purchases are followed by weeks of cloud cover!
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Post by stevie on Dec 22, 2012 18:59:27 GMT
Hi, and welcome to the forum. I'm assuming you are a beginner in astronomy, if you already know most of what follows, then please accept my apologies. We don't normally recommend that beginners start with a go-to scope. The reason is very simple. As well as learning how to use the scope, you also need to learn the sky, where things are, how to find them , what type of objects are there etc etc. Half the fun of amateur astronomy, for most of us, is to actually find the object we want to see. Now, you might think that a go-to will help you to do this, and there is no doubt that it will find objects for you. But it won't help you to learn the sky. There are a few go-to scopes which fall within your price range. These are three possibilities. the first is a refractor type scope, which uses a lens at the front to gather the light (the "Captain Bligh" - type scope if you like). The second is called a Maksutov, which uses a combination of a curved glass plate at the front and a mirror at the back. The third is a reflector telescope, which uses a mirror alone to gather the light. www.firstlightoptics.com/slt-series/celestron-nexstar-102-slt.htmlwww.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-skymax-127-synscan-az-goto.htmlwww.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-explorer-130p-synscan-az-goto.htmlPlease note that you may be able to get these scopes a bit cheaper, I'm just using these links for illustrative purposes. You will notice that the first is a 4 inch scope, while the other two are five inch. In astronomy, aperture is king, the larger the lens, or mirror, the more light it will gather. It is a common mis-conception that the main function of a telescope is to magnify objects. In fact, it's main function is to make faint objects brighter. This is especially so for larger faint objects where the light might be spread over a (relatively) large area, light a nebula, or a galaxy. These are all are good scopes, if I had to choose, I would pick the second one. But, to go back to what I was saying about learning the sky, and aperture being king? Probably the best scope you could buy for your money is this; www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.htmlIt does not have go-to, but it does have an 8 inch mirror! Compared to the 5 inch reflector (the third one above) it will gather almost three times as much light, and everything you look at at will be be much brighter and clearer. You will also have some money left over for a couple of accessories, like a red dot finder and a copy of "Turn Left at Orion", the best beginners guide book out there. Something to consider.
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