Telescope Question?

Question

I am looking for a telescope that can view the universe really good ex-mars,saturn,asteroids,stars,all that stuff. Something that you can see really far with. I also want to where you can hook it up to a laptop and when you type something in on the laptop the telescope will move to where thats at. Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

well maybe you need a tracking telescope, they get cheaper and cheaper. Maybe use binoculars in the mean time. I like the H A Ray book on the stars. The curious George guy.

Answer 2

If you want to do live viewing...that is, looking through the eyepeice, and you want to be able to see planets as well as deep sky objects such as galaxies fairly well, you will need dark skies and a telescope with at least 10" of aperture. If you are content with taking photographs of the image, which will allow you to see more detail, then you can get by with a telescope that is 8" in aperture.

You are looking for a telescope with a goto system. There are two types of goto systems. One actually points the telescope to the object you want to view, and the other is simply a navigation system which has a little hand controller that tells you which way to move the telescope and how close you are getting to the object you want to see.

I recommend a Meade 10" LX200 with goto. Or a 9.25 or 11" Celestron CGE, CPC or Advanced Series GT...most of which come with goto systems. For live viewing of deep space objects you don't want anything smaller. These telescopes are typically out of most people's price ranges. A used LX200 goes for over $1000. An alternative to this is a Dobsonian. Some of the newer Dobsonians made by Orion or Celestron come with the simpler types of goto systems but they don't plug into laptops.

Also, there is a difference between tracking and goto. Tracking means the telescope has a special type of motor drive that lets it follow an object through the sky for astrophotography or long term viewing. This is useful when viewing at high magnification (which you won't use much). Goto means it will point itself at the object or at least help you point it at the object. Most of the upper end telescopes I mentioned have goto and tracking. Most Dobsonians that are computerized simply have a navigation system and no actual goto or tracking.

Answer 3

You can find them online.

I have seen them on Ebay a lot.

You are not going to see as much as you like. The moon will look good and maybe see Saturn's rings but that is about all.

A good start would be a program that you can buy that shows you where all the stars are going to be in the sky on each night from your location on earth. It loads on your computer and then you type in your location and then it shows the sky and shows the times and you can speed up the time and see where the stars will be and it will tell you the name of the star if you hold your mouse curser over the star.

If you decide to get the telescope it will be very helpful..

You are looking for Telescopes with a Servo controller

Answer 4

Here's some suggestions:
first, goggle around a little and look over some astronomy sites. Probably you could search on the word stargazers to find some amateur astronomy clubs.
Definitely consider joining a club. In our region there are several astronmy clubs that meet every month. Two of them have their own observatories with pretty big telescopes that you can get permission to use. The guys inthe club know a lot about where to look and they always know about any interesting stuff that is happening in the sky. Sometimes they will have some meeting where they explain how to make your own telescope. You can make a big telescope much cheaper than you can buy one, if you like doing projects and are patient.
You can have a lot of fun with this hobby. Go for it!!!

Answer 5

You will find that this is a very complex question. You can spend from a few hundred to many tens of thousands of dollars for what you describe. Before you buy a telescope, you should buy and read this book to get started: Star Ware: The Amateur Astronomer's Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Buying, & Using Telescopes and Accessories, by Phillip S. Harrington.

After you read the book, you should call and talk to a reputable dealer, such as Anacortes Telescope:

http://www.buytelescopes.com/store.asp?s=2

And then you might want to check out the used telescope ads at www.astromart.com

Answer 6

A cassegrain, or a reflector (both mirror type scopes), are great for viewing the Solar system, and also, tons of deep space objects.

But, please do not let your enthusiam overrule your judgement!

But, for portablility, ease of steerage, you really should start with a 4 to 6 inch tracking scope, probably check out Sky & Telescope, and Astronomy magazines, both are excellent.

But, to REALLY get good advice, for viewing in your area, check out any other Astronomy Group! Yahoo also has telescope and astronomy groups!

Just get LOTS of advice, and then make your decision!

Now, Celestia and Stellarium both can steer scopes. They are included for FREE in Linux, like http://pclinuxos.com and you get an older computer, like a 500Mhz system, and it will do great steering a motorized scope!

My first telescope was a pair of in-expensive TASCO (10X50) binoculars! Those and a book "Astronomy with Binoculars" started me off well!

Answer 7

You need a automatic tracking reflector telescope. Search on that phrase. They're around but not cheap.

Answer 8

i recently got a Meade telescope. Its really great. I think you may be wanting a Meade backpack observatory. Ther very lightweight. check out

shopdiscovery.com

Answer 9

Look in to the 12" Meade SCTs at www.meade.com

Answer 10

Search under Celestron or Meade. They should have what you want.