About to buy telescope... need help!?

Question

i am considering purchasing a SkyWatcher SW450
it has a highest Practical Power of 228x what will i be able to see? and at what detail

Answer 1

What do you want to look at. That is the question.

The SkyWatcher SW450 is a good first scope. With an aperture of about 114 mm and focal length of 910 mm, it will give relatively good images for under $300.

The rack and pinion focus for the eyepiece usually performs well with little "slop." The motor drive is acceptable.

For looking at the moon, it should be great. Jupiter and Saturn (with rings) can be seen, but nothing like in the text books. You might be able to see the phases of Venus or Mars, but expect no detail. Literally thousands (perhaps millions) of stars which are not observable to the naked eye will be available.

Remember to set it up away from city lights and a a good stool comes in handy.

I agree with those who recommend that you consider a very good set of binoculars instead of a scope if you are just starting out. This prevent eye strain and can be almost a "powerful." They also tend to be easy to sell to terrestrial viewers when you need to upgrade.

Answer 2

Before you buy anything, I recommend checking out your local amatuer astronomy group. There is probably one in your area with people willing to give detailed advice on what works best for the type of astronomy you are interested in.

As far as telescope power, that really is not the issue. I have a 444 mm (17.5 inch) aperture scope and I rarely go past 90x. High magnification is cheap and easy and usually useless.

I also would avoid buying a goto scope. For your money, a Dobsonian reflector will give the most wow for the buck. You can get an 200 mm (8 inch) aperture scope for $360 from places like Orion (www.telescopes.com). In the end, it is usually aperture that matters. If you really are interested in only the Moon and planets and not the hundreds of other things up there, then for about the same money, you can pick up a 100 mm (4 inch) refractor. Refractors will give the sharpest image for planets.

I've given a little advice here, but again, you will get more advice and even a chance to try out different scopes from you local astronomy club.

Answer 3

This telescope will show you lots of detail on the moon, the moons and some of the surface details of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, lots of double stars, and hundreds of star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. Realize that most deep space objects, galaxies in particular, don't show a lot of detail in an amateur telescope. The details that you see in pictures are visible only with long-exposure astrophotography.

You'll find that maximum practical power isn't practical much of the time. It will be useful on the moon, planets, and double stars, but only when the atmosphere is steady. You'll probably find somewhere around 60x will be good for many things.

If you haven't already, pick up a beginner's book on observing. It will show you what to look for and how to find things, along with lots of other useful information. Nightwatch by Terrance Dickinson and Turn left at Orion by Guy Consolmagno are good ones.

Answer 4

You will enjoy the Moon most of all. Saturn and Jupiter will look good, but a bit small. The 20mm eyepiece will give you 45 power and the 10mm will give you 90 power. To get 228 power you would need to buy another eyepiece, about 4mm would do it, but I suggest you don't really need it. You can also see some bright deep sky objects like the Orion nebula, the globular cluster in Hercules, the ring nebula and some others, but you may be disappointed by them.

Answer 5

High power in a small telescope is usually not good for much. It's a little like advertising the top speed of a car---you'll never really use it, it doesn't really work well at that extreme, and if you really want to use that power, you need a much more expensive, professional model.

I advise people to buy "astronomical binoculars" with a sturdy stand as their first telescope. They're relatively inexpensive, and can show you a lot of interesting things that you can't see with the naked eye.

Answer 6

You will be able to see the moon with detail, mars will look slightly bigger, Jupiter and her moons will be visible, the rings of Saturn, and Venus.

You should see nova but I'm not sure if you'll see color or not...

Remember that all stars look like a single point no matter the size of the telescope.

Dr. John Shol, here at Weber State University, recommends binoculars for a first astronomy device.