2006-12-24 04:09:46 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Optically, they are quite similar: both are 8" Newtonian reflectors.
The big difference is in the mounting. The Skyquest is a "Dobsonian" mount, which is a simple and cheap (yet steady) alt-az mounting. That means its two axes of rotation are in altitude (up-down) and azimuth (around the horizon). You will spend a lot of time nudging the telescope to follow any object.
The Celestron mounting is light-years ahead by comparison. It's a German Equatorial mount, which moves in right ascension and declination (instead of alt-az). The axes are motorized, so it will track an object for you: just point it to the object, and the telescope will follow automatically. And best of all, it's computerized, so it will know where things are in the sky once you've set it up correctly. That means it can slew directly from, say, M31 to the Perseus Double Cluster without having to get out your star chart.
The Celestron will cost a lot more, but you get more. It's up to you whether that's worth it.
2006-12-24 07:01:32 · answer #1 · answered by Keith P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The difference is the mounting. The Celesron has a motorized, computer controlled mounting. This helps when trying to find objects that cannot be seen without a telescope, and when doing photography, but it does add to the cost.
2006-12-24 09:34:17 · answer #2 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It looks like quite a bit of difference to me. Take a look at
http://www.celestron.com/c2/product.php?CatID=11&ProdID=57
and
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=241007&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=9&iProductID=241007
2006-12-24 04:49:04 · answer #3 · answered by rscanner 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋