buying telescope!!!! help me?

Question

i decided to buy a telescope on around 200-300$
i find some cheap telescoope in ebay....
like 6" NEWTONIAN REFLECTOR TELESCOPE

* 150mm (6 inches) concave objective mirror
* Focal Length : 1400mm (55")
* Plossl 25mm Eyepiece
* Plossl 10mm Eyepiece
* 2x Barlow lens
* Moon Filter
* Large Collapsible Aluminum Tripod with Accessory Tray
* Equatorial Telescope Mount

which telescope is best for serious study !!!! what are the necessary things i need to buy,,,,to c clear big image of plantes moon,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and what do i need to do to take pictures.............
help me .......

give me some nice ideas on telescope................i need a nice good telescope which can be updated as i need,and can take pictures with nice resolution.................

Answer 1

I bought my first telescope about a year ago and when I asked the same questions I was told....buy the most aperture you can afford. Aperture is the diameter of the scope opening ...for the reflector it is also the diameter of the mirror. The more aperture you have the more light you "collect". It is not as crucial for planetary viewing or lunar viewing, but if you want to view deep space objects like galaxies and nebulae, you will want more aperture.

I think there is some disappointment when people buy their first scope and expect to see textbook images of the planets. If atmospheric conditions are good, my 8" dobsonian can get a good image of Saturn that would be about the size of a pencil eraser. You can get larger images, but at higher magnifications, the light is dispersed and the image will appear dim or fuzzy.

If you want sharper images of objects in the night sky, you can try long exposure photography. For this you will need a scope that will track with the rotation of the earth and a camera mount for your scope. There are also different filters that allow you to view different colors of the spectrum, these filters combined with digital photography and some astro-photography software will allow you to produce some amazing photos of nebula and galaxies. Now you are talking about high dollar stuff.

One of the more expensive items for telescopes are the actual eyepieces. Some eyepieces can cost over $700. The Plossl eyepieces are typically less expensive ($50 to $200). A good quality eyepiece can make all the difference in what you see. A 2x barlow is good to have as well, because it basically doubles the magnifying power of the eyepiece that you use with it. So with two eyepieces and a barlow, you actually get 4 different powers of magnification.

I hope this helps. I am a newbie to telescopes too, so there may be someone else that has more in depth explanations of what I have touched on.

Answer 2

I can't tell you if this is a good telescope because you did not state the brand and model of it. It may have good enough optics but most of new telescopes under $300 skimp on the mount and you get a mount that isn't really stable enough to do astrophotography with if that's what you intend to do. Also, I'll bet the accessories are poor quality. A barlow is an excellent tool that no amateur astronomer should be without but it must be a high quality one...and you really don't need a moon filter or looking at the moon.

I recommend you buy a used telescope. You can look for them on www.astromart.com in the classifieds or www.cloudynight.com

If you don't plan on doing astrophotography you may be able to afford a brand new Dobsonian. Go to http://www.oriontelescopes.com

Basically anything on a german equatorial mount should be on a CG type mount of the quality of the Vixen mounts.

Also, 6" is large enough to see many interesting things, but it's still small by telescope standards. Try to get an 8" if you can.

Answer 3

Meade DS-2080AT-LNT 80mm GoTo Telescope 3.1" Refractor w/ Meade Autostar Controller & LNT Auto Align - 20085 w/

Great telescope costs you less than $400

Answer 4

Meade telescope or Orion are the best. But they are not where you live. Check them out on their sights and you can find the closes dealer to you.

Answer 5

There are bad telescopes out there. In your price range what you want is to avoid a bad mistake.

Orion makes decent inexpensive stuff. For $200-300 that would be my first choice. This particular one has been around for a long time and gets good reviews:

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=447&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=13&iProductID=447

Google ST80 for lots of information about it.

Here's one review:

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1305

This one would be better for things inside our solar system, worse on things outside it.

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=106597&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=13&iProductID=106597

Answer 6

Be cautious about return policies, warrantees, shipping costs.

Answer 7

This should help you
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/telescopes_page_000707.html