are these telescopes any good for planet observation?

Question

MAKSUTOV-CASSEGRAINS

Answer 1

Cassies are good for planet observations. You can get a reasonable size scope for a good price...with a good eyepiece you would have good planetary observations.

Answer 2

Planets tend to be very small, and until you get to Neptune anyway, pretty bright. This means you do not need a lot of light gathering power, related to the telescopes diameter, but you do want a high magnification. (Width is still quite important as the greater the width, the more detail you can see under good atmospheric conditions.)
The magnification is given by the focal length of the telescope divided by the focal length of the eyepiece. You can get a range of eyepieces from about 4-40mm focal length, which will allow you to vary the magnification, but the focal length of the telescope is fixed by its size and design. Mak-Cas and Schmidt-Cas designs use a combination of refractive and reflective elements to give a focal length much longer than the apparent tube length, and the ratio of the focal length to the diameter of the main optical element, known as the 'objective', is the focal ratio, given as, e.g. F10 or f/10. For planetary observing you want a scope that is about f/10-f/12, so both Mak-Cas or Schmidt-Cas are good designs, but Newtonians are normally about f/5-f/8, so are not so good in this area. A long refractor would be also be suitable, but isn't as flexible for other sky objects.
Mak-Cas is a more compact design than Schmidt-Cas, which is important if you want it to be easily portable, but they have a price premium too.
Consider your mount carefully too. A good telescope on a flimsy mount will wobble and vibrate, ruining your view. A good mount often costs a similar amount to the telescope it is capable of carrying, especially if it has full 'goto' capabilities.

Answer 3

Any telescope can be good for planet observation. Refractor telescopes will tend to bring out the most contrast due to the lack of a central obstruction, but a mak-cass is fine too.

Answer 4

hmm those tend to be small and expensive, but good scopes. any telescope will show you jupiter's moons and saturn's rings, the best oens for planetary viewing i beleive are the high quality refractors. but for most purposes a maksutov will do just fine

Answer 5

Yes. Be careful what primary lenses you get though.

Answer 6

here's a link on ebay where you can read reviews of them by ebay members