I'm gonna purchase a telescope, Newtonian or Cassegrain ? What do you think?

Question

Must fit in the back of my car, and cost less than £600 ( including filters , lenses, etc)

Oh and equitorial mount - preferably electronic.

Answer 1

Generally the advice I give is to get the biggest Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount that you can afford and transport.

A Newtonian because that gives you the most aperture for your money, and aperture is paramount in a telescope. It's also the most versatile scope; Cassegrains are limited by their narrow fields of view.

A Dobsonian mount because its solidity and ease of use easily outweighs the tracking advantage of an equatorial. Most small equatorials are flimsy and shaky, and all equatorials weigh twice what a Dob does. Pointing them is counterintuitive for most beginners. I've replaced the equatorial mounts on most of my scopes with Dob mounts.

The problem with most computerized scopes in the low price bracket is that more money goes into the electronics than into the optics. Low-end goto scopes really don't work very well, and point you to a lot of objects which are totally invisible in the scope provided. Generally you need to spend at least $1000 to get a decent small computerized scope; the same money will buy you a non-computerized 10" or 12" Dob which will show you tons more. The Orion IntelliScope system is a good compromise: it uses a computer to guide the scope, but the motive power comes from a human rather than motors.

And, to the guy who tells us all the time about his granddaughter and the 4" scope and how light polution prevented its use, this is pure rubbish! I carried out a number of serious observational programs for many years right from the middle of downtown Toronto! One reason I was successful is that a 4" scope just isn't big enough to work in the city.

Answer 2

Well, once I researched enough optics to learn enough to make an intelligent choice for a first-telescope, I became an aperture hog, because the greater the aperture(primary), the more and better you can see. If you come to the same conclusion, then the clear choice is a Newt, specifically one on a low-cost Dobsonian mount. More than 50% of the cost (unless you count fancy eyepieces) of a Dob is the primary. Yet a properly- engineered Dob mount is smooth, precise, and easy to handle.

The real downside to such a scope is the difficulty/expense of a tracking feature of some kind. Add a couple hundred $$$ minimum if you want that option. I'm sorry, what is £600 in dollars? Good EQ mounts themselves can be pretty expensive. At any rate, you can get both a faster primary (good for faint fuzzies like galaxies and nebula) and a larger primary with a Newt than a Cass for the same $$$

Answer 3

Unless you spend a lot of money of it there isnt that much difference between the Newtonian or Cassegrain form. However the Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope variant is very good if money is no object.
In general I would prefer any of these to a refracting telescope.
If you want the cheapest possible telescope that is not a refractor then the Newtonian will probably be the cheapest per inch of apperture.

Answer 4

A reflecting telescope (additionally talked approximately as a reflector) is an optical telescope which makes use of a single or mix of curved mirrors that replicate mild and style a picture. The reflecting telescope grew to become into invented interior the seventeenth century instead to the refracting telescope which, at that element, grew to become right into a layout that suffered from severe chromatic aberration. in spite of the certainty that reflecting telescopes produce different forms of optical aberrations, that's a layout that facilitates very great diameter goals. fairly much all the main significant telescopes used in astronomy study are reflectors. Reflecting telescopes are available many layout alterations and can hire extra optical aspects to strengthen image high quality or place the image in a immediately powerful place. on the grounds that reflecting telescopes use mirrors, the layout is on occasion talked approximately as a "catoptric" telescope. The Cassegrain reflector is a mix of a prevalent concave replicate and a secondary convex replicate, usually used in optical telescopes and radio antennas. In a symmetrical Cassegrain the two mirrors are aligned with regard to the optical axis, and the prevalent replicate regularly features a hollow interior the centre subsequently allowing the sunshine to realize an eyepiece, a digital camera, or a mild detector. in spite of the undeniable fact that, as in many radio telescopes, the desirable concentration may well be in front of the prevalent. In an asymmetrical Cassegrain, the replicate(s) may well be tilted to stay away from obscuration of the prevalent or the want for a hollow interior the prevalent replicate (or the two). The classic Cassegrain configuration makes use of a parabolic reflector because of the fact the prevalent whilst the secondary replicate is hyperbolic. in spite of the undeniable fact that, alterations exist the place the prevalent is hyperbolic for extra suitable overall performance, and the place the prevalent and/or secondary are around or elliptical for ease of producing. The Cassegrain reflector is named after a revealed reflecting telescope layout that appeared interior the April 25, 1672 mag des sçavans which has been attributed to Laurent Cassegrain. comparable designs employing convex secondaries have been discovered interior the Bonaventura Cavalieri's 1632 writings describing burning mirrors and Marin Mersenne's 1636 writings describing telescope designs. James Gregory's 1662 tries to create a reflecting telescope blanketed a Cassegrain configuration, judging with the help of a convex secondary replicate discovered between his experiments.

Answer 5

depend on what you want to do with it...i find that most newcomers want to buy telescopes to photograph with. however, if this is not your intention, i would buy a cassegrain. personally i like refractors because they give crisp sharp views and you dont have to collimate them like you do with newtonians and cassegrains. but the comment above me is right, if you want the biggest apperature for the price, go with a newtonian. a cassegrain will be smaller in tube length though, so this makes it easier to store and transport. buying a telescope is a tough desision. i would also like to say that it is very important to get a good mount. you could have the best telescope in the world, but if your mount is crappy so too will be the veiws because of vibrations. good luck!!!!!!

Answer 6

A cassegrain is actually a type of newtonian. What's the stats and prices of the telescopes you're looking at?

Answer 7

This scope offers a decent combination between size, transportability, and stability. It fits your price range, too, given the current exchange rate of US Dollars to British Pound Sterling.

http://www.telescopes.com/products/meade-lxd75-sn-8-at-wautostar-uhtc-coatings-28013.html

HTH

Charles

Answer 8

I bought one for mo Grand Daughter and was disappointed as they live in the edge of a large city and the city lights blind u.