Novice Astronomy?

Question

I've always been interested in astonomy and would like to purchase a telescope to view various constellations, heavenly bodies, and planets. I don't want to spend a lot of money because it would just be a hobby. What kind of telescope should I get? Like I said, I would like something powerful enough to see planets (not necessarily really detailed, just enough that it's recognizable). I'm clueless in this area and need as much advice as possible. Thanks!!! Oh... price estimates for your suggestions would be nice as well.

I have taken a college class on astronomy, but it's been awhile.... I can find my way around though. The problem with this joining a club thing, is I live in a very small town, with no larger ones within 1 1/2 hour drive. Like I said, just an ongoing interest of mine I'd like to turn into a hobby.

Answer 1

You don't often see so many answers with conflicting advice, most of which is right.

Take Geoff's advice and read his column. Then buy the book "Nightwatch". Then, use the nearest good set of binoculars until you can spend some time (even half a day) in a city with a telescope shop (not a camera shop that sells scopes) and possibly an amateur astronomy club.

Having said that, look at these. They're a good type of scope for beginners, though they are NOT "beginner scopes". Highly experienced observers use them, too.

http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes

Answer 2

If at all possible, find an astronomy club in your area and go to their star parties. This will give you a much better understanding of what you're buying than any advice you can get over the internet. The usual recommendation is to get a small Dobsonian telescope - http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~VIEW_INDEX=1/~VIEW_SIZE=9
Expect to pay $250 - $600. This will give you the most aperture for the money, and aperture is the most important specification for a telescope. More aperture translates to a view that is both brighter and sharper, and will make many more objects visible.

Some people prefer a small refractor, because it's simpler and adaptable to terrestrial use, but you will be getting a much smaller aperture. You will hear some people say that a refractor is much better than a reflector on the planets, but the reality is that a 4.5" reflector will totally outclass a 70mm refractor.

Whatever telescope you buy, buy from a real astronomy dealer, not from a WalMart, sporting goods store, or eBay.

Also consider binoculars. They are an excellent way to learn your way around the sky, and come in handy for finding targets to point your telescope at.

Answer 3

*chuckles* C'mon here- first off, your hands are cold so warm them up with either hot cider or coffee- observing is almost always cold, get used to it!

Second, yer kinda sorta gettin' the cart before the horse- what you need is experience with various telescopes, and you need to talk with other people who are into astronomy.

So-o-o-o-o-o (Refills your cup) whatcher gonna do is go online and look at the local colleges website and see if they've got something like "Astronomy 101" as a course listing. This will do 2 things- A)Introduce you to others who are interested at the same level you are and B)Let you contact those who are part of the local Astronomy club!

Now, you've met some 30 to 60 people, and you've made contacts on how to meet another 30 to 300 people.

Now, telescopes are like buying a used car- theres a bunch of good ones, a bunch of old beaters, and FAR TOO MANY LIARS.

Take notes- you're gonna be tested on this information with your wallet.

When looking at a 'Scope, the most important thing is LIGHT GATHERING ABILITY!

The bigger the objective lens (thats the big lens or the big mirror) the more light you get over the surface area of the glass. The occular is the smaller lens- its size, as long as its above 6mm or so when divided into the objective lens (lets say 60mm) gives you total magnification power- in this case, 60mm/6mm= 10 power.

So, how do you see these cheap telescopes at Wal-Cost-Sams for 100 dollars have 450 power magnification? Its all done per mathematics- remember, figures dont lie but liars can figure.

OK, your homework assignment is to go online and look up "Astronomy" and "Sky and Telescope" magazines, and look at the ads on telescopes. Two words you should be aware of: "Meade" and "Celestron"- both of these are good words, and they have very good optics.

Answer 4

Any telescope will be useless for viewing constellations, the stars will remain as pin points of light. a 60 power scope with the largest objective lens you can afford will reveal the planets wit some detail, you will also need a tripod. You should find what you need for under $500.00.

Answer 5

I just wanted to note a quick correction on Larry's answer. The magnification is the focal length divided by the eyepiece size. Although, the objective lens diameter contributes to the focal length, you do not divide the objective size by the eyepiece size.

A 60mm scope usually has a focal length of 700-900mm. So if we use the goofy 4mm lens that is often included in the package we end up with 700mm/4mm= 175X. Just attach that nifty 3x barlow lens and you instantly transform that lens into a 4mm/3=1.3mm lens; wow! the maginification just jumped from 175x to 525x. It sound really good, until you actually try it; then you discover that light gathering ability, and the scopes ability to resolve images, prevent you from actually taking it up to 525x. For most 60mm, you would be lucky to take it to 100x before the image fades or simply becomes a large blur.

But, don't let that bother you too much; most astronomy is actually done at relatively low power levels. Saturn, for example, begins to reveal its rings at around 40x, and it looks very good (although a bit small) at 100x. Jupiter's moons can be seen at just 20x, at 100x the little solar system really begins to take form. So what really counts is how well your scope gathers light and then focuses it into a sharp image.

Here are two more thoughts for you:
1) The refractor is a very robust scope. They usually provide a very sharp image and they tend to stay in collimation. But, they are expensive, heavy, and hard to produce in larger sizes; and, lower quality optics can be poorly color corrected leading to fuzzy image quality and annoying false colored outlines around bright objects (like planets).

2) Reflectors can be had in larger sizes, and they do not generate the fase colors; however, reflectors can be tempermental. You need to be careful to keep all of the mirrors corectly aligned, especially with fast (relatively short focal length) scope. Failure to align the scope will limit your ability to resolve images.

Answer 6

if you would like a general type of telly, a refractor style is just fine. it uses two lenses to bring the image down to the ocular point at which you use different magnification lenses. they are relatively inexpensive. ranging in price
from $40 to several $100. a reflector style has a mirror and gathers much more light, which gives you more resolution. these can range
from $200 to several $1000. to follow the moon
with one of these will need a tracking system
linked to a computer, and can become quite complicated for a novice. astronomy is very
rewarding, and can become a little addictive
after you have seen nebula, constellations,
and other celestial bodies.good luck in your
hobby, and i hope this has helped......

Answer 7

First, let me refer you to an article I wrote about how, when, and what to buy:
http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0702_Buying_a_Telescope.pdf

Don't buy a scope before you've had a chance to try some different ones (by joining a club or going to a star party) and have learned enough about the sky so that you can actually find stuff with a telescope.

Here's a great book to read for background on astronomy, and specific information on buying telescopes and binoculars: NightWatch by Terence Dickinson (Firefly).