I ordered a Telescope off of Amazon.com please let me know if its a good one..?

Question

Heres the website for it..

http://www.amazon.com/Galileo-FS-80-Mount-Reflector-Telescope/dp/B0009MZJMS/ref=pd_bbs_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1196179717&sr=8-4

I havnt actually paid for it yet though...

Answer 1

On a rating of 1-5, I would give it a 2. The telescope looks like a half way decent reflector but the images thru the eyepiece all depend on how good the mirrors are in it. I have never heard of Galileo telescopes, so the optics could go either way. If the eyepieces are only a .965 diameter, as this size is usually unusable and I would send it back. 1.25 diameter is the normal size and you can order much more usable eyepieces. The mount does not look like it is that sturdy and that is the most desirable feature of it. Being a beginner, I would send it back, save another $100 and order the Starblast Astro Telescope from Orion Telescopes (www.telelscope.com). It'll be much easier to use and you'll be much happier with the views thru it.

Answer 2

(EDIT) Oh, I see Geoff G has actual experience with this brand. So you might want to listen to him.

It looks OK, but not great. I have never used this one myself, and it looks pretty low end. The real test is optical quality, which cannot be judged until you actually look through it. Poor quality optics will not produce a sharp image. The price is pretty low, so I can't believe it is going to be top quality, but if you get good views with the 20mm eyepiece (40 power) and the mounting is not wobbly, you have gotten your money's worth. 40 power will shows craters on the Moon, the rings of Saturn, the Moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus. It will also give nice views of some of the brighter star clusters and nebulae. If you get clear views at higher power (120 power with the 20mm plus the 3x Barlow or 133 power with the zoom working at 6mm, useful only on the Moon and planets really) then you got a pretty good deal. Note though that you will need very stable air to get clear high magnification images. (Yes 133 power is high magnification for a 3 inch telescope, which is what this is). If the stars are twinkling in a lively manner, the air is not stable. And sometimes the air isn't stable even if you don't see twinkling.

Answer 3

You will be able to see all the visible planets------- brighter nebula like M42-------- and double stars and star clusters like The Double Cluster, or M45. ( These are Messier object numbers there are over 100 of them------- visible in your scopoe if you know exactly where to look.) Google "Messier"------- this was a French guy living in Paris who plotted objects THAT WERE NOT COMETS! He made a list so Astronomers of his day would ignore them! SOOOOO........... he made of list of object NOT to look at!!! Most of them are wonderful objects to observe.

Now your scope has a very weak looking mount-------- so it will vibrate a lot when you touch it. There are two things you can do to decrease the vibration-------

1. Do not extend the tripod legs all the way out and lower the center of gravity.

2. Hang a 10 lb weight from the inside center of the tripod to stabilize it. Anything will do------ like a barbell weight hung from a rope.

Also download a star chart from the internet at:
http://skymaps.com/downloads.html and print it. They post a new one every month........ and try to join an Astronomy club and take your scope to a star party. The club members will teach you how to use it.

AND------- this is a reflector style telescope. It will probably need to be collimated from time to time. Google "collimation telescope" and read about this procedure. The Astronomy club members will also help you learn how to do this.

Clear Skies!

Answer 4

Cancel the order, if at all possible. I've tested a number of Galileo telescopes, and all were junk of the worst quality.

As we have so often advised here (doesn't anybody read anybody else's questions?), buy a telescope from a telescope store, not Amazon, eBay, WalMart, Costco: all of these sell nothing but junk! Look in the Yellow Pages, or buy from one of the reliable telescope dealers online. The best inexpensive scopes I know of are these:
http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=starter_scopes

Of these, I'd really only recommend the first two, unless you have very little money to spend. There are many similar looking scopes out there, but who knows what sort of quality they are?!

Answer 5

define 'good'?

if you are buying the scope for a 10 year old who is going to be looking at the sky for the first time, then its a good choice.

if you are a 50 year old with a lot of disposable income, a nice house in a dark area, and a background in science, then no, its not a good choice.

I guess, comments notwithstanding about the brand, the best criteria is: if you want to spend about that much you will be fine. If you could go a bit more $... you will be happier in the long run with a better scope, but its your decision.

remember, Gallileo changed the world with a 20x scope.

Answer 6

reflectors are good because theyre alot cheaper than a refractor of the same size and theyre best for deep space viewing stuff like galaxies, nebula, star clusters.. but they need to be collimated often or the picture is blurred. they say its easy once you learn how to do it but i couldnt figure it out myself, and theres no place around here to go so im stuck with a slightly out of focus image. refractors are better for viewing planets and closer objects

Answer 7

It's cheap. I'd say it's a good learning experience.

Answer 8

Isn't it a bit late to be asking this question?