Im buying a telescope and my budget is $600, help please!?

Question

I just recently found an interest in astronomy and im looking for a telescope that will satisfy me and not leave me in regret. I want one that has great distance and a clear view. I'm currently looking at the SkyQuest XT10 Classic. If there are other telescopes in witch you think are better I would be glad to know. Thanks.

Answer 1

This is an excellent choice; in fact it is exactly what I recommend in this article:
http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0702_Buying_a_Telescope.pdf

10" aperture is big enough to give you satisfying views of all objects, and yet it's portable and easy to set up. I have smaller "grab-and-go" scopes, but I always end up using my largest scope because the views are so much more satisfying, and it really is no more trouble to set up, especially if you store it on a hand cart and can wheel it out in seconds.

Answer 2

Please - before you spend your money, join an Astronomy Club in your local area. Attend their meetings and by all means, go to their Star Parties when ever one is scheduled.
If you attend them, you will be able to see and look through various telescopes that the members have. That way you can get used to the idea of portability and ease of use, as well as getting a good clear view of something.

Really fine optical equipment costs "a lot of money." Often club members are interested in moving upward in performance and you can pick up a good used telescope at a bargain price - makes your $600 budget go much farther.
Never can tell, you might get a bunch of accessories thrown into the deal that you will need later.

Buying a telescope is a really hard thing to figure out how to best accomplish...you need the largest lense or mirror you can possibly afford, and at the same time this lense or mirror must be ground and polished to remarkable degrees of accuracy if it is to work really well. The more precise those manufacturing techniques are, the more you pay for the end product.

Mounts...A good telescope is worth little without a good solid mount that will hold the telescope adequately with no vibration, jiggles, or creep in settings. When you look at something using 100X or 150X magnification powers, even the slightest wiggle will upset your views and make you get frustrated. So, a robust mount is very important. Some mounts are compouterized and once aligned and calibrated, they will swivel, turn, and point at named objects in the sky. Other mounts are more of less fixed and you must mnove them yourself.

Last but not least, the other part of your telescope that is critical for good viewing is the Eyepieces. Most beginner telescopes come with one or two low cost eyepieces...
Often these can be had on the used market for $10 to $20 each. Good eyepieces can cost from $250 to $600 each.
These are made by Televue, Zeiss, and Pentax to name just a few. The objective lense or mirror of your telescope delivers the collected light to an eyepiece which then delivers the light to your eye. So, the combination of the two is very important. And, in the best of worlds, you would always seek to obtain the best of each that you can possibly afford. Again, working with the used market, you can obtain premium eyepieces at some discount if you are careful and know what you want by having used it previously at an Astronomy Club star party.

Please refer to

www.telescopes.com
www.astromart.com
www.cloudynights.com
www.meade.com
www.takahashiamerica.com (for some beautiful equipment)

Answer 3

I just want to amplify a couple of points.
Telescope size:
Yes, the larger the aperture the brighter and more imposing the image is.
But you know what? I have never, ever seen a satisfactory image of even the moon from the inside of a broom closet!!! And that is exactly where your fine Telescope will end up if it is too much of a chore for you to set up and take down. I must have owned at least a dozen scopes over the many years that I purchased very cheaply when folks got tired of wrestling with the thing. As a matter of fact I own one right now, a beautiful 150mm ( 6" ) Refractor. When the person bought it, he had no idea how big a 6" Refractor is. And how expensive it is to get a mount for a scope this big. I felt sorry for him and took the scope off his hands for $200.-
The 10" scope you have selected is an excellent choice and from a company that stands behind it 100%. I own one of these scopes and love it's performance etc. Just make sure you understand how big it is. Will it fit in your car if you are going to transport it to a dark observing site? Don't forget, you have to be able to handle this bundle of joy in the dark too.

Accessories: Don't go crazy with these. Wait til you have some observing time under your belt and you know what you really want or need. You can spend a fortune on stuff you'll never use. One of my pet pieves are "designer eyepieces", where a single eyepiece can cost more than the scope. Consider these strictly special purpose equipment, nice to have depending on the type of observing you wish to specialize in. The best all-round eyepiece today is the Ploessl. Just about everyone sells them and for a reason, they have a good field of view and give nice sharp images of just about all objects. When they first became available, they were the "sexy" eyepieces of their time. At first, one of them could cost you a weeks wages, if you could get one. There was only one french company who made them. So, keep in mind that astronomical equipment has it's cycle of fashions too.
As a matter of fact, a new super duper $800.- eyepiece just came out. Now everyone wants one. OH well.
The fact is that, unless you have a good deal of observing experience, you wouldn't even be able to tell the difference between most of these eyepieces.
OK< I'm off the soapbox Now.

Adolph

Answer 4

A person's first telescope should be "astronomical binoculars". These are binoculars with 50 mm or larger lenses and a magnification around 10. They're heavy enough that you need to mount them on a camera tripod (there are adapers). Such a setup might cost only $300 but will give very satisfactory results.

For the next telescope after that, spend a little time first with an astronomy club, and go on a few sky parties. Telescopes that give really terrific views are, unfortunately, large and expensive.

Also, there is a big market for good quality used equipment.

Answer 5

The 10" would be a fine first telescope------- it's a little bit heavy---- check the weight out between that one and an 8" model.

The next question is -------- do you know anything about the sky? Can You find objects by star hopping around? If you cannot you will be HIGHLY frustrated after a short time. It may be better to go slower------ and buy some 10x50 binoculars first. Get a star chart and see if you can locate several Messier objects. AND maybe join an Astronomy club and go to several star parties first and look through the club member's telescopes and ask questions.

BUT-------- if I can't get you to slow down, please consider a "push to" Intelliscope model with the object locater. This will help you find objects while you learn the sky and you will not get bored or frustrated because you cannot find anything. I believe the 8" Intelliscope is within your price target.
Clear Skies!

Answer 6

I just ordered a Zhumell 10inch dod two days ago for 500.00 to complement my 80mm refractor. The XT10 is supposably a great scope especially for that price range. Just be warned that it is a hefty scope but any fit person can easily manage to move it around from place to place. My 80mm is a bit more portable and it'll probably get the most use just for the simple fact that it's be more of a grab and go kind of scope for those quick looks at the sky. I always heard the best telescope is the one you use the most. However, apature always rules when it comes to deep sky objects. So if you live in a reasonably dark location and can manage 60lbs+ of weight then I would definetly go with the XT10. Good luck

Answer 7

Choices: refractor or reflector.

In a refractor, go around 3 to 4 inch (80 to 100 mm) aperture (=diameter of the main lens). You can get a good telescope for around $200 to $400. Keep a couple hundreds for 1) a sturdy tripod (most inexpensive telescopes come with shaky tripods), and 2) your choice of a full-aperture solar filter or a reticulated eyepiece.

In a reflector, you could get a decent-sized Newtonian (a parabolic mirror does the focussing) of 6-inch aperture with a motorized drive. This will give you more "deep-sky" objects (faint nebulas, clusters, galaxies) but will not be as good as a refractor on planets (the spider holding up the secondary mirror has a way of causing spikes of light in very bright objects like planets). No money left for extras.

---

In both cases, ignore claims of high magnification. Mathematically, you can get an eyepiece that will give you magnifications up to 450x. But in reality, the best that a 4-inch telescope can do is 200x (and it can be a lot worst if the "fantastic" eyepiece they give you for the 450x magnification is poorly made -- they usually are, in inexpensive telescopes).

----

For the same price, the refractor will often be smaller (more expensive to make) but it will be easier to set up and carry around. I get a lot more fun from my small 80-mm refractor (total weight less than 10 pounds -- 4 kg) than my 10-inch Newtonian that I can't carry in one piece (66 pounds = 30 kg)

---

find out if there is an astronomy club in your area (great place to try out somebody else's telescope and ask questions) or a good telescope store (not the telescope section of a department store).

Answer 8

The SkyQuest XT10 Classic should be fine, At least one member of the Austin Astronomical Society has one and I have used it. If you want to do astrophotography you will want an equatorial mount, but other than that these Dobs are great scopes.

Answer 9

If u live in or near a large city u will be disappointed . The light will blind the telescope .

Answer 10

A guide on telescope buying:
http://www.my-spot.com/whatkind.htm

http://www.optcorp.com/ProductList.aspx?uid=1-755
http://www.opticsplanet.net/telescopes.html
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/
http://www.handsonoptics.com/used.html
http://www.telescopebluebook.com/mbrlinks.htm