i want to buy a telescope for long distance viewing not for planets which to buy?

Answer 1

Its very important to have a good base (tripod is a type of base.)
for amateur astronomy. Without one its just an exercise in frustration. any decent beginner scope on a tripod will be over $800 because the tripod will be at least $4-500.

For the planets and moon, you can avoid having to spend that kind of money by buying a Dobsonian Mount Telescope.

I have a Celestron 8" Dobsonian Telescope, that I got for under $400, and its perfect for the planets and the moon:

http://jleslie48.com/aaph/

but I'm gonna have to go to the next level up if I want to be able to photograph a galaxy. My next project.

Answer 2

The reason your definition of "long distance viewing" is so important, is the fact that Astronomical Telescopes are really unsuitable for terrestrial viewing since most of them invert the image in some way. This makes no difference when viewing celestial objects, since there is no "up" or "down" in space, but it would be very disconcerting for terrestrial work.
For long distance terrestrial work, the spotting scope reigns supreme. A tripod-mounted spotting scope with a good sized lens diameter and a nice range of zoom functions would be ideal. You could even hook up a camera to it (called digiscoping).
Orion telescopes has a very good selection of quality spotting scopes in their catalog.

Adolph

Answer 3

Matt D....stay out of conversations regarding buying a telescope. You ABSOLUTELY DO NOT want to buy a Wal-mart (or any department store) scope. Even though it may have a good brand name, the quality you will get isn't worth much with the equipment they give you, and would cost even more money to make it worth anything. By that time, you could have bought a scope 3-5 times larger and bought good gear to go with it. And reflectors are a much better starter scope. If you compared a refractor and reflector of the same appeture, the refractor will cost MUCH more. Throw in that dept. store bought scopes of any kind always require that you spend more money to replace the bad equipment you get with it, and they are just a bad option to go for. Any amateur astronomer would look at your response and cringe about where you are suggesting this person go. Like I said, stay out of questions where people ask about buying telescopes because you are obviously not able to answer them.

Now, for the person asking the question. I have one question. How long have you been doing astronomy (and this includes handling telescopes)? If the answer is not very long, then I highly recommend you look for a local astronomy club and start meeting with them. First hand experience with both design and handling of scopes is of unmeasurable value when you get a scope. More people buy scopes on a whim and get frustrated with them not being able to properly use them than any other reason (and that is coming from several years of helping people who came to our club asking how to use that scope they got as a gift). Not only can the astronomy club help you get experience with handling scopes, it gives you a chance to work with scopes and learn what you like and don't like. You'll also learn about eyepieces, an important and often expensive aspect of astronomy. Knowing what you want before you buy is important.

If your answer is that you've been doing astronomy for a little while and have been learning the sky, but you don't have much experience with scopes, then I recommend the above option again. However, for either option, if you want something basic to start with, look into a good pair of binoculars, somewhere between 7x50's and 10x50's. Then look up the book "Touring the Universe Through Binoculars" by Philip S. Harrington. A great beginner's intro into finding objects once you have learned the basic constellations. Heck, even if you get a telescope, I'd still recommend those two items. I always have mine with me when I go out observing.

If the answer is that you have both experience with astronomy and telescopes, than I recommend Orion Telescopes. A great company with good products at affordable prices. After waiting four years to make up my mind and raise the money, I couldn't be happier with my choice, and I went with their 10" Skyquest....only $529. But again, I had spent a lot of time thinking about what I needed in a scope.

Regarding long distance viewing. Hoping you mean in the sky, any size is better than nothing, but the larger the appeture (diameter), the more light it can collect, the fainter you can see. I can say that the 10" I got just barely fits in my backseat (with the base in my front passenger seat), so consider transportation when you get a scope. A reflector is not only easier to set up, but also can be easier to handle for a first scope. BUT....don't give up on planets. It's amazing what you can see when viewing planets, and even though it may seem like "I've seen that before, big deal," it is still interesting to take a look every time I go out just to see what I can see.

Hope that helps.

Answer 4

Something like the ones in the source. But you are foolish to pass up the planets. Every beginner is massively disappointed at how nebulae and galaxies look in a telescope, especially in the bright sky of the city. But everyone is impressed with the Moon and Saturn.

Answer 5

No, NOT a refractor for long-distance viewing. You need a reflector type telescope. The main function of a reflector is to gather light from distant objects, and that's all you'll be interested in since there's no real detail to see of them. As rule of them for reflectors, buy one with the biggest primary mirror you can afford and that has the longest focal length. I had an 8" reflector and under perfect viewing conditions (..rare..) could just pick out one of the nearer quasars.

Answer 6

Sea coast telescope for distant viewing if you can find a use one the are very hard to come by, I just got one is a coin operated

Answer 7

Bushnell telescope are barely above junk quality Meade is very good, but very pricey for their quality Orion is very good, and reasonably priced. I would go to a slightly larger 'scope, and a better tripod. I despise Dobsonians

Answer 8

Need a bit more info for a good answer. Don't know if you mean for "long-distance" astronomy (eg, nebula, galaxies, etc.) or "long-distance" terrestial targets (eg, birds, mountains, etc.) How much you want to spend, what kind of user you are (or think you'll be), where you live, are all important.

I co-authored a presentation on this topic for our astronomy club ... it may help some. Good luck.

Answer 9

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "long distance viewing." My answer would be very different depending on whether you mean "long distance terrestrial viewing," i.e. distant landscapes, ships at sea, etc., or "long distance astronomical viewing," i.e. stars, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies.

Answer 10

Terrestrial viewing ------??? I suppose?? Try this on a tripod:
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-20x80-LW-Astronomy-Binocular-Tripod-Mount-20x-80mm_W0QQitemZ360004886290QQihZ023QQcategoryZ50538QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Or this on an Alt Az Mount-----
http://www.stellarvue.com/nha.html