Anyone own a telescope?

[philip964]

I'm jealous, been wanting an 8 or 10 inch Orion Dub for many years, just haven't been able to swing it yet.

You can get the base 8" for $350. That's not a paltry sum, but it is at the lower range of what you'd pay for a gun, for instance.

Good point--I paid $3K for a rifle; I wonder how much telescope that would buy.

A lot of telescope, unless that is, you want one that is actually Made in Japan.

[oohrah]

If anyone is in Central Texas, I invite you to come out to the Meyer Observatory, west of Clifton, altho we are actually just in Coryell County. We are the Central Texas Astronomical Society (centexastronomy.org), and we have regularly scheduled open houses. We have monthly member star parties on weekends nearest a New Moon. It is a good dark site to bring your own scope as well.

Regardless of where you are, joining a local club is the best way to learn and enjoy the night sky. Too many people buy telescopes and put them in the closet because they don't know how to find objects, or use them correctly.

We have a 24-inch research grade telescope, and we provide outreach and programs for K-12, science clubs, and organizations.

[TomsTXCHL]

I'm jealous, been wanting an 8 or 10 inch Orion Dub for many years, just haven't been able to swing it yet.

You can get the base 8" for $350. That's not a paltry sum, but it is at the lower range of what you'd pay for a gun, for instance.

Good point--I paid $3K for a rifle; I wonder how much telescope that would buy.

A lot of telescope, unless that is, you want one that is actually Made in Japan.

Sorry but I don't understand your point. MIJ are very much more expensive? Why would that be?

[The Annoyed Man]

It's been a while so forgive me if I'm wrong here but I believe you take the objective main lens focal length and divide by the focal length of the eyepiece. That gives you the magnification.

From the size of your telescope times two since there are two mirrors inside I'm guessing that it is 2000 mm.

So taking 2000/35 : 57 x. or. 2000/25. : 80 x

Your 35 is the wide angle. They make I think a 75mm polssel for a real wide angle view.

Then the other way you add the Barlow to increase magnification. But you will want to get a 7 or 10 mm for real high power views of the moon and planets.

But again the prettiest views will be wide angle.

Your 8 inch width is about 200mm divided by the 2000mm length gives you a F 10 camera stop. Which is also why the exposures end up being timed for so long.

I bought my little 3 " travel telescope on EBay. There is a lot of used stuff there. I got a little Celestron c90 complete with case and lots of accessories. It's perfect for throwing in the car. The questor is the Louis Vitton of telescopes they are a small fortune even on eBay. But remember its a numbers game a telescope with the biggest lens win regardless of how much it costs.

Hi Philip, I found the following on the specs page for my telescope:

• Optical diameter: 203mm
  Focal length: 1200mm
  Focal ratio: f/5.9

So I'm assuming that's f-stop figure you're trying to arriving at? In fact, when I check with my calculator, 1200÷203=5.91133004926108, so that makes sense. However, I have no idea if f/5.9 is good for a telescope or not. I have a 35mm prime lens for my DSLR that is f/1.4, which is very nice for a DSLR, but as I said, I have no idea what f-stop values are good for a telescope.

[ddstuder]

I have owned a 8" Schmidt Cassegrain for many years. It has a built in clock drive making it much easier to track celestial objects.

I also own a smaller 3.5 inch Maksutov-Cassegrain. It can be used off of a table top. I have actually used it for a spotting scope when sighting in a rifle past 400 yards.

Once you own the scope, you are really just getting started. I easily have more tied up in eye pieces, filters and accessories than the scope cost me.

The accessories that i have enjoyed the most are my Tele-Vue Nagler style eye pieces, and my solar filters.

The solar filters look like a mirror that fits over the end of the scope. They allow only .001% of the light through. You can see sun spots easily and watching solar eclipses are amazing.

If you have never looked through a Nagler lens, you really need to check them out. http://www.televue.com/engine/TV3b_page ... 16kJaKvISU

I also highly recommend a Telrad finder sight. Think of it as a Red-Dot sight for your telescope. It is alot easier to find what you are looking for with this type of finder. http://www.amazon.com/Telrad-Finder-Sig ... dot+finder


Now if only we had dark skies!

[ddstuder]

With an 8" mirror, you can see alot!

Make sure to look at the nebula in Orion's belt. You are actually seeing stars being born.

Also the planets are very neat to look at. This is best done when the moon is new. You can see the rings of Saturn, and the storm on Jupiter.
You can also see 4 of Jupiter's moons from Earth. You can see them move positions as they orbit around the planet in a short amount of time. When they pass in front of the planet, you can see the shadow of the moons on the planets surface! They appear as a small black dot of ink as it moves across. IF you are patient, you can even catch the moons eclipse one another.

I have also looked at the Andromeda Galaxy from my porch in Colorado.

Good books to help with your new addiction;

http://www.amazon.com/365-Starry-Nights ... 0671766066

http://www.amazon.com/NightWatch-Practi ... e+universe

http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Left-Orion-G ... 0FETQGYEHV

[anygunanywhere]

This is an awesome thread.

I recently received a cheap refractor as a gift. My wife and I are eager to get into astronomy when we retire as our retirement place in La Grange is very dark and very clear.

Thanks for all of the information so far.

The Houston Astronomical Society has an observatory in Columbus which is a short drive from our home. I might look into this.

They have a telescope loaner program too.

http://www.astronomyhouston.org/

Anygunanywhere

[philip964]

It's been a while so forgive me if I'm wrong here but I believe you take the objective main lens focal length and divide by the focal length of the eyepiece. That gives you the magnification.

From the size of your telescope times two since there are two mirrors inside I'm guessing that it is 2000 mm.

So taking 2000/35 : 57 x. or. 2000/25. : 80 x

Your 35 is the wide angle. They make I think a 75mm polssel for a real wide angle view.

Then the other way you add the Barlow to increase magnification. But you will want to get a 7 or 10 mm for real high power views of the moon and planets.

But again the prettiest views will be wide angle.

Your 8 inch width is about 200mm divided by the 2000mm length gives you a F 10 camera stop. Which is also why the exposures end up being timed for so long.

I bought my little 3 " travel telescope on EBay. There is a lot of used stuff there. I got a little Celestron c90 complete with case and lots of accessories. It's perfect for throwing in the car. The questor is the Louis Vitton of telescopes they are a small fortune even on eBay. But remember its a numbers game a telescope with the biggest lens win regardless of how much it costs.

Hi Philip, I found the following on the specs page for my telescope:

• Optical diameter: 203mm
  Focal length: 1200mm
  Focal ratio: f/5.9

So I'm assuming that's f-stop figure you're trying to arriving at? In fact, when I check with my calculator, 1200÷203=5.91133004926108, so that makes sense. However, I have no idea if f/5.9 is good for a telescope or not. I have a 35mm prime lens for my DSLR that is f/1.4, which is very nice for a DSLR, but as I said, I have no idea what f-stop values are good for a telescope.

F5.9 is pretty fast for a telescopic camera lens. So your 35 mm has a magnification of 35x, the 25mm 48x. Your theoretical maximum magnification is 400x

If you got a 10mm ocular you would have 120x. Then you can add the barlow for even more for looking at planets and the like.

[Dub]

Nice looking Dobs! I have a 4" Celestron Refractor which has just been sitting in a corner for probably 10 years. Between the light pollution in the Southwest area and the mosquitoes at Bayou Bend park I just seem to have lost my enthusiasm for the hobby.
Now that I'm retired I really should try to take it out again.

[The Annoyed Man]

Good books to help with your new addiction;

http://www.amazon.com/365-Starry-Nights ... 0671766066

http://www.amazon.com/NightWatch-Practi ... e+universe

http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Left-Orion-G ... 0FETQGYEHV

ddstuder, My telescope came with an "Orion Special Edition" version of the Starry Night software....which I had already installed on my desktop machine several years ago, so I used the license that came with the telescope to also install it on my Macbook Air. The software has the benefit, if I later choose to buy another telescope with a tracking motor, of making your laptop into the "go to" device for directing the telescope. But even without that, it has an amazing array of information available about whatever is going on at any given time, displayed in a user interface which is easy and nice to look at, and which updates itself regularly to add new information and discoveries.

Also, my astronomer friend who initially urged me to buy a dobsonian is a guy by the name of Mike Ressler (http://science.jpl.nasa.gov/people/Ressler/), and he urged me to buy a book called "The Cambridge Star Atlas" by Wil Tirion (approx. $24 at Amazon). He described it as:

"This is my goto set of star charts. They are pretty and useful, have a good list of objects associated with each page, and I think they are amongst the best for helping you learn your way around the sky. I have a deeper, more complex set by him as well, but I always start with the Cambridge. This, in concert with your point-your-cell-phone-at-the-sky app, makes a good learning combo."

[Rex B]

I just recently sold the 6" Celestron that had been sitting in my library unused for 15 years. Between the light pollution, the tracking issues with the poorly made axis mechanism, and the way my contact lenses did not get along with the eyepiece, I gave up on it. I may revisit it once I find a good dob with a clockwork drive and a dark place to use it. I'd also require an objective mount that would mount a camera, or even better output to a tablet display while still allowing optical view.

There is an astronomy club in North Dallas area. They own a tract of land in SE Oklahoma where they have quarterly star parties. If I can recall who invited me to one, I'll get back to you.

I also found a pretty cool Android app. You just hold the tablet (or phone) up to the night sky and it displays & labels the objects in that area. Pretty cool. Not sure if there is an iOS version.

[WildBill]

I haven't had my Meade ETX 125EC out in a long time now----reading this makes me want to go open it up and use it again. Seems like time just flys by now and never enough time to do stuff that I used to do.

The electonic controller with "go to" is really nice to have. I was really surprised the first time watching the moon how fast it move out of view without the controller, the sun is the same way, just have to be very careful with the sun. Besides your eyes it will melt the telescope in short order.

Congrats on your purchase and enjoy it.

[oohrah]

Rex B, the club you are referring to is the Texas Astronomical Society of Dallas. They have a website, and a place in Atoka, OK for viewing.

[The Annoyed Man]

I also found a pretty cool Android app. You just hold the tablet (or phone) up to the night sky and it displays & labels the objects in that area. Pretty cool. Not sure if there is an iOS version.

I've had "GoSkyWatch" on my iPhone and iPad for a long time now: http://www.gosoftworks.com/GoSkyWatch/GoSkyWatch.html

[WildBill]

Saturn is now making its entrance onto the celestial stage, rising in the eastern sky soon after dark and shining brightly in the southern sky all night long.

To the naked eye, Saturn stands out in the May night sky as the only bright object in the constellation Libra. In fact it outshines the two brightest stars in this part of the sky, Spica to the planet's right and Antares to the left, and rivals Arcturus high above it.

New stargazers are often puzzled as to how to spot the planets among the stars. Most of the time, it's easy: The planets are almost always the brightest objects in the sky, largely because they are much closer to Earth than are the stars. [The Best Night Sky Events for May (Photos)]



http://www.space.com/25756-saturn-seaso ... 5_23282334" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;