Anyone got a telescope?

[Daimo]

Night telescope that is?

With it being the year of astronomy n all that, im finding im getting quite an interest in all the planets n such.

Thing is I know the telescopes are like £200 odd.

Is a home telescope worth it, or am I better of saving my money and just enjoy pictures and shots everyone else takes?

Lots going on this month, on Feb 22nd just before sunrise this is expected

http://www.jodrellbank.manchester.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/Feb22_small.jpg



I'd love to see it. Don't know why, maybe its proving to myself how small and lame we really are, dunno...

So has anyone got/had one? Worth purchasing or would it not give me good shots.

tbh, i'd love to be able to look up into the night sky, maybe see another constellation or galaxy or something. Would a home one be able to do this?

:smt072

[jimmy__riddle]

get a celestron skyscout http://www.celestron.com/skyscout/

Its uses gps, and you just point at an object in the sky and it can tell you what it is, also has audio commentary including facts about it (for certain things like planets).
Also has things like 'tours' where you select an object and it can show you where it is, eg planet, start etc

can be telescope mounted as well.

[tigersaw]

Had a fairly good one some time ago. Spent quite a time out in the cold, (as you need a cloud free night), faffing round with eyepieces, condensation on mirrors, wobbly mounts, star charts etc. Then the planets move so fast you are forever chasing them.
TBH a good pair on binoculars will get you a good view of the planets, you can see the rings of saturn, jupiters moons etc with relative ease.

A good beginner telescope, plenty avaialable used, are the Meade ETX series, ETX90 or much better ETX125. Small, light, portable and not too many $$

[Daimo]

I'll be mainly in the garden so dont mind faffing around.

Cheers, i'll have a nose at those though for starters :)

[ophic]

i had one as a kid - and i bought one last year for my gfs son, lidl cheap like.

good unit but as will all cheap telescopes, the tripods are rubbish. Not used it at night yet. Still he's a bit young.

Any recommended sites for finding out what is where etc?

[stewie]

i had one as a kid - and i bought one last year for my gfs son, lidl cheap like.

good unit but as will all cheap telescopes, the tripods are rubbish. Not used it at night yet. Still he's a bit young.

Any recommended sites for finding out what is where etc?
Theres a lot of good info on here
http://www.popastro.com/
Its a bit dry and theydont have the ORG. sense of humour but loads on good quality info

[Ceri JC]

New pretty neighbour is it? ;)

[Daimo]

:lol: I wish there was.

But sadly, it is actually for viewing stars and planets :lol:

[ophic]

Theres a lot of good info on here
http://www.popastro.com/
Its a bit dry and theydont have the ORG. sense of humour but loads on good quality info
thanks i'll have a browse. And avoid being funny :mrgreen:

[injury_ian]

I have one, but im crap and never set it up right... use a point and shoot technique.

I have looked at saturn, venus, moon and mars... briefly, they all move fecking quickly! its surprising.


another good link for seeing what you're looking at...

http://www.skyviewcafe.com/index.php

[johnnyrod]

The ones they sell in toy shops, Tasco etc. are utter crap, although the Meade/Celestrons are the other end of the scale and thus you pay for them. A decent 3-4" one (reflector or refractor) is a good start as it takes a bit of getting used to finding the target and keeping track of it. Should be plenty of secondhand ones around.
http://www.dhinds.co.uk/

http://www.beaconhilltelescopes.cwc.net/

Something I used to do as a lad was look at Jupiter across several nights, you can see the four largest moons (Galilean moons) changing positions each night.

[ophic]

another good link for seeing what you're looking at...

http://www.skyviewcafe.com/index.php
is exactly what i was after. That's a really cool little java app. Cheers :)