Buying a Telescope for a 1st Timer

finnpark

Hi,

Im not that much into astromony myself but Im want to buy someone a telescope for Christmas. It would their 1st telescope. The budget would be 1000 euro and under.

Ive been told that an 8 inch reflector would be a good choice?

I don't want one that is crap, it must a good telescope that would last someone for a few years with good optics etc.

Also, where is the best place to buy these. Is there a place in Belfast that does this?

Thanks.

slade_x

finnpark wrote:

Hi,

Im not that much into astromony myself but Im want to buy someone a telescope for Christmas. It would their 1st telescope. The budget would be 1000 euro and under.

Ive been told that an 8 inch reflector would be a good choice?

I don't want one that is crap, it must a good telescope that would last someone for a few years with good optics etc.

Also, where is the best place to buy these. Is there a place in Belfast that does this?

Thanks.

Theres a very hard line between crap and good, what i would consider crap are telescopes sold boasting ridiculous magnifications that not even a 12" could resolve, these types typically come with 2 or 3 eyepieces, and barlow. of which you can forget about immediately, and 2 of those eyepieces may be dismissed as they might easily overpower the telescope on their own.

Having that said every other telescope then has its purpose and potential buyer. the hard thing is figuring out exactly what a person may want and expect for their money.

The telescopes that will give you the best light gathering ability for your money are no doubt Dobsonian Telescopes. These are a bit bulky but meade offer a portable easy assembly mass produced (even cheaper) range called The Truss Lightbridge. All Dobsonians i have seen dont have much of a problem with mount stability because of their size.

It would be important to think about what this person may actually want to use the telescope for, also are they in a very light polluted area, where they may have to commute to another location, 8" reflectors (Dobsonian and otherwise) get very heavy at that size, maybe in excess of 60 pounds (4 1/2 stone approx) even to transport a 5" dismantling to move them is pretty much a no brainer.

The smaller newtonians (up to 10") can come on an EQ mount, these get pricey as stability (aka heavy duty mount) cost a lot, Go to Drive ability via Meade's Autostar or equivalent will also add to the price, considerably, even so that 60% even 80% of the cost is going on the mount alone.

Generally with someones first telescope they expect a lot more than what may be possible, without buying a share of hubble's time of course. Telescopes even the best brands tend to come boxed with images of objects that the telescope is not possible of achieveing. these images are actually taken by hubble. As far as looking through any telescope yourself goes, you wont see bright colored results smacking you in the face. in fact pretty much everything will appear in black and white, with the exception of slight tints on planets. A lot of active amateurs may use color and band (narrow band for example) filters for astrophotography and such. A lot of objects even if the telescope is aimed at them correctly will be hard for your eye to pick up, the more you use a telescope (train your eyes) the easier this will come to you.

How long you are out in the dark (dark eye adaption), how much eye strain (its important to take breaks every few minutes), and of course atmospheric seeing conditions can cripple the biggest of telescopes in respect to what an observer may be able to see with it.

The general rule is the higher magnitude objects (futher away, less brighter/luminous) you want to see, the more Aperture (light gathering) you will need. because a beginner expects so much for their money i would say all refractors and small reflectors need not be considered. A reflector will still give you good observation of the planets, more importantly they are the best platform for Deep Sky Objects (Star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, etc.) As you have already been told 8" is a pretty good starting point.

An important thing to note is, going with a bigger telescope may not automatically give you the ability to use the higher magnifications. Some of the reason for larger apertures is typically to go further and see those objects of the highest magnitude. Humanities Race to build the largest of telescopes is an ongoing endeavour. A telescope isnt just a window into space, but a window into the past.


In case i missed anything it might be worth a look to check on of the previous threads:
LIDL Meade LXD 75 6" Newtonain

Some of the links in the below link should help you:
http://homepage.eircom.net/~caac/index_files/page0006.htm

finnpark

Hi,

Thanks.

It is not a light polluted area.

Can you reccommend any Meade Dobsomians 8 inch reflectors in Ireland?

Thanks.

Links would be good

slade_x

you could try contacting Andromeda Optics on

Phone: 01-496 6866
149 Upper Rathmines Road
Rathmines
Dublin

I think thats still there contact details

Also North Down Telescopes contact details:
Andy McCrea
Phone: 028 91 273584