Telescope Present

Enygma

Hi,

I'm looking to get my dad a telescope for his next birthday, he's not into astronomy but he's retiring soon so he'll have plenty of time to get into it

I don't have a clue either, what kind of telescope would you guys recommend for a beginner? There's three of us going in on the gift too so I guess a budget of around 400-500 would be about right.

I asked in a shop in Cork and they've got a few Atlas Explorer telescopes, are they any good?

Also, what software would you guys recommend for helping him find his way around the skies?

Is there anything else I'd need to know?

Thanks a lot!

Dr Pepper

In my limited experience, I would recommend a Newtonian telescope on an equatorial mount. They represent the best value for money in terms of arperture (width of main telescope optical tube). Your budget and location may limit you to a 4.5" newt but if you shop around, you may find a 6" for that money which I would recommend.

I am not familiar with Atlas Explorer in terms of quality but they do seem to have a newt (the one on the right).

This Celestron version (which I am more familiar with) looks good and comes on a motorised mount (moves slowly to track an object across the sky to compensate for the rotation of the Earth)

The most important thing is to shop around for prices. A scope in one shop can easily cost double the price in another. Andy McCrae in North Down Telescopes will give you a decent price on the Celestron (probably the best price you'll find in Ireland). He matches (or better) the prices listed on www.celestron.uk.com. He also delivers to the South but not sure if he'd go all the way to Cork!

I've started using Stellarium in the past few days and I find it to be unbelievably good and very easy to get the hang of.

Good luck.. Let us know if you've any more questions and how you get on

Grayarea

Enygma wrote:

Hi,

I'm looking to get my dad a telescope for his next birthday, he's not into astronomy but he's retiring soon so he'll have plenty of time to get into it

I don't have a clue either, what kind of telescope would you guys recommend for a beginner? There's three of us going in on the gift too so I guess a budget of around 400-500 would be about right.

I asked in a shop in Cork and they've got a few Atlas Explorer telescopes, are they any good?

Also, what software would you guys recommend for helping him find his way around the skies?

Is there anything else I'd need to know?

Thanks a lot!

For that money you should be able to get a dobsonian of around 8". That should do for a few years.

I would rcommend against a equatorial in that price range as they are not as easy as a dobsonian to get the hang of and they tend to be quite poor build quality at that price point.

The most important issue would be that a 8" dob would see alot more objects than a ~4" newt on a equatorial mount.

As an example of this type of scope and cost see http://www.telescope-service.de/dobsonians/dobsonians/dobsoniansstart.html

Later,

Dr Pepper

Grayarea wrote:

For that money you should be able to get a dobsonian of around 8". That should do for a few years.

I would rcommend against a equatorial in that price range as they are not as easy as a dobsonian to get the hang of and they tend to be quite poor build quality at that price point.

The most important issue would be that a 8" dob would see alot more objects than a ~4" newt on a equatorial mount.

As an example of this type of scope and cost see http://www.telescope-service.de/dobsonians/dobsonians/dobsoniansstart.html

Later,

Good point. Dobsonian was my first thought too actually. I thought it might be a bit big and clunky for a retired man though. It may not be an issue but keep it in mind anyway.

By the way Enygma, a Dobsonian is a type of mount. The scope (optical tube) in question is still a Newtonian. As Grayarea said, a Dob mount is a good way to save money, allowing you to get a larger aperture (8"+) Newtonian.

Grayarea: I'm not suprised the cheaper eq mounts aren't very good quality. Seemed too good to be true to have a motorised mount and scope for under €200

There are some dobs here (you might be looking at the 6" or preferably 8"):
http://www.celestron.uk.com/catalogues/browse_categories.asp?CatalogueID=272&CategoryID=4033
You might get the 8" delivered from NDT for €500 all in. I also have a DTG (Dublin Telescope Group) 8.75" Dobs which I was half thinking of selling

Kevster

Does anywhere in Ireland sell these things? Sorry, I just noticed that they do. What could you view with a 2.4" 'scope? Saturn? Jupiter? Distant galaxies?

Tea drinker

I wouldn't go to that small a scope unless your dad has difficulty handling something bulky. try to get a 6" or 8" Dob, and a couple of eyepieces.
A moon map, philips planisphere are good little accompaniments, and can prolong the enjoyment.
whatever you don't get a small scope with 1000x or some HUGE magnification wrote on the box. With a small scope you rarely go over say 60x but with the 8" you could easily push it out to 250X.
It's not about magnification anyway, because you are mostly looking at dim stuff, having a bigger scope to gulp in more light is good.

knm

I'd go with an 8" dob as well, probably because I have one. Saturn (leaving us now) looks great. Jupiter is impressive, as is Venus and the Moon. Orion will blow you away.
I can recommend Andy McCrea (North Down Telescopes)
However you mention that your dad is not into astronomy. Does he ever go outside and look up? Maybe a good set of binoculars and some software (Starry Night) would be a good start.

slade_x

A telescope as a present for someone without an interest in astronomy may be a bit strong, learning the sky and learning how to use a telescope effectively is frustrating enough for even those with a keen interest, for someone without any real interest to start it could seriously hinder any potential interest that the new telescope could initially instill.

Have you talked with your father about this, it may be worth your while mentioning it or hinting at it if you want the element of surprise.

Good brands to go with would be Meade, Celestron, Zhummel, bushnell for example, all of which i would say are the most popular brands. I have a few Meade's myself.

Just remember though a telescope can always be used in the day, granted you take the proper precautions, buy a Solar Filter, keep the cap on your finder scope, you can observe our closest star, The Sun

kevster wrote:

What could you view with a 2.4" 'scope? Saturn? Jupiter? Distant galaxies?

Its not really about what you can view in a sense. Its more with how much detail could you view it with. Its hard to describe exactly how good a certain size telescope will be as there is a lot of other factors to contend with, one of which is seeing conditions, which to put simply relates to how turbulent the atmosphere is. The further light has to travel in the atmosphere the more chance there is it will be scattered (you can see this affect by the colour of the "sky" at a sunrise /sunset), in bad seeing conditions this can be a whole lot worse and can cripple even the larger telescopes.
Another overlooked factor is your eyes ability to focus what light your telescope can actually bring to it, it isnt that much of a concern but knowing how to look through your telescope is essential (it sounds stupid but some people never train themsleves and never see the dim objects with equipment that should allow them too) Dilated pupils are a must especially for those dim objects. Although looking at the moon through a telescope with your eyes fully dark adapted can be quite painful and can be a serious strain on your eyes

The larger the aperture (diameter of primary mirror/lens) the more light your telescope will gather. The more light the more detailed and thus the more magnification you can use without overpowering the telescope and losing focus.
As a rule of thumb the theoretical usable magnification is typically twice the telescope aperture in millimeters or 50-60X per inch of aperture, however this isn't always practical as it depends on the brightness of the object and per reasons above.

Magnification is the telescope's focal length divided by the eyepiece's focal length.
So for example i'll take an 8" Dobsonian with an average 1100mm focal length ( which could have usable magnification of 400-480X maybe):
with a 26mm eyepiece -> 1100mm/26mm = 42X
with a 12mm eyepiece -> 1100mm/12mm = 91X
with a 4mm eyepiece -> 1100mm/ 4mm = 275x

A barlow is always a good thing to have which doubles or tripples an eyepiece's magnification depending on what one you get (2X/3X Barlow). When using a barlow you can just multiply the magnification of the eyepiece in your telescope with the power of the barlow.

To view Deep space objects like galaxies, star clusters, nebulae etc. You will need a large telescope to make the most of your viewing. A 6"/8" is always a good starting point, and for some its usually all the power they ever need.

enygma wrote:

Also, what software would you guys recommend for helping him find his way around the skies?

The Starry Night Series is an excellent aid for new and amateur stargazers alike, it is without a doubt the most realistic astronomy software. You'll be thinking at times you dont even need a telescope with it. There are some video's on the link below to see how it works

http://www.starrynight.com/new_snprox.html

On zooming onto an object it really is this detailed: