First Telescope Purchase Question

limpdd

Hi,
I'm new to the world of astronomy and I'm going to make my first telescope purchase (after years of just looking at the sky with naked eyes ) and any advice would be a great help.

When I'm looking at the sky I generally find myself looking at deep sky stuff like the Orion Nebula, so I would like a telescope that can give me some kind of good view of deep sky objects like these, while also maybe showing some detail of the moon, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn.

I've so far thought about these 3 from the Astronomy Ireland shop:-

(http://www.astronomy.ie/SLTseriesseries.html)
NexStar 102 SLT
- High quality 102mm short tube style refractor
- Fully computerized altazimuth mount
- StarPointer finderscope to help with alignment and accurately locating objects
- Quick-release fork arm mount, optical tube and accessory tray for quick no tool set up
- Sturdy stainless steel tripod and accessory tray included
- Good for terrestrial and celestial observing
- Includes CD-ROM "The Sky" Astronomy Software which provides education about the sky and printable sky maps

(http://www.astronomy.ie/SLTseriesseries.html)
NexStar 130 SLT
- High quality 130mm reflector
- Fully computerized altazimuth mount
- StarPointer finderscope to help with alignment and accurately locating objects
- Quick-release fork arm mount, optical tube and accessory tray for quick no tool set up
- Sturdy stainless steel tripod and accessory tray included
- Includes CD-ROM "The Sky" Astronomy Software which provides education about the sky and printable sky maps

(http://www.astronomy.ie/nexstarSE.html)
NexStar 4 (XLT) SE
- 4" Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope
- SE combines the classic heritage of the original orange tube telescopes with the latest state-of-the-art features
- StarBright XLT high transmission coatings come standard
- StarPointer finderscope to help with alignment and accurately locating objects
- Internal flip mirror for convenient viewing straight through (with optional diagonal) or at 90 degrees
- Quick release fork arm mount, optical tube and accessory tray for no-tool setup
- Sturdy computerized altazimuth mount
- Internal battery compartment to prevent cord wrap during use
- Ultra sturdy steel tripod features built-in wedge which allows 4 SE to be used for astrophotography
- Includes CD-ROM "The Sky" Astronomy Software which provides education about the sky and printable sky maps

What do you think of these as possible purchases?
Or am I way off

Sykk

Welcome to the astronomy boards.

I'm sure one of our veteran stargazers will be by at some stage to give you some advice.

Good luck with your purchase.

-Nigel

Plug

limpdd wrote: »

Hi,
I'm new to the world of astronomy and I'm going to make my first telescope purchase (after years of just looking at the sky with naked eyes ) and any advice would be a great help.

When I'm looking at the sky I generally find myself looking at deep sky stuff like the Orion Nebula, so I would like a telescope that can give me some kind of good view of deep sky objects like these, while also maybe showing some detail of the moon, Mars, Jupiter or Saturn.

I've so far thought about these 3 from the Astronomy Ireland shop:-

(http://www.astronomy.ie/SLTseriesseries.html)
NexStar 102 SLT
- High quality 102mm short tube style refractor
- Fully computerized altazimuth mount
- StarPointer finderscope to help with alignment and accurately locating objects
- Quick-release fork arm mount, optical tube and accessory tray for quick no tool set up
- Sturdy stainless steel tripod and accessory tray included
- Good for terrestrial and celestial observing
- Includes CD-ROM "The Sky" Astronomy Software which provides education about the sky and printable sky maps

(http://www.astronomy.ie/SLTseriesseries.html)
NexStar 130 SLT
- High quality 130mm reflector
- Fully computerized altazimuth mount
- StarPointer finderscope to help with alignment and accurately locating objects
- Quick-release fork arm mount, optical tube and accessory tray for quick no tool set up
- Sturdy stainless steel tripod and accessory tray included
- Includes CD-ROM "The Sky" Astronomy Software which provides education about the sky and printable sky maps

(http://www.astronomy.ie/nexstarSE.html)
NexStar 4 (XLT) SE
- 4" Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope
- SE combines the classic heritage of the original orange tube telescopes with the latest state-of-the-art features
- StarBright XLT high transmission coatings come standard
- StarPointer finderscope to help with alignment and accurately locating objects
- Internal flip mirror for convenient viewing straight through (with optional diagonal) or at 90 degrees
- Quick release fork arm mount, optical tube and accessory tray for no-tool setup
- Sturdy computerized altazimuth mount
- Internal battery compartment to prevent cord wrap during use
- Ultra sturdy steel tripod features built-in wedge which allows 4 SE to be used for astrophotography
- Includes CD-ROM "The Sky" Astronomy Software which provides education about the sky and printable sky maps

What do you think of these as possible purchases?
Or am I way off

They have an astromaster 130EQ for €250 with motor drive in Sherwoods.

dlofnep

What's your max budget?

Do you want to focus on photography, or just viewing?

You ideally want to get as much aperture for your buck as possible.

Do you want motorized goto, or are you happy with learning the sky yourself?

I bought an 8" dobsonian for christmas. So far I've caught a good glimpse of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, the Moon and the Orion nebula. I could see the blue haze of the nebula, it looked great.

If your budget is low - I wouldn't waste my time investing in fancy gadgets, and get a simple reflector on a dobsonian mount. If you get a reflector, don't get anything under a 6" - but an 8" would be a really good start.

This is my scope: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=dobsky200

rudedog

Had one of these below for years, a fabulous instrument from the best optic's manufacturers of all, the Russians!

Really really heavy construction, with reliable robust clock drive, all metal parts, i mounted really heavy cameras and lenses to it down through the years with no problems at all.

Only negative was the weight, i think it was over 25kg in total, moving it around fully assembled was a pain in the arse!

It was amazing what you could see with it considering it was only a 4.3" scope. Seen many many deep sky objects for years with it.

http://www.telescopes.ru/product.html?cat=1&prod=7

This company in the UK import them from Russia directly.

http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/astronomical_telescopes/tal