Question for any amateur stargazers

[wanderingaimles]

Looking at getting m'lady a telescope. Dont want to break the bank, looking for something which will be durable enough to travel with us full time next year and compact enough not to take over half the 5er.

Basics, Budget of about $500
Camera attachments
Computer controls that wont have her pulling her hair, or mine, out.
Any suggestions for a first scope?

[RamRider]

I have a Celestron NextStar, 8 se. fits under the bed when not in use but its 2X $500, If you have the space I suggest that you get a Zhumel 8 inch dobsonian (I have one of these too), If you want to look at deep sky objects you should consider at least in 8 inch reflector.
there is a forum you can join, Cloudy Nights. you will get better insights by interacting with the folks

[Harvey51]

I saw a nice Celestron in Costco last week.
Costco Canada
Looks like the Costco website has a whole line of Celestrons.

[Clicck]

OkieGene wrote:
I HIGHLY recommend you find your local Astronomy Club and attend a meeting, become a member.

Most will loan a newbie a telescope to try. Go to their sponsored viewings and look through different types of scopes.

Don't be buying one without some knowledge and experience. Learn from the club.


Oh, and one more piece of advice. There will be some members glad handing you and offering to sell theirs to you. This may or not be good. Sometimes people just want to offload their junk on a newbie. Resist this. DONT BUY ANYTHING until you have a good solid mentor or two and you gain some knowledge. This is true in ANY hobby.

Good luck to you.

This x1,000. Just like any other hobby there are a million options but telescopes are a whole 'nuther animal.

I started out with a Sky-Watcher 4" Pro ED refractor based on recommendations from a local club.

It is on a manual Alt-Az mount and I use a cell phone app to help me find things to look at. (really don't even need the app for most planets though)

[wanderingaimles]

TragedyTrousers wrote:
Interesting to see this topic pop up since I had just bought a telescope last week. Bought a used Celestron Nexstar SE4. Wanted a computerized mount since Im a complete noob. The Nexstar SE4 doesnt take up much room and is rugged. Got my first photos through it this weekend. Used a Cannon Rebel T5i for these.

Great, that scope is almost the same as what I had located and I had planned on adding a camera/phone mount so it's a comparable view.
I did find that a club from a University in NC is coming up here in a week at Stanton River State Park on Dec 8, so am taking her to that.

[2012Coleman]

I'm interested in this topic as well, though mostly uninformed - great thread. My FIL gave my son a telescope, but nothing like the ones mentioned here. To locate objects to look at, I use an app called Sky View on my phone. Just point your phone and it shows you everything - even space junk.

[westend]

I'd suggest you try a larger reflecting scope right at Sunset. The amount of light gathering (star count) will be impressive. The Astronomy Club is good suggestion. You may luck out and find a member selling a good scope for short money.

[TragedyTrousers]

Interesting to see this topic pop up since I had just bought a telescope last week. Bought a used Celestron Nexstar SE4. Wanted a computerized mount since Im a complete noob. The Nexstar SE4 doesnt take up much room and is rugged. Got my first photos through it this weekend. Used a Cannon Rebel T5i for these.

Nexstar Photo1


Nexstar photo2

[CFerguson]

OkieGene wrote:
I HIGHLY recommend you find your local Astronomy Club and attend a meeting, become a member.

Most will loan a newbie a telescope to try. Go to their sponsored viewings and look through different types of scopes.

Don't be buying one without some knowledge and experience. Learn from the club.


Oh, and one more piece of advice. There will be some members glad handing you and offering to sell theirs to you. This may or not be good. Sometimes people just want to offload their junk on a newbie. Resist this. DONT BUY ANYTHING until you have a good solid mentor or two and you gain some knowledge. This is true in ANY hobby.

Good luck to you.

^^^ There's your answer. ^^^

For me, I like some lightweight quality binocs like some made by Vortex for general sky viewing + meteors. Also if you did decide to go crazy money, with some Gen 2 or better night vision you will be absolutely amazed at how many meteors that you will see.

[Bumpyroad]

wanderingaimlessly wrote:
I was looking at this one, 130mm reflector
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007UQNNQ/ref=psdc_499154_t3_B0007UQNKY

Had also looked at a couple without the onboard computer with larger mirror, figured the computerized controls were the way to go. But was worried about it getting bounced around if I went too big.

that one seems to fit your requirements. how about some input here on it instead of pushing those costing twice as much.
bumpy

[Big_Katuna]

RobWNY wrote:
I bought a Celestron SkyProdigy 6 a couple of years ago. Really nice scope and dummy proof. More than you want to spend though. The first time I saw the rings of Saturn and the different layers of Jupiter and its moons I was blown away. It really makes you realize just how insignificant we humans are in the whole scheme of things.

So if you think about all the grains of sand on all of the beaches of the world, they add up to fewer than all the stars in the sky.

[OkieGene]

I HIGHLY recommend you find your local Astronomy Club and attend a meeting, become a member.

Most will loan a newbie a telescope to try. Go to their sponsored viewings and look through different types of scopes.

Don't be buying one without some knowledge and experience. Learn from the club.


Oh, and one more piece of advice. There will be some members glad handing you and offering to sell theirs to you. This may or not be good. Sometimes people just want to offload their junk on a newbie. Resist this. DONT BUY ANYTHING until you have a good solid mentor or two and you gain some knowledge. This is true in ANY hobby.

Good luck to you.

[RobWNY]

I bought a Celestron SkyProdigy 6 a couple of years ago. Really nice scope and dummy proof. More than you want to spend though. The first time I saw the rings of Saturn and the different layers of Jupiter and its moons I was blown away. It really makes you realize just how insignificant we humans are in the whole scheme of things.

[GordonThree]

Along the lines of Sidecar's recommendation might be a better first time purchase. A spotting scope or binoculars really makes a difference in the skies, but also has other uses on Earth as well.

A good test I've heard is aim the binos or scope at the 2nd to last star in the big dipper's handle... it's a double star and you should be able to make out two distinct points, Mizar and Alcor. Alcor is actually a binary system itself, and Mizar (the much brighter of the two) is actually four stars, and the six of them are linked together by gravity.

[wanderingaimles]

We/she really doesn't know yet. She said she has always wanted one.
We live in Virginia, she grew up in Pa, neither has had a lot of opportunity to see different areas with dark enough skies. The state park across the lake from us host a dark sky event, but I had surgery the day before the event this year, so we missed it, and we hope not to be here next year.
She loves just sitting on the deck and watching, we have laid out in the hot tub to watch the perseid showers, had wanted to watch for more.
Saturn was within the realm of possibilities, Mars as well, beyond that we have to learn,,,,