Beginner’s guide to telescopes for the holiday season

[pokerfan]

I concur with most everything in this article. You don't necessarily have to spend a boatload of money but you definitely want to avoid the typical department store garbage.

http://www.universetoday.com/90936/the-holidays-are-coming-a-beginners-guide-to-telescopes

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. "Shotgun!" if anyone finds a suitable planet.

?

[pokerfan]

6. Can you speak Wookiee?

[progressoid]

7. Just call a delivery company to get there...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35TbGjt-weA

[elocs]

2. Surprisingly, I heard an astronomy expert on a call-in show advise not to buy a telescope

unless seriously interested and willing to spend the money for good equipment. He said a good pair of binoculars would be far more satisfying for the average person who has an interest in star gazing.

[pokerfan]

4. I agree with that

There's even a binocular version of the Messier List: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/binomess/binomess.html

And contact your local club. You will have the opportunity to look through lots of different scopes before making a blind decision. There are different types for a reason as there is no one type that does everything perfectly. Managing these tradeoffs and selecting a scope that is suited for your needs is key.

[girl gone mad]

9. He's right.

Particularly if you live anywhere near civilization. Even with my top of the line telescopes (and especially with my light bucket sct), I have to spend hours driving to the middle of nowhere to find good viewing, unless just observing the moon or the sun. Light pollution is a serious hindrance.

[pokerfan]

11. Heh, I saw your sigline

and was going to note that I've been inside the MMT...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MMT_Observatory.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMT_Observatory

[mysuzuki2]

3. I am looking for an under $1000 tlescope that is good for astrophotography.e

does anyone have any good ideas? I am confused.

[pokerfan]

5. Take a look at your budget...

Take whatever you have budgeted for the mount/drive and double it. Take whatever you have budgeted for the scope itself and halve it. :)

That's a exaggeration of course, but the principle is that mount and drive is more important than the tube fro photography. I've seen jaw dropping stunning images produced via modest scopes. Light gathering ability is less important when it comes to photography because you can simply dwell on the object increasing the exposure time. Of course, this is why your mount and drive need to be top notch.

[laconicsax]

8. +1

[Fumesucker]

12. I had a post up on another forum how to do astrophotography on the cheap

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4787727/Main/4785285

Here's a pic of M31 I took with my setup..

[Lionessa]

10. Y'know, I'm going to give this a rec because I know a number of

families over the years that screwed this first choice up and then never really followed through to any further level because the first one was so unsatisfying. So yeah, this is a great time of year to post this and good information for many families' long term enjoyment of the universe.