The Official Astronomy Thread

The telescope is human powered. You move it to find things and then slowly nudge it to keep it in view once you have found it. No power required.

You might want to get a red flashlight, a red dot finder (helps loads to find objects and figure out where the scope is pointed) and a Shorty Plus Barlow which will effectively double your eyepiece collection. You'll also need a comfortable height adjustable stool and finally Sky and Telescope's Pocket sky atlas to find out where things are.
 
mercurial said:
No power needed because you are not using some sort of guiding or tracking system (which would need power). You will get 2 eyepieces with (10mm and 25mm), which is a good starting point. All you need to do is assemble the scope once. Then all you need to do is carry the scope to wherever you wanna you observe from. It's that simple :)
You'll be able to see the moon in a way you've never seen before. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are the 3 planets you will get a look at, of which, Saturn is a stunner :)
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Nice, surely if you can see saturn you should also be able to see mercury and venus right ?
 
Bondizzo said:
Nice, surely if you can see saturn you should also be able to see mercury and venus right ?
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You can but the problem is that these planets are like grains of sand compared to Saturn and Jupiter, which are a few hundred times the size of Earth. That's why you can see them clearly, but the small planets such as Venus, well, you won't see much. In any case, the atmosphere of Venus will only allow you to see it as white. It just looks like a big white dot through your telescope.
 
Venus is pretty boring to observe compared to Saturn and Jupiter. There's no features visible and the only thing that's remotely interesting is the phases it shows.
 
Crusader said:
only thing that's remotely interesting is the phases it shows.
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I was about to say the same. Depending on where it sits you can see the phases nicely, I've found a filter works great to drop the brightness of the planet and allow you to see it much clearer.

Though its not something I rush home to see, At least not like Jupiters GRS or Saturns rings
 
Bondizzo said:
Hi guys, I'd like to get into astronomy and I'm thinking of picking up the following telescope

SkyQuest™ XT6 Classic Dobsonian Reflector
http://shop.technopro.co.za/skyquest™-xt6-classic-dobsonian-reflector-p-445.html
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Did you order the scope yet? Apparently the new stock of Orion scopes will arrive end of June, but those will be the economized versions with less accessories and a 50% price increase. So if they have stock of the XT6 it might be a good time to buy.

You should also consider the Skywatcher 6" Dob. It's slightly more expensive, but it comes with a crayford style focuser which is better than the rack and pinion on the XT6.
 
Crusader said:
Let's see:
Some local pricing I could find.
Televue Nagler TYpe 6 13mm - R3207
Ethos 13mm - R6995

Even importing from overseas will set you back more than R3000 per EP. Bit heavy for my pocket!
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Hehe, I know. It was said with tongue-in-cheek :p

I'd love to have those eyepieces though, but dang, that is way too much for my pocket.
 
Mak cass

Hi guys
I'm thinking about buying my first telescope and am looking into getting the skywatcher mak cass 4".
Does anyone have any better suggestions for a price range of R3000 - R4000.
Thanks
 
Lucky D said:
Hi guys
I'm thinking about buying my first telescope and am looking into getting the skywatcher mak cass 4".
Does anyone have any better suggestions for a price range of R3000 - R4000.
Thanks
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Any advice will be based on your situation. To be able to give you the best suggestions we need to know the following:

Where are you going to be observing from?
Do you have space to store a large telescope?
Do you have stairs to navigate while carrying the telescope?
Do you need something that's easy to transport (e.g. taking on trips etc.)?

If you don't have any problems with a sizeable scope and don't have to navigate stairs a Dobsonian would be your best bet.

A 6" Dob would be a good entry level scope, but personally I view an 8" as the best compromise between size/weight and the amount of objects you can see. An 8" will allow you to resolve DSO's quite nicely. Unfortunately the larger aperture comes at a cost, but it will be well worth it.

Orion XT8 Classic - R4470 (excl shipping), but has 73% more light gathering ability than a 6".
 
I will be observing from our lounge overlooking the ocean.
Was wanting to use the scope for the occasional whale spotting.
I was planning on getting the mak cass 4" and a 40 mm eye piece for terrstial use.

Does any one have any ideas on how the mak cass 4" will perform for celestial use.
Am I wasting my time and money on a mak cass 4" for celestial use?

Thanks for all the input so far
 
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