The Official Astronomy Thread

Crusader said:
So here it is... come join in if space is your thing!
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Space is my thing but I do not have the kind of gear that you do. However, I have trundled around with a friend. He was the astronomy buff, I was simply company and outdoorsy. Unfortunately, you can’t do this anymore. Our criminals are amongst the best and you can be killed in the comfort of your own home.

Find a local desert (plenty in SA – off the beaten track). Go armed. Wait for night. The silence is so profound that you can hear the beat of your heart. Look at the sky and be amazed. When did you last see the Milky Way with the naked eye? Deserts are best (there is ‘sound pollution’ from small night creatures in the veld). Go far from any city where light pollution may mess-up the night sky.
 
When i was young, around 12 or 13 my dad got me a cheap ass refractor i think it was a 2inch or a 3inch i cant remember. Man i loved that thing. When there was a solar eclipse i would get my mates to my house set up the scope aim it at the sun and put a blank piece of paper under the eyepiece. Loved it. Did that too for sunspots. Never forget seeing saturn for the first time through that thing. Really loved my lil telescope.until it got stolen... I'd like to take up astronomy again in the future.read- when i have money. Gonna get myself a Meade!
 
During highschool and college I was a keen astronomer but lost interest when work took over my live. (Damn you work) Anyhow I am in the market for a new scope now as I would like to take up the hobby again. (In your face work) Since my old Bushnell refractor will not cut it anymore I have been looking at a new reflector for myself. I have a budget of no more than R6000 and would like a 6-8", f4-8 reflector. Now it seems like the Dobsonian type reflector is the best value for money but I do not know if that base will give enough stability. Second would be the tripod type reflector but with quite a big jump in price. What do you guys and gals recommend?
 
Thanks for the advice mercurial. Been looking at either the Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic 8" Dobsonian or the Sky-watcher SK15075PEQ3-2 Reflector Telescope (Black Diamond) but damn these two are also very nice: Celestron Omni XLT 150mm Telescope Newtonian Reflector and Orion Skyview Pro 8 EQ. Why does it have to be so difficult...
 
Hehe. I have a 12" Dob. It's great but massive to lug around. I think an 8" Dob is perfect for starters. It's not heavy and you get great viewing pleasure.
 
Good that sounds like the right thing to buy then. Pity there is such a massive price gab between the 8" and 10". Ok last question, is there a make I should rather get over another?
 
Depends on what you want really. As everyone will agree, Glass is the most important thing. You can have a scope that looks like ****, but with decent glass and you wont be sorry.

Orion, Meade and Skywatcher all have thier mirrors made by the same company, Synta. So there is no difference there. But the finishing touches are what makes the difference. The tube assemple and parts are very well made on the Meade's, But the same on the Orions and Skywatchers. Orion is more of a brand name, so is more expensive than Skywatcher.

Personally, I'd go for the skywatcher, and then take the money you safe to buy some lenses, or even upgrade the focuser on the skywatcher to something more stable (ie: a crayford focuser if the model you choose doesn't have one)
 
You can't beat a Dob for stability even a high end EQ mount will be hard pressed to offer the same. Of course Dobs are strictly for visual observing.

At the moment the Skywatcher Dobs offer the best value. You get better acessories as opposed to the Orions. You might want to wait a couple of months though. Skywatcher is coming out with tracking Dobs that might be very interesting.
 
The XLT 150 looks like it could work for imaging. For visual the aperture is a bit small. The EQ mount will also require more set up time. The major problem is that with a EQ mount and a Newt the focuser will be all over the place, making for uncomfortable viewing (unless you add rotating tube rings). I'll pass on this one myself...
 
@Mercurial: The real interesting thing is that they might evolve into Go-to Dobs with a future software update and full Syscan handset. Waiting to see what will happen. Oh, and of course there is larger apertures also in the pipeline... ;)
 
Crusader said:
The major problem is that with a EQ mount and a Newt the focuser will be all over the place, making for uncomfortable viewing (unless you add rotating tube rings).
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Its really not that bad. Only time the focuser shifts majorly is if you move from say north to south. and then sometimes nothing more than a few cm different to what it was And then all you need to do is loosen the ring screws slightly, and twist the tube in the rings. Same as having to lug the whole dob around when doing the same shift

Yeah on a Dob you might be able to push it around quicker than I can on my EQ mount due to the focuser. But if its in a simular area, the EQ mount will beat the dob every time. And then of course, I can walk away, get a cup of coffee (or gluhwien), have a smoke and come back 20 min later to still have the object I was watching in focus where I left it.. Aint gonna get that with a dob (unless its trackable, which as all the dob users know... costs more than its worth right now)

As to stablity, Bump a dob and you've 99% of the time lost what you were watching. That wont happen on any EQ5 or higher mount (which I think that one is)
 
All valid points. I'm functioning on 3 hours sleep so might have overlooked a bumping issue.

To me a Dob = cheap, large aperture for visual use with fast setup.

EQ mount = for someone looking for tracking and photography use, but it comes at cost to aperture.
 
:) Oh I totally agree with you there.

Though I would add one more item on the EQ mount list..

"EQ mount = for someone looking for tracking ( or who are to lazy track manually.. like I am ) and photography use , but it comes at cost to aperture."
 
That's more accurate yes. I would have said so myself, but I didn't want to comment on other people's character ;)

One thing with manual tracking is that the AFoV of the EP makes a huge difference. A large FoV makes it much easier.
 
Crusader said:
Which Meade? In general their scopes seem to be a bit overpriced. Skywatcher, Orion and Celestron seem to over a bit more value for money.
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Something from the LX series i think they're dobs. Been awhile since i had a gander at their website. They're bloody expensive i agree but they just look cool to me...gotta design me a shopping mall so i can get one!
 
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