Astronomy & Telescopes

[Nemesis77]

Ok, I'm a 110% newbie when it comes to this, but still...

Space has always fascinated me. I find images of galaxies and stellar nebulas to be exceptionally beautiful. My question is: could I observe those (and other stellar phenomena) with telescopes available to common amateurs? If so, what kind of telescope should I get? How much do they cost? How about photographing stellar objects. How is that achieved?

Or are nebulas and such only visible to those big professional telescopes in observatories?

Feel free to laugh at my ignorance on this matter.

 

[ImTyping]

Amatuer stargazer: One who spends less than a thousand bucks on equipment.

If you want to see such great sights as you see in pictures, remember a lot of the pictures are taken with filters or showing light of a certain bandwidth to enhance the image.

As far as decent equipment goes, I would say that you should try to take an astronomy course at a local college or find a stargazing group somewhere. You might get to see all the stuff you want to see without spending a dime.

 

[kami]

If you want to see Nebulae and Galaxies brightly and with lots of color and detail you need a big scope. Here is one thing I will tell you now that you should never forget: ignore magnification!!! Just forget about it! The thing that matters is the aperture of the scope. The bigger the aperture, the more light-gathering capability the scope has and that means you can see fainter objects.
To get you started I'd recommend at least an 8" or 10" scope (aperture) if that is your main interest. With anything less it's very hard to see anything other than the moon, the planets in our solar system, and maybe some star clusters and some of the brighter objects like the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy.

I myself only have a 3" refractor and I can see the moon, jupiter, saturn very nicely..and then things like orion nebula and andromeda in VERY dark skies. I want more but its all I could get at the time.

To get started, go and buy this book. It's how I got started and teaches you a lot about the sky and telescopes and general things about astronomy and sky observing.

Secondly, it's a good idea to start with a nice pair of binoculars to get familiar with the sky, the major objects, and the constellations. You'd be surprised what nice binoculars can show you.

Be prepared for an expensive hobby though...not only do you need a nice scope with quality optics and mirrors, but also different eyepieces, a sturdy tripod and mount (do not compromise on this at all, the slightest puff of wind will make the scope vibrate like hell if you have a crappy mount), and even other things if you get into photography.

Here is a pic that I took through my 3" refractor if you're interested. I used my digital camera.

One of these days I'd like to own a big scope...like 12" or more. Someday...

 

[Nemesis77]

I have become more and more interested in the subject recently. There is a astronomy-club in Helsinki, and I might get in touch with them. They have an observatory with big scopes, and they arrange astronomy-classes. In fact, I just found out that they are arranging a cosmology-class next april, and the admission-fee is only 17 euros! That sounds really interesting, and the price is extremely reasonable as well!

EDIT:

Kami:

How much did your equipment cost (excluding the camera)? Just so that I will know the ballpark we are talking about here.

 

[conjur]

Thanks, Kami.

Have actually piqued my interest with that info. I have a telescope here that a friend left about 4 yrs ago but it's missing some key pieces and have never bothered with trying to get it working...think I just found a weekend project.

 

[kami]

Nemesis, here is my scope. It came with all the stuff listed, but I've bought some other things on my own like a barlow and another eyepiece. I got it over a year ago and I think it was about $100 more then.

Also keep in mind that's canadian dollars.

Please, please, please don't buy from a department store or a camera shop!

p.s. dont forget that book! its so helpful

 

[Nemesis77]

Thanks Kami ! I would give ya a 10 if you had ratings turned on .

I'm off to bed, but I will return to this thread tomorrow.

 

[911paramedic]

I was thinking about getting my son one of these telescopes from Costco. It looks like a pretty good deal, I used to have one that was not nearly as nice as this.

Good luck, it really is fun. (oh, in case nobody else said, get away from city lights to get really good viewing)

 

[kami]

911paramedic, the thing about small reflectors is that you have obstruction and you won't actually get that full 4.5". For a reflector I'd get a minimum of 6" aperture. Yes it's more money but it'll be worth it in the long run and if he ever takes an interest in it, the scope will serve him well for longer. Also I know it's a nice price, but don't expect the best of quality when you buy a scope from Costco. Bushnell is sort of a camera/dept. store brand...not the best to say the least.

However...it's better than nothing!

edit: and here is a suggestion for a 6" reflector link

you'd also get nice performance from something like a 4.7" refractor such as this

 

[911paramedic]

Thanks, since I learned my one thing for the day it's time to go to sleep.

They have a 4.5" there too, but good to know about the brand, thanks.

 

[Mephistopheles]

<< To get started, go and buy this book. >>



lol, when i saw the book I thought it looked familiar. My girlfriend bought it at a local book clearance centre here in T.O. for dirt cheap. Time to go steal it from her

 

[SirFshAlot]

Kami gives great advice.

I also have NIghtwatch in the spiral bound edition, so you can open to the star charts, and it stays where you open it. Plus, it's laminated.

I have a Meade 4" Schmidt-Cassegrain. I prefer this type for it's portability, as I take it camping, and also use it for wildlife spotting in the daytime.

After you decide which scope you want, go get an Astronomy magazine, and check the mail order ads.
I remember some place in the midwest, with a guy named "Fabulous Fred", that had great deals on scopes and oculars.

I'm also sure Ebay has deals.

also check out this scope review site

like Kami said, you can have fun with some 10X50s

 

[Nemesis77]

Thanks for all the advice ! Now I know at least bit more than I did before.

Ebay and such are no-no for me, since I'm in Finland. They don't have any operations here. And ordering from outside EU could get expensive (taxes & tolls). So my scope (pun intended) is limited to EU-area. I will propably get in touch with the local astronomy-club, I bet they know good places to buy scopes from.

Thanks again !