Just bought a new Telescope/Anyone into Astronomy?

[HeXploiT]

After many years I've decided to get back into a hobby I dropped a decade ago. I picked up an older model Celestron C8 Schmidt Cassgrain on an equatorial mount with motor, half a dozen quality lenses and a sturdy tripod for $750 shipped on ebay.

Here are just a few things that can be seen with this scope

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMGZ5X0itt8

and believe it or not...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eo_A4RAb1E

Unfortunately I live in a rain forest and we get few good viewing nights a year so on my days off I've been sitting around playing with Stellarium software(much better than google sky) while playing my mp3 collection from Eve online in the background.

It's been cloudy and rainy every night for the past 7 days since I received my new toy but I'm looking for a break in the weather Thursday night. In the meantime I've taken my scope out half a dozen times in anticipation only to take it apart again and put it back in the case. Can't wait to get my feet wet again and back in the glory that is the universe.
Anyone else fancy themselves an amateur(armchair) astronomer or have interests therein?

 

[SandEagle]

no

 

[RESmonkey]

no

:thumbsdown:

 

[Key West]

WOW international space station.

Once I'm older and richer (married with kids), I'd seriously consider taking up this hobby. That's some amazing father-son/daughter bonding time waiting to happen.

 

[child of wonder]

I love astronomy. It's one of the fields I'm considering going back to college for once my kids are grown up and out of the house.

Any advice or good links to help someone starting out?

 

[RESmonkey]

Space is beyond beautiful.

 

[HeXploiT]

I love astronomy. It's one of the fields I'm considering going back to college for once my kids are grown up and out of the house.

Any advice or good links to help someone starting out?

The link to Stellarium I posted above is a superb start.
Really a wonderful program. Also there are some great forums on the web where amateur astronomers bump elbows with the professionals and all sorts of information is exchanged. (one example)
Just a great hobby with many friendly people.
It's also a much cheaper hobby than many would think.
With a 5" scope and a webcam or dslr the sky is opened up to things the human eye can't see. Even large scope can be inexpensive.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I picked up this one recently for my son and I to enjoy. Really, the only thing we've looked at so far has been the moon. It is pretty cool though.

 

[HeXploiT]

I picked up this one recently for my son and I to enjoy. Really, the only thing we've looked at so far has been the moon. It is pretty cool though.

The Celestron AstroMaster 130 EQ. Very Nice. Probably one of the most popular scopes on the market.

 

[JulesMaximus]

The Celestron AstroMaster 130 EQ. Very Nice. Probably one of the most popular scopes on the market.

I like the scope you bought. Very very nice! I was drooling over those when I was in the store but it's a little more than I wanted to spend quite honestly...well, a lot more actually.

Have you heard of OPT? That's where I bought mine. It is local and they have a huge selection of telescopes and photography equipment.

 

[I Saw OJ]

I would love to get a telescope but the ones I would get are out of my price range. Sometime in the futre though...

 

[rockyct]

I was into Astronomy a lot in the past. I've sort of lost interest as I've gotten busy with everything. Plus, my Nexstar 5's spider vane fell off the mount, so I have to fix it.

The computer controlled scopes have been looked down upon by the old, astronomy guys because they take away the desire to actually learn about the sky and constellations. However, "star hopping" (process of getting to an object by first finding brighter objects) has a pretty high learning curve and greatly limits what you can find as a noob. If they are hard core old school, they won't even use a tracking motor, but that is crazy if you're looking at anything with a significant magnification.

A 5" computer controlled SCT is really a great place to start. They are very portable but you can still see quite a bit. The only downside is that you'll probably get aperture envy pretty quickly as most objects just look like a fuzz ball. A person's eye can only collect a small portion of what a CCD can so you aren't going to see the detail (and color especially) as a photo. However, the planets look amazing and even exploring the moon is pretty cool.

 

[rockyct]

I like the scope you bought. Very very nice! I was drooling over those when I was in the store but it's a little more than I wanted to spend quite honestly...well, a lot more actually.

Have you heard of OPT? That's where I bought mine. It is local and they have a huge selection of telescopes and photography equipment.

OPT is a great store, but their prices are pretty high from what I remember. It's a good place to go if you don't know what you want, but I would just go to a star party if you wanted to see what a telescope can do. I've had luck with www.astromart.com on buying used stuff. It's sort of the ebay of the astronomy world.

 

[silverpig]

I did an astro degree and got to use some university level scopes and CCDs. Took some pretty sweet pictures with them too, although I've lost them all unfortunately.

 

[pontifex]

I have an Intelliscope 8 but rarely use it. I don't have the best area to view stuff - too many trees. The scope is heavy and a pain to move around, so going to another site away from the house is undesirable. And then it's either too cold or too hot outside. It's not something you can just do on a whim. I always have trouble finding stuff to look at too.

I'd love to get into it more but who knows. The scope is awesome and it cost me about $500 used, so it's an expensive house decoration atm.

 

[HeXploiT]

I like the scope you bought. Very very nice! I was drooling over those when I was in the store but it's a little more than I wanted to spend quite honestly...well, a lot more actually.

Have you heard of OPT? That's where I bought mine. It is local and they have a huge selection of telescopes and photography equipment.

Unfortunately I live in a small town on an isolated island. No good stores for me of any kind. I relay solely upon the web for all my purchases be it computer parts or astronomy.

I was into Astronomy a lot in the past. I've sort of lost interest as I've gotten busy with everything. Plus, my Nexstar 5's spider vane fell off the mount, so I have to fix it.

The computer controlled scopes have been looked down upon by the old, astronomy guys because they take away the desire to actually learn about the sky and constellations. However, "star hopping" (process of getting to an object by first finding brighter objects) has a pretty high learning curve and greatly limits what you can find as a noob. If they are hard core old school, they won't even use a tracking motor, but that is crazy if you're looking at anything with a significant magnification.

A 5" computer controlled SCT is really a great place to start. They are very portable but you can still see quite a bit. The only downside is that you'll probably get aperture envy pretty quickly as most objects just look like a fuzz ball. A person's eye can only collect a small portion of what a CCD can so you aren't going to see the detail (and color especially) as a photo. However, the planets look amazing and even exploring the moon is pretty cool.

I personally understand how the old-timers frown upon the computer database. Personally I like to do it the old-fashioned way(sorta) and look objects up with stellarium on my notebook then track it down manually. This is not only more rewarding than the computer finding it for you but you're learning to navigate the stars in the process as well. As far as cameras go well they're the bomb as a guy with an 8" scope and a camera can see things that an expensive 12" scope
might not be able to see with the unaided eye do to the light gathering ability of long exposure times.

Regardless of which route one takes it's going to be a rewarding hobby.

P.S....I always have telescope envy regardless of what hardware I'm using. Same goes for my computer parts.

I have an Intelliscope 8 but rarely use it. I don't have the best area to view stuff - too many trees. The scope is heavy and a pain to move around, so going to another site away from the house is undesirable. And then it's either too cold or too hot outside. It's not something you can just do on a whim. I always have trouble finding stuff to look at too.

I'd love to get into it more but who knows. The scope is awesome and it cost me about $500 used, so it's an expensive house decoration atm.

A decade ago I had a 10" orion debsonian. I used to pack it up and drag it all over the place sometimes carrying it a few hundred meters from the truck which can be two trips since the mount is huge as well. Lots of work but if you're in a dark location the amount of objects that can be seen can make it time well spent.

 

[JulesMaximus]

OPT is a great store, but their prices are pretty high from what I remember. It's a good place to go if you don't know what you want, but I would just go to a star party if you wanted to see what a telescope can do. I've had luck with www.astromart.com on buying used stuff. It's sort of the ebay of the astronomy world.

I checked online and their prices were pretty comparable to what I saw there. I paid $209 for that scope. Not too bad IMO.

 

[Queasy]

WOW international space station.

Once I'm older and richer (married with kids), I'd seriously consider taking up this hobby. That's some amazing father-son/daughter bonding time waiting to happen.

You don't have to blow hundreds of dollars on a telescope to enjoy skygazing with the kids. I spent maybe a $100 after taxes on a beginning telescope for my son and we've spent quite a bit of time checking out the moon and other objects in the sky.

Obviously, you'll get better results with something like the OP got but there are plenty of affordable starter telescopes.

 

[Newbian]

The only good thing to use a telescope for is peaking in your hot female neighbors window and watching as they undress.

 

[xavier es]

way cool.
I hand ground a 8" mirror as a kid, never had the money to get it aluminized.
wish i had kept it.

 

[HeXploiT]

You don't have to blow hundreds of dollars on a telescope to enjoy skygazing with the kids. I spent maybe a $100 after taxes on a beginning telescope for my son and we've spent quite a bit of time checking out the moon and other objects in the sky.

Obviously, you'll get better results with something like the OP got but there are plenty of affordable starter telescopes.

Another option for stargazers.
Binoculars are absolutely fantastic for gazing the night sky and most people just have no idea what they're capable of. Binoculars offer a very bright wide field of view so with a pair of 10x50's you're already starting to see things like the orion nebula(hazy patch), rings of Saturn, and the milky way takes on new life. I recommend trying any old pair of binocs and looking at the stars or the moon just to see what you can see.

 

[HeXploiT]

Fixed

 

[Leros]

I love astronomy, but I've never gotten into it. I've gone to my campus observatory a few times to see various planets. A local astronomy group also has viewing nights where they all bring their telescopes and invite people to come. We're usually the only guests there, so its a bit awkward, but there are usually a few people eager to explain stuff to us noobs.

 

[HeXploiT]

I love astronomy, but I've never gotten into it. I've gone to my campus observatory a few times to see various planets. A local astronomy group also has viewing nights where they all bring their telescopes and invite people to come. We're usually the only guests there, so its a bit awkward, but there are usually a few people eager to explain stuff to us noobs.

You reminded me of a time when I went to see antiques roadshow in my hometown. We went in on the first floor of the building where it was being held and there in the corner about a hundred feet from us were two little tables with four people standing around. As soon as we entered it so became quiet you could cut the silence with a knife.
Honestly My wife and I could feel the awkwardness from a hundred feet.

Without saying anything we instantly turned and walked back out the door as if we had stumbled in by accident.
Heck, I should be so lucky even to have an excuse to get together with people in my little town.
I'd dive into your little astronomy group in a second. lol