Quote:
Originally Posted by miskairal
Hello all,
About to buy my first telescope and have spent many hours researching but seem to now be lost in too much information and would love some advice/reassurance (there are a lot of "first scope" type posts here). I just want to get lost in the sky at this stage, stare at the moon and whatever else I can see and feel like an ant must on earth. I installed Stellarium on my pc some time ago and although hopeless at remembering the names of things, it still fascinates me.
In amongst all the reading I have read over and over to get a Dobsonian to start with so have kind of settled on a 6” Skywatcher (I think an 8" would be too big for me but am open to suggestions) for the amount of money I want to spend at this early stage of a potential hobby. I live on a farm several km from very small towns. I don’t know of any clubs in the area, or even anyone else with a telescope.
I love my amateur photography which was taken up a notch a month ago when a friend who is a professional photographer invited me to join him in on an astrophotography session.
First and foremost I’d like a Telescope I can see stuff with. If it came to the choice of 2 similar telescopes but only one had the potential to be used with a camera further down the track then I’d probably pick that one. However my brain is all done in now and I cannot start researching that as well. I can spend more money at a later date if I become addicted but I think now I need to just get in and get something and learn more about what is ideal for me (plus it might bring rain  ).
My questions are in order of importance:
1) Is a 6” Dobsonian a good choice for a beginner?
2) Can a Dobsonian be attached to a tripod further down the track?
3) Do these have the potential to attach a DSLR camera further down the track?
Many thanks for any help for this overloaded brain. |
1 - hell yes!
2- technically yes but realistically no
3 - why a dslr? whats that got to do with astrophotography. It can be done but not really the right tool.you'll learn in time the right choice for you is a dobsonian, 8" if you can afford (dont buy cheap, buy quality).
cheaping out or buying the wrong thing is a common beginner mistake, it'll kill your enjoyment and you may never touch the gear ever again. Dont be fooled by big magnification numbers either, the higher the mag the more the defects of it are magnified too and the worse the view becomes. diameter is more important and it seems you are in a good location for low light pollution skies so I highly recommend an 8" dob, you may want more later and would go for 12 or 14" at that time. If you want to get serious about astrophotography (when you understand the huge effort needed processing on the computer, the photos you see are almost never ever ever "out of a camera". so if you do go the AP route it won't be with the dob, it'll be another rig completely. And while you're waiting for hours for that rig to collect data you still have your initial dob to explore the sky since you cant touch the AP rig. Plus you can use it much much quicker to show others the sky and make your sessions more social. If there was One telescope that did everything the best then there wouldnt be any choices. You need to learn and comprehend what the choices mean. Plus until you start viewing you yourself wont know what types of objects appeal to you, forget photos completely, first understand what you see in a photo is typically a combination of dozens or hundreds of single photos and its also never ever the view you see in the eyepiece. planets are small, galaxies and nebula faint and in black and white. check around videos on youtube if you cant get with an astr club or local observatory evening and look at how people use a 6" dob and an 8". they are dead easy to setup and get going, ap rigs take time to set up and packaway, not very practical for a quick session (sessions are never quick except maybe shooting the moon)