Hey Ladies and Gentlemen
, my name is Ben and im (as of 2 days ago) 31 years old and im just starting out in the astronomy scene. The stars, planets and galaxies have always amazed me, the size of the universe just blows me away! ever since i was a Kid ive looked up at the sky in wonder.
I work for BHP Billiton and recently moved to Kalgoorlie WA, there isnt too much to do here in my down time and im certainly not going to fall into the common trap of drinking on my days off, so as well as using my computer to learn/read/watch i noticed at how clear the skies are out here, there is no pollution or city lights (i mean kalgoorlie is 600KM east of Perth in the middle of no where) so i am going to get into astronomy and would like to do some astrophotography eventually as well.
Now..Where to start
lol? I am starting my research on what scope to buy first as of today, and what better place to start than with the advice of seasoned Veterans in the field. I know some telescopes are better than others in certain areas so i have to ask myself what do i want to look at the most, well all of it lol! The moon is so close so the moon, as well as the other planets, i have a hubble poster of Saturn and her rings and its just amazing and ive seen pictures in these forums of her and to be able to see her like that myself would be breathtaking, then there is everything else, nebula, other galaxies its all just amazing.
So the next part i have to work out is how much to spend, well im willing to spend between $4000-8000, people in beginner forums say to spend 800-1800ish but im quite happy to start in the 4-8k range. So in my down time i can go bush and take advantage of the dark clear skies here and start to explore the universe.
also the Weight factor does not bother me, ive humped around heavy packs for 6 years while i was in the Army so it not really a hinderence in scope choice.
a grey area is astrophotography, im not quite sure if i should buy a scope and just look, learn and appreciate first and get into photography later? Does choosing a scope that is good for astrophotography deminish the quality of star viewing? let me give an example, say out of 10 a scope can view the stars/planets/galaxies at a 8/10....but if you want a scope for astrophotograph the viewing rating drops to 6/10, lol i hope what im trying to ask makes sense
but astronomy is something i really want to get into on a more serious level not just a few times a year thing.
ok i hope that can paint a picture as to what i want to aim for, any advice would be much appreciated
Thanks -Benji-