A few questions

[BobsYourUncle]

Hi everyone.

I'm looking to get started, and have a couple of questions. From what i've read around here 'dobs' as you call them seem to be the best bang for buck for visual stuff, although I'm still not too sure what to expect. What sort of detail will I get on planets? Will I be able to see the red spot on jupitor, and will it be red? If it helps I guess my budget would be around $700 or so.

The next question is for the other queenslanders out there - are there any good (price, range, service) shops in and around brisbane that you'd recommend? I don't mind buying interstate I guess, but I'd imaging postage & handling could get pretty steep.

Thanks in advance!

[[1ponders]]

Hi BobYU

There are a number of shops in the Brisvegas and Gold Coast area. It would pay to check out their websites to get an idea of their prices. There is Yorkoptical (http://www.yorkoptical.com.au/) in the Valley, Sirius Optics (http://www.sirius-optics.com.au/) at Rochdale (?) and Star Optics (http://www.staroptics.com.au/) on the Gold Coast.

The most competative prices though usually (but not always) gets split between Bintel (https://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm), Andews Communication (http://www.andrewscom.com.au/)and MyAstroshop (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/)(again check their websites). Even with postage these three usually come out on top.

If your not sure what you want come up to Cambroon near Kenilworth next dark of the Moon. There will be a few of us there with a number of different types of scopes in all shapes and sizes to try out.

At the price your looking at though, I would say that a GS 10" Dob and a couple of good quality eyepieces from Andrews will get you up and going.

[Starkler]

Hi there.

I'll second Pauls suggestion that considering you dont know what to expect, the best first step is to hook up with some others and see for yourself.

P.S. No you wont see galaxies, nebula and often planets as they appear in photos.

[[1ponders]]

What are you talkin' about Geoffrey. If Nasa bought a 10" or 12" GS dob they's see the martians walkin' around up there. Wouldn't need no fancy rover!!!

;) :P:D

Well not quite, but if you want to see the red spot (Unfortunately it's more orangy yellow now rather than red.) on Jupiter along with the coloured bands around the planet, then yep you'll see them alright. Plus through a good eyepiece Saturn and Mars are pretty impressive. The standard phrase when first seeing Saturn goes something like this.

"OH MY GOD!!! That is unbelieveable" Or something along those lines.

But apart from the planets Geoff has it pegged. Not much colour out there, but that doesn't take anything away from the fantastic views.

[Sheap]

Just to add another question to this thread after seeing you mention "through a good eyepiece" Will the 10mm and 20mm eyepieces that come with the 8" dob ill be getting give me any amazing views of saturn or mars? or will i need to save up again to get a better eyepiece

[Starkler]

I remember showing my neighbor Saturn through my scope and he was certain that I was pulling his leg by sticking a picture of Saturn somewhere inside my scope. I had to get a torch and show him the inside of my scope before he was convinced it was the real thing :lol:

[BobsYourUncle]

Thanks for the responses so far. I'm not trying to discover life in another galaxy :p what's been said pretty much sums up what I'm expecting. Looking at the Andrews site, and some stuff I've read, I'm guessing the extra $100 for the deluxe 10" version is worth it for the finder scope and upgraded focuser? If it's not, should I perhaps look at the basic 12" model (although that's starting to push the budget)? And I'm with Sheap, when you say "a good eyepiece", what am I looking for? Should I just try the 4 that come with it for starters, or should I be getting some "good" eyepieces straight up?

Wow, so many questions, sorry... I've got plenty of research to do :)

[Starkler]

And a great resource is this forums search function.
The same questions you have asked have been answered many times before on this forum, so now you have a lot of reading to do ;)

[janoskiss]

Three plossl eyepieces (EPs) is all you need to begin with:
25-32mm (but 30+ preferable) for wide views and as a finder EP
15-17mm for many of the brighter deep sky objects
9-12mm for smaller objects, including planets
Most telescopes will come with at least two of these. For a bit more versatility and more magnification get a barlow rather than more eyepieces with shorter focal lengths, which will be uncomfortable to use due to lack of eye relief.

[rmcpb]

My bit is BEFORE parting with any money go to an astro society viewing session and see these scopes in the flesh, so to speak. An 8" dob is easy to handle, the 10" is bulkier and the 12" is a monster so don't just buy something because you can afford it and regret it later when you cannot transport it or move it around or store it easily.

Have a look first!!

[ThunderChild]

:lol: That's good!

It's amazing how similar many of the first responses are about Saturn.
Out of about a dozen family and neighbours that I've shown Saturn to at different times, about 9 or 10 said almost word for word "Oh WOW! It's just like in the text book".
:)

BobsYourUncle : Put out of your mind any of those high-colour images and planets and nebulae you would have seen over time. You will not get that kind of colour visually (ie without photography).

[ving]

well that said, often brighter nebulas like orions nebular will show green with a 10" aperture.
like the others said, a 10" will show you most of what can be seen. a 12" will show a bit more detail in them :)

[BobsYourUncle]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I've been doing some reading, and am looking at the 10" Bintel premium + the Bintel ED barlow. In a couple of threads I read that the 32mm Kellner eyepiece isn't very good for that telescope, is that right? I'm thinking of talking to the Bintel guys to see if I can get the 30mm superview instead. Other than that I wasn't planning on getting any other eyepieces yet, with the barlow I should have a pretty good range, and the plossl eyepieces would be good enough for starters, right?

[janoskiss]

All good choices, uncle Bob! Go for it! :thumbsup:

[ving]

would it be better to get a standard plossl in a 30-32mm to escape seagulls?

[BobsYourUncle]

Well, I've ordered it :D I went with the superview, some people said good things, some bad, but I'll soon see for myself I guess. Now to play the waiting game... should get it next week, hopefully the sky will clear up for me ;)

[vespine]

I got a LightBridge very recently and the ED barlow too and can tell you that the vast majority of viewing I have done has been with the 26mm EP that came with the scope. I also bought the Bintel 40mm 2" and a Bintel 9mm plossl. The 9mm I've used to view planets a little bit and even tried it with the barlow but that's usually just for a few minutes and I always go back to the 26mm :) But even tho I haven't used it much, it has really been great having it there to try. I've used the 40mm a little too but have to say I wouldn't miss it nearly as much as the 9mm and for $30 I'd have to say you can't go wrong. People say it isn't a great eyepiece but it certainly opens up the option of viewing at higher magnification for you.

[BobsYourUncle]

:D :cool: :D


(it just got delivered)


I'm excited! I got home just as the TNT truck was pulling up. I knew the dimensions, but I was still suprised by how big it is. Hope the weather stays good - I'll skip the gym tonight, skip work tomorrow, and stay out all night :rofl:

[ving]

skip work? now thats the aussie way :D
congrats, let us know how ya go :)

[rmcpb]

You will enjoy Luna, Jupiter and the brighter clusters like the Jewel Box. Its too light at present with the nearly full moon to search for the little gems, just stick to the bright clusters and double stars and you will have a ball.

Great starter setup there.

[[1ponders]]

Damn....So that's where all this cloud had come from :mad2:


:P :lol: Congratulations BobsYU. You sound very excited. :D Its always a great feeling when a budding nightowl gets their first "big" one :lol: If you need some company and live advice don't forget there will be a get together at the end of the month up the coast here. Keep an eye out in the Star Parties and Observing Sessions forum

[Starkler]

Bite your tongue !
The 10" gso is a serious scope :whistle:
:P

[BobsYourUncle]

Well, I was out for a bit over 2 hours... wow... I had to align the finder scope first, i should've done that in the daylight, but i got it done. Looked at M42 first, definately got some green colouring. Turned to saturn next... :jawdrop: The rings and a moon - Titan i think? Breathtaking. The best view was through the barlowed 15mm ep. Just, wow.

Next I thought I'd try something a bit different again, and had a go at Alpha Centauri, split it up into A and B. That was very nice. By then jupiter was high enough in the sky to get a good look at... and I thought saturn was impressive - it doesn't have the 'wow' of the rings, but seeing the 3 moons and the cloudbands with a bit of colour (again barlowed 15mm was the best) was really great - it was probably the highlight of the night, so far anyway. I'm planning on going back out, armed with some more locations to check out. Any recommendations? I want to see if I can spot M4 near antares when it gets higher.

It's probably pretty obvious, but I'm loving this so far!

[astro_south]

BYU

Some fun while the pesky moon is full:

- goto Beta Crux (left hand star of the crossbar of the Southern Cross). Put this bright star in the centre of the field of view and with the 15mm eyepiece look around this star. You should be able to notice a 'red' coloured star close to this star. This is a carbon star - it may not be obvious straight away, but keep looking and you will find it...then it will be very obvious.
- while on Beta Crux, look through the finder and you will notice a clump of stars nearby to Beta Crux. Guide the scope over there and peer through the eyepiece. This is the 'Jewel Box' - a lovely open cluster with a prominent orange coloured star. The moon will wash out the faint background speckles of light but the brighter members are still obvious. Remember what the view looks like and revisit this at new moon, where you should see some more stars.

[janoskiss]

Great stuff. Glad you like your new scope BYU. I was playing with my brand new scope tonight too. :)

[vespine]

I only started observing a month or two ago too and the most awesome thing I have seen so far (after getting over the fact that you can actually SEE nebula!) is Omega Centauri.

I used this to find it: http://skymaps.com/downloads.html
I have gone through and tried to find all the objects in the above map. The lovely people here pointed me to it and I have found it the best resource for me trying to find stuff to look at :)


Slight spoiler: When you find Omega Centauri, try to even comprahend that you are looking at a MILLION stars!!

[janoskiss]

If you like om-cent, also check out NGC104 (47Tuc). ;)

[ving]

thats a different kettle of fish alltogether steve... oc vs 47tuc is like coke vs ford :P