Quote:
Originally Posted by barx1963
Hi Yash
Good to see another one bitten by the bug!
Some advice, get yourself to a club night, and have a look through some scopes, that way you will know what to expect when you get your own scope. People that look through a scope almost always have one of 2 reactions.
1. Thats fantastic, show me more!
or
2. Is that all? Hardly seems worth the trouble!
The views through most amatuer scopes is nothing like the pretty pictures of the sky that we see.
Having said that, for most people looking to get a scope for visual use ie. not photography, a dob as large as you can afford and physically handle is ususally the best option. Bintel in Camberwell has very knowledgeable staff and a good range and are open til 4pm on Saturday.
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I think this advice from Malcolm is very important. Many people expect to see the wonderful colour of astro images in deep sky objects such as nebulae galaxies. In visual observing you will see coloured stars and colour on planets, but for DSOs you will be using night vision which is monochrome. If you are ready for this, you will see much to explore and inspire, but as Malcolm says, many people are underwhelmed and there are many threads on this site of people disappointed with their scopes.
Brian Nolan's article at
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-260-0-0-1-0.html is well worth reading.
Spending time with others will also help you find your way around the sky, often another source of frustration for the newcomer.
Having said all of that, if you have looked through scopes before, 8-12" dob is the way to go.
Hope you have heaps of fun with this obsession..