First ever telescope

[Devilbabi (Amanda)]

Hi Guys, I am interested in getting a telescope but have no idea what would be a good first option.
I am looking for something cheap but good. Can you possibly advise on some brands that I could ebay? OR some specs I should be looking for ?
Thanks everyone!
AManda

[pw (Peter)]

If you aren't immediately interested in astrophotography, a dobsonian mounted reflector is a good way to get started. For around $500 you get a 6" or 8" scope and eyepieces. I bought a Bintel 8" dob and it has been great. Nebulas, stars, planets and the sun have all been observed and enjoyed.

[Devilbabi (Amanda)]

Thanks for reply Peter, I have been doing some reading and see that perhaps a good pair of binos would be a good idea for first timers.
I am on a bit of a budget, although I have no idea of the specs/lingo lol do you have any suggestions?

[OzStarGazer]

I am a newbie too and bought the Skywatcher Heritage 130p less than 3 months ago. It was on special, but for what it does it is pretty good even if the price might have gone up a bit now.
What is the maximum you would like to spend?

[pw (Peter)]

Binoculars are awesome, I was looking at Saturn with mine this morning. Mine are more general bird watching style 8x42 for astronomy 10x50 would be a more common choice and still useful for other purposes. Have a look at Bintel's website http://www.bintel.com and see the binocs there to get an idea of pricing. You can get a tripod mount to help hold them steady and for more relaxed looking over time.

[OzStarGazer]

Another good website for binoculars is this:
http://www.bigbinoculars.com/handheld.htm
I have the link from here and I bookmarked it because sooner or later I want to buy a pair of binoculars too for when I go on holiday...

[acarleton (Aidan)]

I have a pair of 10x50 Binoculars, this means that it is 10x magnification with a 50 mm aperture. they are not bad at all, through it i can make out;

• craters on the moon
• Jupiter and its 4 galilean moons (only just)
• some cloud in the Orion Nebula, and Carina nebula
• as well as getting a look at many more stars that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye.

apparently you can make out a few galaxies such as the large and small magellanic clouds, Andromeda (when it is above the horizon) 47 tucanae and a few others, but i have not looked at these.

but as others will say, it is all about what you want to do. if you just want to observe deep sky objects then you want to get the biggest aperture (size of the prime mirror or lens) you can find for your budget. this is usually found in a dob as mentioned before. the issue with a dob is that it will require collimation (aligning of the mirrors) from time to time. if you want to look at the planets and the moon then you want something with a large focal length (means large magnification), probably still best bet is a dob. if you want something portable, you can get a small refractor (lense telescope) for next to nothing e.g. http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx this will enable you to see a lot more detail than Binoculars and they require pretty much no maintenance. I have something similar and it has really helped me to learn the night sky and see some amazing things.
if you are wanting to do long exposure astrophotography then you start getting expensive, needing an equatorial motorised mount. something like this http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx with a lot of time to hone your skills in polar alignment and image processing

unfortunately there so many different applications and making a choice is hard. key terms to remember are
focal ratio or F value is the focal length/the aperture and is a measure of how fast or bright objects appear, smaller f means a brighter object.
focal length, larger focal length means more magnification, having said that, many objects in the sky do not require large magnification and larger focal lengths tend to have higher f values
then there are a variety of scopes and mounts
check out these videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d0292TBMHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQB6UnrTEEM

I found them very helpful

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Amanda
As has been mentioned an 8" dob is very often the ideal beginners scope having adequate aperture, easy to setup and transport, easy to use and inexpensive.

Personally I wouldn't recommend buying from ebay unless you have done a lot of research or knowledge. You may luck out and get a good scope but often times not!

Best bet is to visit a specialist shop. Scopes are often sold in camera shops and Aust Geographic stores but the staff have little practical knowledge and will likely confuse more than guide. A good store I can recommend is Bintel in Stdney (see http://www.bintel.com.au/?utm_source...paign=branding )
If you visit there I am sure the staff will be able to help you and at least you can see some scopes and get an idea of their size.

Malcolm

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by acarleton

key terms to remember are focal ratio or F value is the focal length/the aperture and is a measure of how fast or bright objects appear, smaller f means a brighter object.
focal length, larger focal length means more magnification, having said that, many objects in the sky do not require large magnification and larger focal lengths tend to have higher f values
then there are a variety of scopes and mounts

Sorry to butt in but the above statement needs some clarification. Brightness of an image when a scope is used visually, not for imaging, is not affected by the focal length. If you get an 8" f5 and an 8" f10 and compare the image will be the same at the same magnification. Using the same eyepiece will produce a image with a lower surface brightness in the f10, but that simply because it is a bigger image.

Focal length can be important especially with dobs or refractors as it determines the length of the tube which can impact on the weight and maneuvourability of a scope as well as ease of setup and portability.

The whole "faster scopes makes brighter images" is certainly true for imaging where a sensor or film is capable of cumulative collection of photons, but the human eye is not.

Malcolm