Hey everyone, My wife and I are very new to the stars.
I work at dick smith and manage to pick up a celestron 127mm for $145 ...
I dont know a thing about what im doing and thought i had a bargian.. but been reading and now not so sure.. could anyone give me advice on this telescope and what i can expect from it... if anything...
i cant afford to spend money at the moment .. so we are going to have to make do.. i also dont really know what it is i want to do with the scope.. which apparently makes it hard to get advice.. but sarah and i both like looking upwards.. so thought this would be fun
anyways some feedback would be great..
thanks
chris
You work at Dick Smiths! Suppose we better not say any more bad things about their telescopes
Which model did you get, the GoTo computerised model or the normal Reflector on an EQ mount as I notice that Dick Smiths sells a few different models? From the useless to the fairly reasonable Celestron GoTo.
The Celestron PowerSeeker 127mm telescope was the first scope I looked at when considering a telescope purchase. It's a short tube Newtonian scope which means it makes up for the short tube by using a barlow to increase focal length. I decided against this scope in favour of an 8" dobsonian at $549
You should be able to get great views of the moon, see the rings of Saturn and make out some deep sky objects.
My advice is to join your local astronomical society and get first hand advice on how to use your new scope.
You might also like to get a planisphere and download the free planetarium software, Stellarium, which will help you learn the sky. http://www.stellarium.org
I reckon you'll have a lot of fun with the telescope. One of the new members in our group bought the same recently, and it's working out to be a great little scope (what am I saying! It's a veritable 'light bucket' compared to mine!). Anyway, you have to be patient, and while your telescope will stay the same, your ability to discern faint objects will become better and better over time - for instance I've now spotted all the available globular clusters up to magnitude 10 (and some fainter) with smaller aperture than yours, but when I started they just weren't there! Moon & planets will be great, and even at the start you'll see all the brighter globulars, galaxies & nebulae. Just don't expect to see deep space images like the photos that get posted in the forums - these are time exposures to bring up brightness & colour. Even the bigger amateur scopes (8-12") don't show them like that - just like you will see them, only brighter. So think black-&-white! And stick to lower magnifications (eyepiece with highest number on it) for your best views. Out of Sale, you should have some great dark sky locations.
Good luck - I know you'll have a ball!
Cheers -
Last edited by Rob_K; 20-12-2006 at 02:55 PM.
Reason: More information re magnifications
Hi, and welcome to IIS.
There's a little program you can download off the net for free called "TUMOL" or The Ultimate Messier Object Log.
With it you will be able to locate many of the brighter deep sky objects that are within reach of your scope. You can print off finder charts and photo's of them as well.
Another great freebie is "The Virtual Moon Atlas"
The first book you should get is Astronomy 2007 by Quasar Publishing. You'll find it at most bookstores. It is a month by month ephemeris of just about everything that is happening up in the sky. It has a great set of star maps in it as well. I used to carefully remove and laminate them for using outside.
Have fun with your new scope.
Yes i work at dick smith.. and the scopes we sell are not the best...
i purchased this one before i knew the slightest thing about what i needed...bare in mind that i paid much less than most people would for it... and now seeing what i do need.. im stil happy as i cant afford the ones i want... at least for now.. so this will get me started... this is a project for me and my wife to learn on... both of us work in kitchens... we are both chefs by trade... so the times we spend together as a day are usally between 2 - 4 in the morning the morning before i start at old dicks.. .. so that 2 - 4 timeframe seemed a good one to start this hobby instead of being inside all the time.. still having said that... we still have no idea what we need/want... for this bar having a copy of astronomy 2007 and the scope with the basic lenses it comes with..
so thanks for your response guys. im hoping that i may be able to learn a lot more from here and later when we can afford a decent scope will become quite the amatuers
Welcome to the group Chris, there is a wealth of information from some very knowlegable people, so I dont think you will be in the dark for too long.
If you get a chance to pop along to your local Astronomical society as well, that will be a great starting point as well.
Hey guys ... i keep reading about people reccommending everyoen to join a club... does anyone know of one in the sale area... i can only find links to clubs in melbourne... and that is certainly to far for me to go just for a meeting...
Thanks
Chris
Hi all, well its been a while since my last post... but in the last 2 weeks i have had the oportunity to to use a 8 and 10 inch Geng Sheng Dobsonian ... well i have to say there is no comparison with the old 127mm celestron ... as of monday i had a choice to make.. my uncle had purchased the 8 inch from bintel only 2 weeks ago.. he is rather well off.. and decided that he was allready to step up to the 12 inch.. so my option was this... pay $400 to my uncle for a 2 week old 8 inch ... or pay $679 for a 10.. after speaking with the guys at bintel... i decided that becuase my uncle lives in the city he is better of with a bigger telescope... so i purchased the 8 inch of him... with the extra money that i saved.. i purchased myself 5 filters... a Moon filter.. and 4 planetary filters.. and one cheshire collminator... i have to say.. i cannot be happier... last night at about 2315 Jupiter came up into view and was a site to behold.. albiet the moon being a pain in the rear...leading on from this thread about astro clubs.. both traralgon and bairnsdale a a fair drive away... but over the past couple of weeks... people have approached me in dicksmith regarding cables and such that they can use to control there telescopes they have... and have since found around 6 people in sale that may end up forming a club of some form.. so thanks everyone for thier input over my various post across iceinspace.. and im glad to say i finally have an entry level scope
Hey guys, welcome to ISS!
I started out with a scope like that. It's a great, low-cost way to introduce yourself to astronomy. Before long, you'll be a star junkie and wanting to go the next step with a new telescope. You're just lucky it's celestron and not one of those dodgy, no-name brands that are sold on eBay.
Hi Chris.
I see that you may be in the throws of forming a local club.
If you need to get any Public Liability Insurance info. then please contact
Webster Hyde Heath Insurance Brokers in SA..
> http://whhib.com.au/
> info@whhib.com.au
> Ph 08-8362-5553
This is the Co. where I helped to set up the cover with & are the ones who "some if not most", Amatuer Clubs & Societies deal with & it also covers 'Member To Member' & is Australia wide.
If you need any more info., please PM me.
Set up is fairly quick n painless & the rates are very cheap. (thanks guys).
Hope this helps.
Regards, Laurie..
ps. Have attached an old copy of our WAACers Policy.
Avg costs $120 per year.
pps. I have no affiliation with the said WHHIB.
Last edited by RAJAH235; 08-04-2007 at 03:55 PM.
Reason: Extra Insurance info...
