On the Brink

[Grease (Rob)]

Hello All

Here I am again with what I hope is not a pointless post.

Today was a beautiful spring day and I ventured down to Adelaide to buy a telescope. A 10 inch Skywatcher Dob. As I stood in front of the collapsible 10 inch version admiring its beauty (they really are a beautiful piece of equipment) gently moving it around, a thought crept into my mind.

If I centre it onto an object, focus it and then get my daughters to look through it. Are they going to see anything? Knowing my girls and the dramas they can create probably not.

&*$% . There I was ready to buy one and I came home with nothing because now, I am tossing up about a goto Dob.

Any thoughts about this? I know its my telescope but I want others to enjoy the views too, particularly my kids. If the object is tracking they will see it.

I have thought long and hard about this scope for a while and done a lot of research plus had some great advice on this forum. I really though I was done. Lol.

[Astro_Bot]

Yup, welcome to the astro acquisition spiral!

It was always one of my criteria for getting GoTo that I wanted to show others, and that the "viewing window" was too short (IMHO) with a push-to Dob.

Having said that, many people manage it (as I have seen at star parties) though they seem to re-centre for every new viewer, or close to it.

It comes down to how often you will do that, what targets (what magnification), personal preference and budget.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Don't expect to see the colours and super high resolution stuff that you see in photographs... Not gonna happen. However, a 10" will show excellent views of the moon, many star clusters and especially globulars.

I saw Saturn first through a 60mm alt-az refractor and have been hooked for 40 years. Through a 10 inch, much nicer. As previously posted, the frequency of repositioning is proportional to the magnification. Not really a big issue and you can let an object drift into view for a longer look-see.

My first big scope was 12inch f4.5 and I loved the thing to death.

In short GO FOR IT!

[Nab (Darren)]

I have an 8" (non goto) Dob, and my 6 and 12 year old (children) have no problem spotting and accurately describing targets (at least the less complex ones) even at relatively high magnification (171x ~.4 FOV). With low power and/or wide field your daughters shouldn't have any trouble.

Darren.

[astromark]

You should buy what you want.. but that a compromise is a reality.. But I will add. That it is very easy to not learn anything about where to look and find. The 'go to' electrics need a charger unit and some set up time on going..
More can and will go wrong.. The 10 inch dobi is a great scope.. Learning and teaching how to move it are parts of astronomy.. Teach and show.. They are eager to learn, let them.

[Jon (Jonathan)]

It's a fair point, though. I have my Losmandy G11 tripod permanently on my balcony so it stays polar aligned. I just put the mount and scope on when I want to observe. Last night I assembled and aligned the cope, pointed it at M8, and went for dinner. An hour later I took my sons out to have a look, and there was the Lagoon, dead centre.

That's with a GEM mount, though. I have no idea whether a GOTO Dob tracks that well.

[naskies (Dave)]

I currently have that scope (Skywatcher 10" FlexTube Dob). I mainly only use it to show other people stuff in the sky, as I primarily image. At high magnification, it can be a pain to keep things centred at high magnification (such as the planets). Plus, having a stable image in the middle of the eyepiece will make it easier to see details.

If you want to engage the family & friends, I'd go for the GOTO version. At the very least, if you have several people taking turns it saves you from having to constantly nudge the scope between people.

On the other hand, I've also completed loosened the clutches and freehand guided my Dob for my niece (6 yrs) and nephew (9 yrs) to observe the International Space Station during an overhead pass at 109x magnification... so it is manageable without GOTO It's pretty amazing how much detail you can see during a close pass.

Some popular objects - like the Sombrero Galaxy and Helix Nebula - are quite far from the nearest constellation stars, so they can be tricky to find as a beginner. In these scenarios, goto helps a lot...

[noswonky (Peter)]

I don't think the lack of tracking is a barrier to showing the views to others. You just watch which way the object drifts in the field and then place the object towards the edge so it will drift into the centre before letting them look. For magnifications up to about 100 this should be fine. And even at higher mags, if it's a bright object you can keep it centred by looking through the finder (probably has to be a right-angle finder) while the other person looks through the main scope.

I have a goto/tracking Dob and the tracking is great for keeping an object in the field for many minutes at a time. But at public viewings the tracking is almost useless at keeping the object in the field. This is because at least 50% of people will put their hand on the scope or push against it with their eye so that it moves off target. So I am constantly looking through the right-angle finder and making manual adjustments. Sometimes I don't even use the tracking at such events because it's extra work to set it up and gives minimal benefit.

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Hi Rob , I agree with everything said here and I will add this ,,,

,, Don't expect you or your girls to see much the first few times because it takes a little practice to learn how to look thru an eyepiece . .
You have to learn how to position the eye in exactly the right spot to see whats in there , but don't worry it aint hard and gets easier the more you do it .

Grab the 10 inch , you and your girls will love it . Great choice .

Brian.

[Grease (Rob)]

Hey Guys

Thanks once again for the great advice. I think I'm over my stage fright. The 10 inch Dob it will be (non goto). Use that as the backbone of my astronomy arsenal and see where things lead from there.

So South Australia members prepare for some cloudy nights in the near future. I believe from reading other posts that cloudy skies are mandatory when getting a new scope. Sorry.

Thanks again.

Rob