Viewing crux

[Lynnygd (Lynny)]

Hi, I want to look at a star in the crux.

http://www.starregistry.com.au/faq.html
Quoting this guide, it says that:

The stars available for naming through ISR are bright enough to be seen with a domestic telescope (4-6inch/100-150mm diameter lens or greater).

http://www.ozscopes.com.au/saxon-114...telescope.html
Would this telescope be able to view one of these stars from the star registry, if not what would be recommended as budget telescope for this purpose?

Thanks,
Lynny

[dannat (Daniel)]

scopes on eq2 mount are not normally something we recommend -a 6" dobsonian reflector would view dimmer stars & doesnot cost much more -its simple push/pull mount is much easier to use
light pollution can have an effect on how faint a star you can observe

[Lynnygd (Lynny)]

Thanks for replying.
What is it in particular that separates a dobsonian from a reflector for this sort of thing? The main difference just seems to be that a dobsonian has a different mount?

Would this be more suited?
http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx
or
http://gerrygibbscamerawarehouse.com...e-Paraboloidal

Thanks,
Lynny

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Lynny
I don't want to be wet blanket but please do not get sucked in by these sort of things. Almost exclusively they are hoaxes, not necessarily illegal but no one has the right to name or sell star. There is a publication by the IAU here http://www.iau.org/public/themes/buying_star_names/ that goes into a fair bit of detail about this practice.
The Sydney Observatory runs a naming register, but they make it very clear that the names or ownership are only entered in the register at that institution and have no legal effect outside it and the funds go to the upkeep of the observatory and it's programs.
Most other programs are pure ripoffs. This one is at least upfront a little as their home page has the following if you read the whole thing!

"Naming a star through the International Star Registry ® is not recognised by the scientific community.
The star's name appears in the International Star Registry ® records only."

To answer your question, if you want to locate a star as a beginner, I would normally recommend a dob, which is a newtonian reflector on a simple to operate alt az mount, which is one that works up and down and round, similar to a camera tripod. EQ mounts are tricky for beginners and may take a while to learn.

Cheers

Malcolm

[speach (Simon)]

What would you do with it? You can't go there on holiday, Or have I woken up this morning a few millennia ahead of myself?

[dannat (Daniel)]

those 2 scopes you link to are good beginner scopes -the mounts are much sturdier & easy t manage than a cheap aluminium eq mount

ordinarily the stars still avail for purchase on some registry are quite dim - occasionally at Melbourne observatory we get people looking to track down 1 star -its pretty difficult trying to track down an exact dim star; as Malcolm alludes to the registries mean nothing - you can even start your own if you like