A load of silly Questions

[asimov (John)]

Hi CC
We actually own something similar: Bushmaster Super Zoom-Zt3090. Bought this cheap for the wife a couple of years ago for looking at birds etc. It actually does a pretty good job for what it is. It's definitely only made for terrestrial viewing though. (It has an inverting lens built in)

I did try it out on some planets & moon etc naturally. I was quite suprised at the view of the moon. On jupiter & saturn, well not very good. Some deep sky objects were ok like the orion nebula & omega centauri. See the moon pic taken thru it.

The fact remains that you will get better views in a bigger & better quality scope. I can't see saturn quite as good as janoskiss's picture through mine BTW.

[RapidEye]

Ed Ting's Scope Review website is what got me started a little over a year ago.

His beginners page is top notch:
http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html

Its a couple of years old, and in US $$$, but the prices on gear have dropped a bit since he wrote that.

Why is that relevant????
In telescopes, aperture rules - the bigger the better. You'll resolve more detail, be able to see fainter things, and be able to go higher power.

Where as he recommends a 6" dob as a great beginner scope due to the price and capabilities, an 8" dob is now well within the grasp (financially) of most beginners.

One other thing to consider....
Equatorial mounts (like on both of the scopes you were looking at) are tricky to understand, setup, and use. Alt-Az mounts, like on a dob are much more intuative for a beginner.

When you are trying to setup and use a scope in the dark, simple is ALWAYS better!

G'Luck!!!

[cc]

My son and I will come to the open night tomorrow then, you be there?

[cc]

the images on the box are much larger and colourful, it mentions the fact that you can view saturns rings sharply and clear, actually the images look a lot like you are viewing them from Capt Pickards helm window.