Absolute Noob here saying HI!

[Fairlane (Rob)]

Hi Everyone,

So glad i found this site and it seems i have a bit of reading to do!
Well i thought i would introduce myself and hope at the same time that i can score some advice.

Im a 39yr old male with wife and 2 kids and have lived in sydney all my life until now. We have just moved to Yass. The look of amazement on my sons face when he saw an unpolluted sky was priceless and without looking down he has asked me for a telescope so here i am!
What im looking for is something cheap (even second hand) that will alow my son (with my help as he is almost 8yrs old) to view the moon and our planets without them looking like a smudge. The only experience in astronomy i have is looking through my friends 8inch (i think) meade and was very unimpressed when he focussed on galaxies that were no more than a smudge on screen.

I want my son to get hooked on astronomy so emphasis is on our planets and moon that can be seen as clearly as possible. Can you guys suggest a telescope for this purpose? How clear would say mars be in the viewfinder?

Sorry about the length of this post too

Any suggestions and advice is welcome!
Regards
Rob

[omegacrux (David)]

Hi Rob
Galaxies are a tricky one because people are used to seeing glossy photos .
That are taken over many hours so your eyes just can't see those wonderful colors. Mars at the moment is visually tiny and very low in the sky , but Jupiter on the other hand is fantastic
Scop wise if you can afford a 8 in dobsonian It will be good for the whole family for many years . Stay away from those 300x scopes in the post office cheap and nasty !

David

[Scorpius51 (John)]

Hi Rob, and to the IIS forum. You have come to the right place.
You will receive buckets of good advice from the folk here. Resist purchasing anything until you have done a little homework! One fundamental suggestion will be to go along to a group viewing night where you can look through several different telescope types, and ask lots of questions.

Don't be fooled by the outrageous claims of 'supermarket' telescopes!

There are public viewing nights up at Mt Stromlo, but they have finished for the season and don't start up again until March. But, there are many folk locally that may be set up and prepared to let you have a look. There are a few in the Murrumbateman/Yass area on this forum.

Contact the Canberra Astronomical Society for information on their viewing nights.

Cheers
John

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Hi Rob,
Welcome to Ice in Space

I was going to say pretty much what David has before me. Edit: ... and John, now...
For what you have described, almost certainly a Dobsonian style telescope is going to deliver maximum bang for minimum bucks.

The question is size.

I too thought an 8 inch (diameter) scope would be the minimum you should aim for if you want to see detail on (some) planets.

But the bigger you can afford, the more you will be able to see (in theory at least).

However, an 8" scope (or bigger) is going to present problems in moving it about due to size and weight factors.
A collapsible DOB (like Skywatcher Flex tube) is much easier to handle, up to a certain size, for one person.

I agree that the moon and planets are easy targets and generally present interesting targets. But these require (very) high magnification to see the most detail.
And that (most) galaxies are very faint and fuzzy and require imagination to appreciate.
But there are other targets (nebulae and star clusters) that are deep space objects, but are not too difficult to find, and present interesting targets to view. These do not require high magnification at all. But the light gathering abilities of a larger scope does make the view better.

Anyway, ask many questions, try to look through many scopes, and this will help you achieve your objective with the least pain.

Clear skies

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Ditto what others have said. An 8" dobsonion is the beginners scope of choice for many people. Several reasons for this;

1. Enough aperture to see '000s of deep space objects
2. reasonable planetary views. Not as good as a high end refractor but those are expensive beasts
3. Not so bulky that majority of people can handle it
4. Eyepiece is always in a convenient position (unlike a newt on an EQ mount)
5. No need to polar align
6. Minimal setup and cooling time.

That said, it is always a good idea to see a few scopes before you buy. As to your other comments, yes galaxies only ever appear as smudges. With practice it is possible to tease detail in galaxies. But there are hundreds of beautiful clusters, globulars and nebulae to explore easily within reach of an 8" in your part of the world.
I was in Canberra at the weekend and stopped not far from Yass for a pitstop about 11pm and the sky was simply spectacular, you are very lucky. One of Australia's most prominent p[lanetary imagers Anthony Wesley lives in Murrumbateman also.

Malcolm

[Ric]

Hi Rob and welcome to IIS

It looks like everyone is offering good advice but definitely do the research and don't go near those supermarket specials, it's the quickest way to turn yourself and your kids off a wonderful hobby.

Have a great time here.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

hi Rob,

Welcome to IIS. Just leave your wallet at the door and let us spend all your money for you.

6"-8" Dobsonian telescope is a good start. Spend a few extra bucks on a laser collimator to align the optics. A red flash light(or make your own). A book with some sky charts. The yearly Astronomy guide(or what ever its called) has some nice sky charts. Alternatively you can download a free program like stellarium, or spend a few dollars on an APP on your phone or tablet. Maybe a couple extra eyepieces to go along with the ones included with your scope.

aaaaannnnnddddddd..............

A pair of binoculars about 50mm in aperture to help you locate deep sky objects.

You should be right for a long time.

[rolls05 (Roland)]

Welcome. It seems you have highish expectations. Hope your lad hasn't got all starry eyed looking at magazine photos and expects dad to deliver. You would be best to just sit back a couple weeks and read the forum. get a feel for it all. The absolute best idea is to wet the appetite with a good pair of bino's. You'll need them anyway so might as well get them first.(presuming you aint got any) If you thought lp free skys are cool wait till you see what a good pair of wide field bino's will do. As others have said best bang for buck is the 8 inch dob,but there are other options. Good luck.

[Fairlane (Rob)]

Thanks for all the replies guys, i can see that this forum is an informative and helpful one. Luckily enough, my son hasnt been dazzled with glossy astronomy photos taken by hubble so he has NO expectations.

As to supermarket teles, i know i said cheap but would never consider this an option. After all, i would like my son to stick with the hobby and he wont do that if he doesnt see some decent bodies.

I like the idea of buying binocs first. At least its a cheaper way in and will give me an idea whether or not a decent telescope is worth getting for him!

[Scorpius51 (John)]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

I like the idea of buying binocs first. At least its a cheaper way in and will give me an idea whether or not a decent telescope is worth getting for him!

A pair of 10 x 50mm binos is a great way to start. If you have a camera tripod, then a bino adaptor helps to provide shake-free & more enjoyable viewing.

[DavidNg (David)]

An Astrophysics 155mm or 150 OTA Takahashi with Paramount MX and lots of Televue eye pieces would be nice Your son would love them (and father too)

[Kunama]

Hi Rob and welcome, there is a complete 10" dob package on the classifieds now in Canberra for $600 BY 'rathalian' It would be an excellent and cheap setup.

[Varangian (John)]

Hi mate, you can grab a new 8" Dobsonian from Andrews Comms for $399, unbeatable price point. You'll also get 4 plossl eyepieces to go with it a 6mm, 9mm, 15mm and 25mm. Everything you'll need is right there and they are offering free delivery on optical orders over $100 up until Xmas.

Binos are great and I'll never knock them, but the view of Jupiter through a pair of 7x50 binos compared to a 8" Dob is like, well looking at a pea and looking at an orange really. Cheers.

[louie_the_fly (Stew)]

Gidday Rob. Don't forget to buy a good entry level book and a star chart. Education is the key to this hobby I think. That way, your lad will hopefully develop an interest in astronomy, not just want to look at stuff. Maybe try to incorporate it into other things he's keen on. Cross link the learning, if you know what I mean. & get your bride & other grommie interested in it and make it a big fun family thing.

With what can be seen through a scope of up to a reasonable size it's still easy to go "oh yeah, that's nice" but not have the want to continue doing it. That's how my kids are now, at 17 & 21. I wish I bought my scope years ago. Maybe they would be keen now. And make it fun. Play games and set yourselves some fun goals.

Cheers

Stew.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Originally Posted by DavidNg

An Astrophysics 155mm or 150 OTA Takahashi with Paramount MX and lots of Televue eye pieces would be nice Your son would love them (and father too)

Yes but the mans wife will divorce him.

[Fairlane (Rob)]

Originally Posted by Kunama

Hi Rob and welcome, there is a complete 10" dob package on the classifieds now in Canberra for $600 BY 'rathalian' It would be an excellent and cheap setup.

And not very far from me... Will look into how much these are brand new (warranty etc)

[aidanm (Aidan)]

Hi Rob and welcome,

my first (and current scope) is an 8" Dobsoninan, I am still a newbie but am very happy with it.

Aidan