Hello Anthony
I got the bug again for looking at the stars about 1 year ago. At the time I had yes a Magna sedan - 1994 but I dont think the size is much different. I live in the the big smoke (Sydney). Am not interested in being a complete observer recluse but rather being casual and being able to see a lot more than I could with my childhood refractor (50 mm Tasco which actually had good optics strange as that may sound). I was extremely supicious about buying on the basis of the gee whiz attraction. I've still got a long way to go but maybe the following with help.
What I was looking for was a marked improvement over the 50mm in a more light polluted sky.
1. For starters go and look at a sample of what telescopes exist and 'feel' like - see
http://www.quasarastronomy.com.au/shops.htm. You arent obliged to buy and at least there are two specialist shops in Perth. The advantage of buying from a local is that sorting out problems and getting some initial first hand advice is possible - not to mention getting to know the accessories. Of course they would like to sell you something. Hopefully you are enough of a post modernist to tell a good salesperson who relies on honesty from a shark which you might find in a camera store. Either way if they are a real telescope shop they will know about things they can at least indicate to you are an option which you never thought of.
Beyond that it may be worth going to one of the amateur astronomy groups to see what options you have (I havent done this admittedly) but I'm sure it wouldnt hurt noting they will likely have several years on you and talk a different language.
Once you are confident then maybe do the mail-order bit. Though I'd be dubious about overseas as you start getting into painful duty and importation costs and bank charges. This is not like a book from Amazon. And one always remembers 'The Castle' and those weird backposture chairs they picked up as a steel.
Another thing is to consider the variation in optical quality you get from different scopes - more on that below. Consider that a simple pair of eyeglasses are hundreds of dollar compared to service station reading glasses. Looking through different price binoculars will give you an appreciation of optical clarity.
Remember while size does matter (have a look at the SDM web site if you are curious how far this can go) good optics does to and with te cheaper telescopes even a novice can tell the difference between good optics and rubbish in a side by side comparison.
2. Whatever you get you wont be totally happy unless you have a bigger budget - if its a single telescope meeting all you wishes my guess is what you are looking at is at least $3500 for an 8 inch Cassegrain with goto technology or $2500 for the Newtonian equivalent as it would:
*be a single telescope that addresses all your wants without clear shortcomings I can think of
*provide a lot more light than your childhood refractor
*have photography potential
*appear to be compact enough to fit in the boot of a magna
*like refractors such the Cassegrain doesnt need mirror alignment everytime you move it - fine for experienced people but very time consuming for you at the start
*it has goto - if you are going to be social with this you need motor drive so you dont waste all your time showing people Saturn which gets boring for you after the fourth time.
*at that price you should be able to expect good optics.
3. The telescope is just the start. The accessories arent that optional for example:
- if you get a newtonian optics system item you will need some form of collimator
- you will want at least 3 good flat field objectives with wide fields of view - which arent always the standard provided in a package.
- you may want a finderscope instead of one of those laser targetters
- you will want literature, books, a calendar, a planisphere etc. - the electronic software does not beat a good hardcopy map
- you could really use a telescope chair
- other odds and ends include a mirror fan/heater, batteries, a barlow lens, red diode torches
- you will need protective bags to carry things in
- hopefully you have camping lights, torches, tables and chairs to organise things on
- do you have binoculars? - always recommended
None of the above is not absolutely necessary but they all go to make the experience successful and if you want to move beyond random looking about at the sky you need them.
4. A note about the Dobsonian chatter - when I was young and maybe you were too, 6 to 8 inch telescopes were unthinkable unaffordable devices only possessed by dedicated amateurs grinding their own mirrors. To buy a modest 4" Newtonian reflector from Tasco was if memory serves me about $130 or about $3000 in todays money. Now you can buy a commercial 16 inch Dobsonian for about the same price. So you can see where the love of them comes from - the impossible is now possible even without going to the photography bit - especially for those who just want to look at the stars galaxies and nebulae with their own eyes.
If you really want to see how far this can go have a look at one extreme of suburban astronomy example at the following site
http://www.cruxis.com/scope/scope1070.htm
But there are also limitations to them which brings me to
5. My experience as a case study.
a. About a year ago I was faced with your dilemma/interest/curiosity/situation. First stop was a couple of shops to see what was offer from self assembled to do it yourself jobs to giant real men telescope plus detailed internet research - its real kid in a toy store stuff.
In the end I settled on a 12 inch Lightbridge because:
- It seemed to offer the most light gathering power for a modest price in a 'car portable' instrument.
- The solid tube Dobsonians did not seem as portable without a ute, trailer or station wagon (roof racks lead to imaginings of flying telescopes and putting things on roofs is liable to damage things).
- The investment required for the basic instrument was about 1/4rd of a Cassegrain equivalent.
- When dismantled I could lift the components in the boot and part of the back seat - just and not very sociable - this would have been too big an ask for the 16 inch which was also twice the price
- The reviews were generally favorable regarding optics etc.
The reality:
- Basically all the above was true but I hadnt counted initially on the following:
- I needed the above accessories - the logic was unassailable.
- The moon ruins 50% or your viewing wherever you are so patience is essential as well as planning - I knew this but its another matter to work in with the fact of it.
- The cloud gods have wiped out every optimal night available to me at a good spot in the last year.
- Sydney light pollution is depressing and our backyard has a back lane street light that needs a sling shot taken to it. But that isnt going to work with the footy ground and the port lights.
- When you do this socially and have a 'star party' everyone wants to see the planets which move rapidly across the field of view and YOU have to do the realignment because no-one else quite gets how to do it.
- It takes a while to assemble and align the Dobsonian - I'll get better I'm sure but???
- To get good seeing conditions you need to go a long way and as I said the cloud gods have not been kind which is very off putting - at least the BoM can give you an idea of what's coming from different directions. But you can only plan a few days in advance and often you just have to take a chance.
- To make the Dosonian even basic photography ready would require the Argo Navis and that's another $1000.
- Familiarising yourself with the night sky takes a while.
- Remember it takes 30 minutes for your eyes to become dark adjusted - ok for you but what about you star party friends.
Nevertheless I dont regret getting the big Dobsonian and I will use it over time (but this is not like television on demand) I expect. On the plus side:
- On a good night I have been able to see nebulae etc near the zenith (a note about this - the atmosphere inherently blocks an enormous amount of light so that when you look up in a normal way at about 30 degrees you see much dimmed light though you may not be aware of this).
- The amount of light the big reflector can draw in counters in part the poor seeing conditions.
- All the reading of reviews indicates if you want to see faint objects then mirror size does matter so the difference between 12/16 inch and an 8 inch is significant.
- And things may be better in Perth - with less light pollution and cloud I'd guess and you maybe in a less bright suburb.
b. A partial way around these dilemmas which I considered was the unthinkable - a second smaller more convenient telescope - again at a price. After futzing about I was attracted to the Nextstar 114 as it seemed to offer goto, compactness, reasonable light gathering power and a very good price of $600.
What I found was interesting. The goto system though light is quite servicable and is exactly what you need for star parties (dont know about photography but I will probably give this a go sometime). Its quick to set up and fits in the boot of the car along with chairs tables esky etc. And as hoped all the bits and pieces fitted into a cricket kit bag. The latter means you can have it ready for an opportunity should it arise and if the weather gods are unkind the inconvenience is minor.
The optics though were rubbish and its not obvious why the 130 Nexstar should be better. In trying to tune the secondary mirror I seemed to lose alignment completely. In hindsight though I think it was never good and my failure to get good star images during the tuning process was more about the inbuilt Barlow, and the lack of a consistent plane of focus which cant be fixed. The focuser was also rubbish. Finally the eyepieces provided were also of relatively poor quality though this was less a concern as I had already got a decent set of eyepieces. Another little problem is that it cant point at the Zenith without bashing the mount.
And guess what - I got this as a sight unseen mail order item.
In the end what I've done was to buy yet another telescope - actually an optical tube for a short focal length refractor which would fit on the tripod - the 70 mm - 100 mm ones with light gathering power similar to the 114 range in price from $300 to $5000 depending again on optic quality.
The 72 mm one I chose seems to work, gives very crisp true color images, CAN point at the Zenith fits in the cricket bag and uses all the other bits I have.
So finally I'm there though the bill's a bit more than what I'd expected - and its getting toward the figure I mentioned. Such is the nature of boys toys.
c. What would I in hindsight have done differently? I'm not sure.
I have two telescopes and most accessories which are suited to different tasks rather than a single compromise. You will notice many contributors seem to have something similar as do the the bed and breakfast observatories.
Regarding the Dosonian I wanted initially high light gathering power and thats what I have. The 12 inch mirror in a portable format still seems as good as it gets for the price with portability.
Regarding the second small telescope - its Goto mount seems hard to beat and it is covenient and final hybrid seems to work very well.
In conclusion you are really looking for several things at once. For your budget you will get some but not others unless you can pay a substantial premium they wont come in a single unit. At a guess the Dosonian is what I'd choose in your situation but just remember all the pitfalls before committing.
I found it quite hard to find things with it and then keep them in the field of view.
I can't see why there would be any significant difference. Can you shed some light on this?
