25-March-2004, 10:05 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: The beautiful Central Coast, NSW
Posts: 2,257
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by skrap1r0n
oh yeah, I'll fit, I have a van. Here is my issue.
My personal Goal as I have said is to locate at least 100 Messier Objects manually. Now, My wife is also interested in astronomy as are my kids. They may want to make use of the computer.
Now, the 10" comes wired for the computer and the computer is $150. I think that would be a good personal reward for locating the objects, and its sooo much easier to ask for forgiveness than permission (wife wise that is). Additionally, I have been told that If I can locate at least 100 of the 110 without a computer, I might not NEED a computer to find other things I may want to observe.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Kaptain K
100 Messier objects is a little steep, there's only 110 of them. 20 or 25 would be a good start.
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I purchased the book Messier Marathon, and as I figure it will take about 8 months to save for the scope, I am going to use that time to learn the sky inside and out. I think (optimistically) that by time I get the scope I could concievably locate 5 per night. Yes it is a steep goal, and I realize that. But it's not unreasonable. I am patient and I think I will value the experience more than the goal. |
In that case, I would suggest the 10". Star-hopping is far more satisfying than relying on a computer (provided you have the time during your observing run), and there is a noticeable difference between the 8" & the 10". If you can carry it and it fits in your car, go the aperture everytime!
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