Celestron NexStar 4 SE

[roseimpala]

First off hello everyone. I am very new to this type of thing an need advice i hope this is the right area for this if not sorry. I have just started searching the skies an am looking for info on good telescopes. I was given a meade 70mm f/8.5 600mm az refracting telescope for christmas by my wife an am interested in getting deeper in this field. is the Celestron NexStar 4 SE a good next telescope because the one i have is i think an ok beginner telescope but i want more. i want to get good views of the planets. I saw saturn yesterday and was truly amazed even though i couldnt really see it as well as i wished. Suggestions are welcome thanks!:lol:

[RickJ]

Telescopes are such a personal thing one that is good for one person is lousy for another. Best is to attend a few star parties put on by a local club and see many different scopes of different designs and sizes to get an idea what might fit your needs best.

The difference between a 100mm scope and a 70mm isn't all that great. Aperture is what makes the difference and there's little more of it. Views would be about 40% sharper, not a big difference. Max power of a 70mm scope is about 140, it's about 200 on a 4" scope but the Mak has a central obstruction that reduces contrast over a refractor so the ability to see low contrast detail, like detail on Mars or detail in the cloud bands of Jupiter will not be even as great as the aperture would indicate, assuming equal optical quality. In fact it may be so little more you'd not notice. I just don't know the quality of your refractor nor have I seen one of Celestron's Mak's recently. The only review was of an earlier version though I suspect the optical tube is virtually the same. It is at:
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1144
While it may be very wrong or right for you, I have no way to know, you may find a 6" or 8" basic Dobsonian more what you want. Under many conditions, they will show you more per dollar spent than anything else. Whether that applies to your situation I don't know. I have no idea your sky conditions or how steady your air is where you live. Or how much light pollution you have. This is where the local club guys can really help you out. They deal with it all the time and know what scopes work best there.
http://www.astronomyclubs.com/

Rick

[Veeger]

I agree with Rick. The choice is very personal. I currently own a Meade 125 ETX. It is relatively small but with the mount becomes heavy and bulky and is basically near the limits of convenient portability. One needs to consider where the scope will be stored and how easy will it be to move from storage to viewing site. A heavy, inconvenient, light-bucket is useless if you leave it in the garage because it takes two people to move it around and setup.

-Veeger

[roseimpala]

Thanks for the replies! I think i will research a little more an make a decision. I will strongly look into the 6", 8" and 10" Dobsonian models. Any brand preference out there to look for? Or is that a stupid question? I live in a rural area so light pollution is not a big problem except for the occasional street light in certain areas. It is cool here now about 29 degrees at night with a slight breeze but on average we are usually very warm with still air. I dont know if that helps as i am new to this. But i will research and get more source material and keep going. Thanks for all the help and good luck with your viewing.

[Dave Mitsky]

The Orion SkyQuest and the Zhumell Dobsonians are worth considering. If you'd like a higher quality solid-tube Dob (at a higher price, of course), you may want to look at the American-made Discovery models.

Dave Mitsky