Beginner Question

[MrB398]

I am brand new to these forums, and brand new to astronomy overall.

I am looking to buy myself a telescope, however I am not quite sure what I should be looking for. Astronomy has facinated me my whole life, and I figured it was about time to do something about it!

Basically I want a telescope to take into the coutry side at times where the sky is clear as can be (I live in a city, lots of light pollution). My budget is $400-$500.

Does anyone have some good resources to read for a beginner?

[JohnD]

See this Forum!
http://www.bautforum.com/astronomical-observing-equipment-accessories/

John

[Tim Thompson]

I suggest you look at the Dobsonian Telescopes on the Orion Telescopes Webpage (http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes). I have had good luck with them. My wife has taught high school & middle school astronomy, and the smaller SkyQuests turn out to be good choices to let the kids grab & play with. In general, you will find the Dobsonian style to be cheapest & easiest to set up & use. The "downside" is that, absent electronic aids, you will have to learn to find things on your own with star charts and a knowledge of the sky (some people think that most of the fun is looking for things, although I am not one of them). One thing you will likely also need to do is replace a cheap "finder scope" with a Telrad, or other pointing device.

[Arcane]

I suggest, like Tim, a Skyquest XT8 made by orion. It is a bit heavy, say 40-50lbs, though, so you may want to go with something smaller like the XT6 if you are going to be dragging it around the country side.

But I got mine recently and it is a great telescope. Comes with some good Plossl lenses too. I would also recomend getting a Klee 2.8x Barlow lense to go with it, and a cheap moon filter., just for starters. All of that total comes to about $600, but you can skip the Klee Barlow and get it all for 4-500.

[Veeger]

I agree that a dob can be a good first scope and you can find some good aperatures at a relatively low cost, but I think you must decide for yourself how skilled you may be at finding something by charts using star hopping and other such methods. The view through the eye-piece can be quite narrow and finding objects can be challenging, but the knowledge one gains of "what's up there" in the process, is invaluable. If you don't want a long learning curve I suggest a smaller aperature "GOTO" type scope. But, since the computer does all the work, the net long term benefit to your skill set may not be as great. I personally used unguided or "dumb" scopes for years, and learned little tricks for finding objects, but a few years back I bought a "smart" Meade ETX and have actually seen more since owning it than I did with previous scopes. (But I did learn my way around the sky when I was the "brains" of the goto system.)

-Veeger

[Kaptain K]

It has been said before, but it bears repeating...
The best beginner's scope is a pair of binoculars! Get a pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binocs and a book like Turn left at Orion and spend a year or so learning the sky. I promise that you won't exhaust the possibilities in a year (or a lifetime for that matter).
Second, seek out the local astronomy club and go to star parties. Look through the scopes you will find there and pick the brains of the members you meet. They will happily show you what they've got and help you decide what would be best for what you want to look at most and what fits your budget.

[gGriffeth]

I definitely agree with Kaptain K.
I think you should also spend a lot of time on this forum. I'm here hours a day just reading posts, and I learn TONS.
Thats a great alternative to joining an astronomy club, seeing as they can be rare....though nothing really beats an astronomy club.

[Tinaa]

Moved to Astronomical Observing, Equipment and Accessories.

Welcome to BAUT MrB398.

[redshifter]

Another vote here for the Orion XT8, it was my first scope and I have since upgraded to the XT10. Kaptain K's advice is very sound however. Here is something you should definitely read: http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html

[Dave Mitsky]

Does anyone have some good resources to read for a beginner?

Here are some other sites that deal with choosing a first telescope:

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=ss&id=9

http://skyandtelescope.com/howto/scopes/article_241_1.asp

http://www.floridastars.org/telescop.html

http://www.company7.com/library/begin.html

http://stupendous.rit.edu/richmond/answers/telescope.html

http://www.celestron.com/c2/esupport/index.php?_a=knowledgebase&_j=subcat&_i=4

http://www.astronomics.com/main/category.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/How%20to%20pick%20a%20telescope/Page/1

Dave Mitsky

[torque of the town]

Even before you get scope this freeware is a must.





http://www.stellarium.org/


David