Be Excellent To Each Other

Since a kid I've always enjoyed reading about space. I've been considering getting a telescope for a little bit of star-gazing. Nothing serious, mind - but it'd be great to do this from time to time.

I don't want to get too geeky or anything over this.

Does anyone here enjoy this sort of thing and have any tips to share, things to avoid etc?

(I know we have Lave, a serious guy - congrats on getting through the viva BTW).

Ta.

I, too, have always wanted to get into this. I've always been fascinated with space.

I have a telescope. I bought it from Aldi, so it's probably shite. It's incredibly complex to set up, so I've only tried it twice.

I'm sure markg will be along shortly to lecture you in the ways of the Moore.

When I saw you'd posted in this thread I really was expecting a 'Uranus' or similar smutty joke. Colour me surprised

He he no lectures from me, I'm in the same boat, I'm no scientist I just like to gawp. After reading around numerous sites and reviews I settled on a Skywatcher 130pm together with a set of eyepieces also shown on this page:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddet ... rod=s130pm

Be warned though it's a fair sized and weighty lump of stuff when it arrives so consider where you are going to keep it.

It's great, I'm not in a great spot so deep sky objects can be a struggle although I have seen some of the brighter nebulae in good detail. I've had excellent views of most of the brighter planets, Jupiter with it's moon system and cloud belts is currently a spectacular sight. Just looking at the moon never gets old either.

Before I had my telescope though I spent a year just using a set of 15x70 binoculars:

http://www.strathspey.co.uk/shop/full.php?q=1118416781

It's a better way to start as you see much more of the sky at once and can learn your way around a bit.

I love the night sky on a clear night. Never bothered to magnify anything though. Are those Binos really enough?

More or less any binoculars will be a huge surprise if you have never tried looking at the stars with them. If you have some lying around or can borrow some just have a go (in general you want ones with biggish lenses at the front rather than compact types), pretty much everywhere you look is just filled with stars and as you sweep around every now and then you'll happen upon a fuzzy bit that will turn out to be a nebula or something.

Nothing is ever "enough" though, this is why some people develop an obsession that ends up with domes in their back gardens housing telescopes costing more than an executive saloon.

I think I was 20 the first time I pointed my binoculars at the moon. I was stunned by what I saw, and this was only with cheap ones with little magnification. Do it tonight*

* Unless it's a new moon, natch

[EDITED for grammar]

i think I have a cheapo pair of binos lying around somewhere. I may wander into the garden, once I have been sufficiently cold-proofed, I've heard it's gonna be a clear, cold night (until the blizzards start anyway)

I need to get out and do some more stargazing / photography this winter. The cold nights are great for reducing the noise you get from long-exposure pictures.

I need to find a less light-pollutiony spot, though.

taking pictures in a playground..... careful now. Great pic though. Taken at night I take it. How long was that exposure?

Marvellous, it makes it looks like the earth is being attacked by laser beams. This pleases me.

In the freezing pissing cold on one of the darkest nights I can ever remember. Brilliantly, it was only after I'd tramped halfway across the park carrying my camera bag and tripod, got the shot set up and started the exposure that I remembered how much being in the woods at night freaks me the hell out.

The lesson, as always - I'm an idiot.

The exposure's a little under fifteen minutes. I was in a state of quiet, paranoid panic for roughly the last ten minutes of that.

Thanks!

I've actually done very little amateur astronomy - but I did teach first year lab in astronomy, that was basically Amateur Astronomy 101 - and mainly consisted of me trying to hide the fact that I didn't know what I was doing from the first years. So if you get into it and start doing the fiddly stuff like RA and Dec I can help.

A small telescope, or binoculars pointed at the moon is always awesome. Looking along the terminator to look at all the shadow filled craters is awesome.

I know which Terminator I would rather be looking at!

But just in case I meant the edge of the shadow on the moon. Makes it all stand out.

Avoid Tasco! There are loads of terrible, cheap telescopes out at this time of year with awful plastic lenses and wobbly mounts. Don't buy telescopes from a toy shop, department store, or most camera shops. Steer clear of telescopes which are advertised by their magnifying power. Complete waste of money.

I'd second the recommendation to get a good pair of binoculars - a pair of 10x50s would be perfect to start off with. Lidl occasionally have a set of Bresser 10x50 binoculars which are cheap and fairly decent for the price (about €18 in Ireland). After a while, if you're still interested enough to spend money on a telescope, try to go for a reputable brand, and buy from somewhere specialising in astronomy-related equipment. I like Meade and Celestron. You could also consider buying a second-hand scope.

If you don't live in an area with dark skies, get something light and portable that you can carry or drive to somewhere darker. If you get a large telescope that you can't bring anywhere easily, and is a pain to set up every time, you'll end up using it very rarely. I use my binoculars and small telescope much more often than my larger one.

Don't be too disappointed with what you see in binoculars or a small telescope - it's nothing like the pictures you see in astronomy books. You're not going to see nebulae in colour, and planets will look tiny.

I'd recommend finding out if there's a club nearby you can join - you could try other people's telescopes and get some tips from them on how to set up and use your own.

Can I ask what sort of things you'd like to observe (deep sky objects or moon & planets?) and what your budget is?

P.S. Want.

Meade do a fairly good range from cheapo ones through to quite large and expensive automated ones that will track star fields. I used to be in to astronomy when I was a kid but I can't really do anything in London due to the light pollution.
http://www.meade.com/productguide/index.html

In addition to what's been said, do not fall for those small, cheap telescopes that have huge magnifications quoted on their packaging. Basically, run away from anything that says "see 500 times closer!", "625x magnification!" or crap like that.
As has been mentioned, invest in a decent pair of binos first, and if you like what you see then think about shelling out a fairly reasonable amount (my 250mm Newtonian Reflector cost almost a thousand quid, and that was fifteen years ago, although I think prices have come down a bit since then) on a good 'scope.

Thanks for that

To be honest I really don't want to spend too much. 100 quid, maybe more. We're talking serioulsy entry level. I'd like to see a bit of everything - but I suppose the planets are the most interesting to me. I really want to see the rings round Saturn, which from what I gather is feasible. I'm fairly realistic with my expectations - I know it won't be like in books, but it's just be great to actually see more, and not on a screen/in a book

Oooh Cathy knows their shit!

All I can do is confirm that I've worked with other people who know there shit, and also say Meade and Celestron are the best brands, if you can afford them.