telescope recommendations

Go here http://www.skyandspace.com.au/public/home.ehtml you can buy this mag from a book shop. Probibly best to start off with a pair of 7X50 binoculars. That is all I use. Been an amateur astronomer for about 35 years.

Trevor :)

I've often thought of getting a telescope, but as Trev says a decent pair of binoculars would be a good starting point.
A "few hundred " dollars would not buy anything much better.
A good telescope would be more like a few thousand.

One thing to consider that has stopped me buying a decent telescope (as I am lazy), is you cannot use them in reality in a city area due to the city lights reflecting back (light haze over city).

Years back I had a friend with a decent telescope and when you exited the city to view stars it was 10x better, more stars no tweakiing and could see them far clearer. Coming back to the city basically rendered it useless once you knew what it could do.

If you don't mind a long drive often then no problems, or if you live in the country or very small town even better.

Back over the Christmas New Year holiday period of 1969-70 I think I stayed on a farm outside Dargaville and about half an hour after sunset you could see this comet the head of which was just above the western horizon, it had a tail on it that went past overhead long. Had to come back home a few days later (Napier) and although it was still in the sky I couldn't see a trace of it.

Trevor :)

Yeah, the city lights do suck! I often drive north a bit anyway, its often hard to believe just how much light the city throws out.

Glad you've found Heavens Above. It is a wonderful site for spotting satellite passes.

Telescopes. It is easy to be distracted by magnification and forget that a telescope is primarily a light gathering device. So high magnification isn't particularly important. I say this because a star that is magnified 1000 times in a narrow scope still just looks like a point of bright light.

Diameter is important. The wider the telescope, the more light it grabs and the more detail you can see. Particularly colours. Ideally a Schmidt-Casselgrain 8inch (200mm) scope is what you want or even a 300mm. Meade is the leading manufacturer and Celestron is good. These scopes can come with electronic motors which track stars for you.

But these are pricey. A standard reflector (as opposed to refractor - ie magnifying) telescope will do what you want. 100mm is normal but 150 much better.

Having said the above - Trev is right. Experienced astronomers will tell you to simply use large binoculars or a spotting scope, such as is used by bird watchers.

Check out your local observatory. Astronomers are enthusiasts and love to share knowledge and advice. Also use Google. There are plenty of sites on amateur astronomy.

Light pollution is a real pain in cities. About half the night sky is obscured by diffracted street lights. Interestingly the Port of Auckland has recognised this and dramatically changed its lighting. Lower energy costs and more effective lights.

There are international movements to reduce light pollution. For anyone interested here is the NZ group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RASNZ-lightpollution/

Finally and just as a note of interest, France is the only nation which has a national policy to reduce light pollution and is doing it.

I went down to the local camera shop and it seems quite expensive (read: ripoff). A newtonian reflector looks like something I'm looking for - $350 or so. Has a 114mm aperture. Seems ok however.

I never thought physics at university would come in handy :). Some guy I was speaking to was half way through his physics major and still hadn't touched the telescope on the top floor. The physics professors guard it well.

There was an episode on the Simpsons about light pollution, hilarity ensues.

I've often thought of getting a telescope, but as Trev says a decent pair of binoculars would be a good starting point.
A "few hundred " dollars would not buy anything much better.
A good telescope would be more like a few thousand.Beat me to it - I was just about to say the same thing.

There is an old saying when buying a telescope, anything in size under 160mm buy a refractor and above 160mm buy a reflector that is because the thingy that supports the mirror that relects the light to the eyepiece stops the scope from gathering a certain amount of light, over 160mm it is not so important. Take a look here.
www.astronomyonline.com.au

Trevor :)

Try here as well. http://www.rasnz.org.nz/ http://www.stardome.org.nz/

Trevor :)

I must admit to a little surprise at the suggestions of using binoculars - unless they are mounted on some sort of tripod. Suppose it depends on your age, but my old binocs are heavy after a little while and generate the shakes. This matters when trying to hold a focus on some item at the edge of your vision. I have a small Meade 4500 which has a 114mm primary mirror. In our semi-rural area of Motueka this pulls in good light. From memory, it cost about $550 or $600 some years ago.

7X50 is ideally the max. size of binoculars you should use without a tripod.

Trevor :)

Agreed - a tripod is best for binoculars. A Newtonian scope is fine and very economical.

Beat me to it - I was just about to say the same thing.Which is just as wrong, unless using a tripod capable pair.

Which is just as wrong, unless using a tripod capable pair.You are right of course - I was referring to the telescope more than the binoculars.

There - does that make you feel less grumpy? ;)

You are right of course - I was referring to the telescope more than the binoculars.

There - does that make you feel less grumpy? ;)Yup. Thanks. Better than a cup of hot Horlicks ;)

Agreed - a tripod is best for binoculars. A Newtonian scope is fine and very economical.

Yes I would love to own a Meade LX200GPS 10" which is only a cool $5,399 AUS $s.

Trevor :)

Yes I would love to own a Meade LX200GPS 10" which is only a cool $5,399 AUS $We have a Meade ETX which does us very well and didn't cost anything like that (but well over $1000 as far as I remember).

haha this is starting to sound painfully expensive :)

Any small Newtonian (under 6") is likely to be a bit of a disappointment. The bigger ones are expensive because of the mounts, and more and more the electronics (the computer). They have auto finding, GPS, auto orientation, and do everything except look at the stars for you. Add a camera and they will do that too. ;)

I'd love a Matkusov ...

Look for a Dobsonian. They seem to be great things and good value. The only expensive parts are the mirror and eyepieces -- the rest is just a tube and a friction controlled "push" pointing arrangement. They are easily transportable.

We have a Meade ETX which does us very well and didn't cost anything like that (but well over $1000 as far as I remember).

The latest ETX prices are, in Aus $. ETX-90PE $1199,105PE $1499 and the 125PE $1799.

Trevor :)

Here is another NZ site to try. http://www.telescopes.net.nz/m_refl.html
the only thing here is that you have to ring them for prices.

Here is another Aussie site to try
https://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm

Just for a starter scope I would go for the Meade 80EQ-A refractor telescope and if you decide you like astronomy you can get something bigger later on. This is a good scope from one of worlds best telescope manufacturers. You should be able to get this from NZ.

Trevor :)

A nice NZ site is http://www.astronomynz.org.nz/ and their Almanac at $20 is a good buy