Celestia Forums

Well, i have finally mustered up enough money (i think) to purchase a telespcope to fit my needs. however i dont know which one i want. Ive checked out meade's website and was overwhelmed by my options.

heres what i want out of a telescope:
-built in databaseof locations
-automatically finds and tracks selected about
-i want to be able to see the rings of saturn
-i wanna see them well (for saturn to appear as large as the moon does to the naked eye
-i also want to be able to edit the database by adding my own findings

does any one have any suggestions (dont worry about my price range).?

chrisr wrote:Well, i have finally mustered up enough money (i think) to purchase a telespcope to fit my needs. however i dont know which one i want. Ive checked out meade's website and was overwhelmed by my options.

heres what i want out of a telescope:
-built in databaseof locations
-automatically finds and tracks selected about
-i want to be able to see the rings of saturn
-i wanna see them well (for saturn to appear as large as the moon does to the naked eye
-i also want to be able to edit the database by adding my own findings

does any one have any suggestions (dont worry about my price range).?

chrisr,

can it be that you really know very little about telescopes?

You put lots of emphasis on mechanical/computer/GOTO gimmics (that only ignorants of the sky value high) but did not mention any optical requirements whatsoever?

Despite all the Ads you have probably been reading, telescopes are extremely delicate optical instruments and not GOTO computers to start. If your optics is not of first rate and does not match your environmental boundary conditions, you will not use your telescope for long!

Before getting into any specific advice, I would seriously recommend taking your time, reading for several weeks (!) about basics of telescope optics and really make up your mind first, what kind of objects you plan to observe mainly. This again depends on the kind of sky you will have on average: ranging between high light pollution (probable) and pitch black super transparent Arizona type sky (improbable). So first of all, you will have to learn judging the quality of your sky over a certain period of time etc....

Buying an expensive telescope is not like buying a laundry machine , for example...

Bye Fridger

thanks t00fri. well i live in rural virgina, so i get some pretty nice clear nights. i would like to be to view planets clearly jupiter and saturn venus and mars. it would be nice to be able to spot asteroids. i guess wether i get a refracting lense or reflecting lense telescope makes a big difference. can you tell me more about this thank you


chrisr....not logged in

chrisr,

as t00fri already wrote, take your time and read several basics of telescopes.
You may start here: http://skyandtelescope.com/howto/scopes/article_241_1.asp.

I recommend not to start with a GOTO-instrument as a beginner.
You should be able to find your objects yourself and you have to learn to point your telescope to it.

And: Do not underestimate the mount of your telescope! It's a telescope's other half...

Adirondack