Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 40 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Getting Started With Astronomy, Again
I never did finish getting my telescope built in Oregon when I was a kid. It was a Boy’s Club project, grinding and polishing our own mirrors, then sending them out to get silvered. Mine was the only one that didn’t come back, so I couldn’t construct a frame for it. I maintain that’s because mine was so perfect, I would have been able to see the Lunar Max prison operated by the Men In Black, where Boris the Animal (“It’s just BORIS!”) would end up. But lately I’ve been gathering up a collection of pre-made telescopes, and tonight I took my first photos using my phone. Ideally I should get a proper telescope camera, or at least use an adapter for my Nikons. But it’s a start.
By the way, this particular telescope is a Meade Polaris 130. One of my favorites.
Imagine what it would have taken to make that picture when you were a kid.
Looks great to me.
I expect the telescope I was trying to build, would have been very good too. But attaching a camera to it would have been a different story.
What I think about sometimes, is what Galileo was able to accomplish with what he had available. And without knowing so much of what we already know now, before even taking our first personal look.
Isn’t that lovely!
Very nice, KE.
I’ve been wanting to do astro-photography for years. Alas, I have champagne taste and a kool-aid budget.
And as I grow older, the thought of hauling equipment out of town to set up, and then staying out all night has less appeal. But right now is the golden age of astro-photography, with digital imaging, computer processing, go-to mounts, etc.
Much the same. When I lived in Tucson a long time ago I would go out into the desert at night with my binoculars, but I never quite got to the point of buying a telescope. Always planned to, but never did.
I was a scuba diver for a few years, and I discovered what should have been obvious: rarely will what you see underwater be as striking as what you see on Jacques Cousteau’s television program. Seeing it in person is nice, but the experts do it better.
In that spirit, I now am content to look at the space telescope output and marvel. Until I see a moon like last night’s, and a picture like the one in this post, and think maybe I’m missing out.
[duplicate]
Agreed.
The problem with backyard astronomy in the Upper Midwest is that in the winter it’s too damn cold, and in the summer it’s buggy and humid. There’s maybe 3-5 week sweetspot in the spring and fall when it might actually possible to enjoy it.
Online auctions are your friend. Also things like craigslist.
The telescope I used last night cost me about $50, with tax and shipping. And you can even find the fancy newer “Goto” models, sometimes new/like-new in the original box.
And once you find a telescope you like, it probably didn’t come with many accessories, so you get something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Celticbird-Astronomical-Telescope-Accessory-Kit/dp/B0B45DPF6L/
Or this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFGJXHNP/
Congrats on getting (back) into astronomy. It’s a lot of fun. If you can find a club nearby, they often have a dark site where observing is more convenient, the skies are darker, and it is safer.
Annual star parties are also a lot of fun (Okie-Tex, Texas Star Party, etc.).
I’m a visual observer. I’ve got a 30-year-old 8″ Meade LX10 and a newer 14″ Celestron. But both need repairs at the moment.
I had a celestron at one time. It worked great for a year or so. Then it broke. One thing I really hated about it was that the focus knob was small and hard to turn. It really hurt my hand as I hunted for a focus.
I’d like to get another telescope someday, but my first requirement will be to get one with an easier to use focus knob. Maybe even a powered knob.
Yeah, I hated that knob that much.
I already have a pretty dark site here, that was just outside my front door. If there was a club in the area, they would probably want to come to my place for the darkness.
You can get models with auto-focus and stuff. Also, models that come with a small focus knob you might find larger knob add-ons on ebay etc. When enough people want something, it’s like to show up on ebay, and/or amazon…
You guys who are thinking about buying telescopes should join Astromart.com. Read the ads, read the reviews, ask a lot of questions. Don’t spend any money until you’ve asked a lot of people a lot of questions, as amateur astronomy can be a costly hobby.
CloudyNights.com is also very good.
It can be, especially if you go for the bigger stuff. But as mentioned previously, the nice Meade Polaris 130 that I used for the photo in the OP, cost me about $50 from an online auction site.
And in fact, that’s just one of several I’ve gotten, to try out on my own and see what I like best.
Here are just 3 of them:
Both good sites. Joining a club is also a great idea. I bought my 8″ Meade LX10 in 1997 and for ten years couldn’t figure out what to do with it. I joined the Houston Astronomical Society when I lived down there, and in six months I had done most of the Messier list.
Some clubs will let you borrow equipment to see if you like it or have an observatory. And members will usually let you look through their scopes at club events.
I definitely agree not to spend a ton of money until you know about the hobby and what you enjoy. If you buy a decent but cheap scope, it can always be your quick-view scope that you drag out on an evening just to see a couple things.
One thing that kinda surprised me, although given modern technology it probably shouldn’t have, is how easy it can be to spend multiples of the cost of an Optical Tube Assembly (OTA), on a high-end mounting system/tripod. Some of those go for THOUSANDS of dollars, new. Whereas it’s not that difficult to spend under $1000 even on a brand new, higher-end OTA. Even a high-end OTA doesn’t have microprocessors etc, but the mounts sure can!
Mounts have to move precisely and be stable under heavy loads (50-150 lbs.), which requires precisely-machined and very strong gears. And the hand controller for the mount has an expensive microprocessor. A good mount will set you back as more or more than the OTA.
On the plus side, it’s not that difficult to use multiple OTAs with a single mount.
And also possible to do quite a bit while spending $100 or less (each), as I have. The only models I’ve gotten so far that I remember spending over $100 on (before shipping/tax) are a mint-in-box Meade 390 and a mint-in-box Meade 395 (which included the original purchase receipt showing a total of over $600, in I think 1989).
The Astronomical League observing lists are a great way to get started in astronomy. Start with the beginner lists and work your way up. You learn to see so much more when you’ve described 100 double star pairs, for instance.
I did the Messier, Caldwell, double star, and globular cluster lists. I’ve almost finished the planetary nebulae and started the dark nebulae.
Not long ago I automatically discounted all automated systems. Now I have about decided this is what I need, when I can afford it.
https://www.astronomy.com/observing/vaonis-new-smart-scope-reviewed/
Why would you want a telescope without eyepieces? And one which apparently you can pretty much only use to look at things that other people have already found, by entering coordinates or something?
I guess if you just want to do astrophotography and maybe get published in magazines or something, that’s the easiest way to go.
Seems to me at least half the fun is poking around the sky and seeing what there is to see. And even the telescopes I have that can do some auto-locating, still have the capacity for manual use.
Your points are valid. However, building up a good system is kind of a crap shoot, and one doesn’t know the outcome until the money has been spent. Never having used a good system, everything I do is experimental.
I need reading glasses to see anything close up. However the scope is focused, I have to juggle glasses on and off to use the controls or do anything else. I’m about done with eyepieces. I would rather look at images, and run the controls, on a tablet.
And putting in coordinates with the expectation of seeing something cool? I like it. Using a more manual process I never know until the next day whether I captured anything worth while.
Having Go-To & plate solving features does seem a little like cheating. I’m ready to cheat. I’m burned out trying to use my old manual equipment and not getting anywhere. Somebody said “the best scope is the one you actually use.”
The main drawback is that there is no upgrade path. I’ll deal with it for a few years and decide where to go from there. See my first paragraph above.
Different strokes for different folks!
And “looking” for something might be fun for some, but not for others. I just like seeing things. I don’t want to spend hours finding them.
There was a larger version of that scope mentioned in the article you posted, but I didn’t look for it. Do you know how much the larger one costs?
Meanwhile for just “plinking,” I think the photo I put in the OP demonstrates pretty well that the Meade Polaris 130 is a good option, and as mentioned mine only cost about $50 so there’s not much to resent even if you don’t use it very often. And it’s not very heavy, I can lift it tripod and all with one hand. (Although two hands makes for better control.) A Celestron Powerseeker 114 AZ or EQ is even lighter. (Aluminum tube rather than steel.) For the Celestron I have to recommend the EQ version since it gives you the better “slow-motion” controls even if you don’t set it up for full equatorial function. (Aligning to north, setting in your latitude, date and time, etc. Which you also have to do with any of the full Go-to types, and it’s not optional.) The long flexible slow-motion controls make it much easier to follow objects. Maybe spray-paint the knobs in bright colors or even glow-in-the-dark to make them easier to find at night?
With any of the regular scopes and eyepieces you can easily clamp on a phone mount and use your phone as a view-screen and to take photos. With a wireless remote, even.
It doesn’t take hours, if you just look them up. There are charts and even mobile phone programs that make it easy.