Astronomy Buffs

[Al and Missy]

I have a Celestron Nextar 8" and love it. I havent used it as much as I'd like due to light pollution at home but i have the padded traxel case for it and have been wanting to take it along. Mine is the version that has the three star alignment routine in the controller. Not hard to set up. I think i read that they were sued for infringement and had to take that routine out so that may be what Stephanie was referring to. Your post inspired me to look for star parties and Chiefland Star Party Group has one every month at their site in Chiefland FL, about a three or four hour drive. I think there is one of those in my near future.

Our trailer is at Out of Doors Mart for repair. If they finish it in time (Wednesday) we are going to come to VHH for a couple of nights.


Al

[Gsmblue]

Asking "what is the best telescope for me" is kinda like "what's the best tv for me".

I know you did not ask that question, but it is just to give you an idea there are lots of right answers.

I always recommend for a beginner the following:

1. Go to a star party!!
2. The book "turn left at Orion"
3. The best telescope is one that you will use, start small and simple. A 6.5i ch dobsonian will be great and you can tinker with it, but. 90mm refractor will be great in dark skies.
4. Star charts are your friend, be it in a book or you iPad, star hopping to find something is so rewarding!

I studied and work in the industry.

[FollySteve]

I have Celestron nexstar evolution 6. Really nice go to scope with wifi iPhone control. iPhone has a planetarium app that uses 3 star alignment. Aligning scope takes about 2 or 3 minutes. The iPhone provides motion sensing real world view of night sky: hold it over your head to see names of stars and objects you are looking at. Pick one and the scope slews to it. Also provides audio and written notes on thousands of objects. Amazing technology. Tracking on scope is spot on.

Go to scopes are a huge boon to first timers. Removes the frustration of trying to find, align and track dim objects. Keep in mind that you not only have to find it and get it centered but then follow it as the earths rotation moves it out of the field of view. Department store scopes almost always end up in a closet. Just too frustrating to use.

Schmit cassegrain optic tubes are more expensive but generally provide the best trade off between aperture and portability. I like the 6" as it provides decent views of deep sky and you don't need Hercules to help move it around. Dobsonians are most aperture for dollar but can be beast to move around in larger sizes.

You will always want more aperture but will learn that portability (and of course cost) become the limiting factors. Assuming you get a scope with decent optics, don't overlook eyepieces. Wide field of view and long eye relief really make observing much more immersive and comfortable.

Planets and nebula are always great viewing and are certainly the big draw for first timers, but with experience you will come to appreciate the thousands of stars visible in a wide field on a dark night. Airstreaming on the edge of a dark, wide open meadow is an awesome way to spend the evening. Just leave the scope up in the field, observe awhile, take a break at the camper, fix a drink, go back and look for new objects. Secondary reward is learning the constellations and night sky. Everything bright has a name, and people generally love a sky tour even without a scope.

Observing chair and portable table is also a great thing to have. It is a lightweight folding chair with a height adjustable seat. Depending on what your looking at, eyepiece height will change and observing chair allows you to sit comfortably at the right height. If your over 50 like me, it's a must have.

HTH

Steve


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[BassCan]

We bought a go to scope years ago when the technology was new. We chose a Meade EXT 125. It is small enough to be portable and fits nicely in the camper. Even though it is about 10 years old it still gives great views of the planets and moon.

[Stefrobrts]

My problem with moving my 8" Nexstar isn't so much the setup, as just the act of actually diassembling it from it's huge tripod, securing it during transport, getting it all setup at the new location, which takes a couple trips back and forth to the car (and it's quite heavy for me to move). I worry about it every step of the way. While the Dob was made to travel, and is tough enough to handle getting bumped around a bit, breaks down into lighter sections, and of course once you set it up you just point it somewhere and look through it. After a couple sidewalk astronomy sessions with the Nexstar, I decided it was better off safe at home! But there's no reason you couldn't have one all set up to travel with you. The other guys are right, the alignment part really doesn't take that long.

I used to have a Meade 90mm ETX scope as well. Mine was non computerized, but they have made computerized ones since then. I thought it was very portable, and had very good optics. One of those would make a nice travel scope, particularly for looking at the planets and bright deep sky objects.

[jcl]

Some good suggestions above.

I agree strongly with the phrase that the best telescope is the one that gets the most use. Sometimes the best 'telescope' is actually a good pair of binoculars, along with a book and a folding chair.

My Televue 85 was purchased as a compromise between the very nice 100 mm scopes that were harder to carry along, and the smaller Televues that didn't gather as much light. It has a padded case and works well on a simple tripod mount for trips. At home, I have a computerized Vixen go to mount with a heavy tripod, but I find it a pain to drag it along so it doesn't travel with us.

I like the sharp views of an apochromatic refractor, and can use it as a spotting scope as well. It doesn't take any time to cool down, so quick looks are easy.

With this type of scope, you need eyepieces as well. I use Televue Naglers, Radians, and Panoptics. A collection of those can be expensive. I have them all fitted into two medium sized Pelican cases, along with photography accessories, so they travel safely.

A star party is a great first step. There are a lot of telescopes collecting dust in people's closets.

Jeff

[Tincampers]

Some good discussion here, thanks for all the advice and to BoldAdventure for starting the thread.

[Doc Foster]

I am a retired Science teacher, and used to teach a semester Astronomy high school class among many other things over the years. There are quite a few observatories scattered all over the US that have open houses and public viewing nights, often free of charge (or maybe ask for a small donation). Some are small private or local observatories, some are parts of colleges and some are large well known institutions. I have sometimes altered my plans to take advantage of these programs, and have definitely altered my plans so that I can be in a dark sky area where I can watch a meteor shower.
Of course if you can't afford a telescope of your own, then use a decent quality 10 x 50 pair of binoculars in a dark sky and it is amazing what you can see (like the Galilean moons of Jupiter).
Just a few links below.

Public Programs at U.S. Observatories - Galileo to Gamma Cephei
2015 List of Astronomical Observatories in the U.S.

Plenty of websites that can clue you in as to where and what to look for with the naked eye or whatever, such as:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/obser...y-at-a-glance/
Space | EarthSky
Sign up for any of these and you can get daily or weekly updates about what to look for such as meteor showers, visible planets, eclipses, etc.

[IanPoulin]

One final note to the OP -- you called out that you weren't doing imaging; i.e. astrophotography. So unless you are going to be viewing with half a dozen individuals, don't necessarily worry about drive mounts (i.e. electric mounts that synch the instrument to the arc movement of the sky.) While this can be beneficial (to keep your aunt, or first-time-gazer child from saying "what am I looking at? I see nothing" because the blob has moved out of frame,) you'll get used to the manual adjustments on a good alt-azimuth mount fairly quickly. If you buy the <$500 spotter from cabbalas or green top, look for a good alt-azimuth mount for it as well. without one, you'll likely be frustrated in fairly short order as you hunt for objects without reference capabilities.

When looking at mounts, make sure you can obtain a view in all directions, and check overhead -- some mounts stop at 80-85 degrees above horizon or so; others swing up to 90 degrees and can extend beyond (good to allow for easy of tracking at those angles.)

[BoldAdventure]

Originally Posted by jcl

I agree strongly with the phrase that the best telescope is the one that gets the most use.

This makes the most sense to me. I've bought a few things in my time that where fun at first but eventually collected dust and didn't get as much use I thought they would. Want to avoid that if I buy a scope.

[Whizzo]

Longtime amateur, and astronomy club member. I carry a five inch refractor as my travel scope, which we use for both club public star parties/sidewalk astronomy at parks and campgrounds.

Getting to dark skies is easy in an Airstream!

[Gsmblue]

Originally Posted by Whizzo

I carry a five inch refractor as my travel scope,

This creased me up! Now I don't feel so bad with the 10"LX200 I just bought!!!

[BoldAdventure]

You guys need to read the book "The Martian" by Andy Weir. WOW, WOW, WOW! What a great read.

[IanPoulin]

.... And if you're a gamer, pick up Kerbal Space Program. Real rocket science, playable offline.


2011 Airstream International Serenity 28' - 30a/taupe
2013 Ford F150 v6-ecoboost with max tow and HD payload packages

[Gsmblue]

OOOOOHHHHH!!!!

Two great recommendations there! Thanks!!!

[BoldAdventure]

Originally Posted by Ahab

Televues were the one to have ten years ago. Today there are several others just as good if not better and less expensive.

Such as..... recommendations?

[Ahab]

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

Such as..... recommendations?

Williams Optics WO 71 ED.

[Stefrobrts]

I've been getting by with my Orion Plossels for years, but I would love to add some really nice wide field eyepieces. For a short time we had an astronomy shop locally where you could take your telescope on a clear night and actually try stuff out. I wish I'd been able to take more advantage of that while we had it!

GSMblue - 10"LX200 is pretty darned nice! I had one but got tired of lugging it around. If I had a permanent home for it, I would be happy to go back to one that big!

[Gsmblue]

I know, it is a lump!! Adds 100lbs to our cargo!!!

I also have a TeleVue SDF on a celesteon CGEM mount and a nice little nexstar 5, so I have most bases covered!

I have built up a hell is f a TeleVue eyepiece collection too

[tyggeln]

Originally Posted by BoldAdventure

Any astronomy buffs here? When I was a kid I used to love astronomy and looking at the nights sky. I remember one time when I went to an evening astronomy event held in Big Meadows in Shenandoah National Park, there a gentlemen had a large telescope that laid on the ground, and thru it, I saw Saturn and it's rings, clearly. Mind blown. Never forgot that.

Now that we hit the road towards full-time, it seems like the distractions are gone and looking up at the night sky tonight with my grandfathers binoculars, I was thinking I'd love to get a decent telescope for our family. Of course, space is a premium.

Anyways, just curious if any other streamers are also Astronomy buffs.

Here are my recommendations, which come from 40 years experience in the hobby, as well as 4-5 years doing astronomy outreach to the public:

1) You already have access to all the dark skies of the country which much more effective at showing objects than a big telescope. Start out with 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars (two small telescopes side by side), along with a suitable atlas/map. My phase lasted about a month. If you get hooked great. In not you can still use the binos for other pursuits.
2) If you are hooked, get some of the less expensive things that will improve your experience: warm clothes, a binocular mount, lafuma chair, good star atlas (or apps if you are iPad inclined) and red light accessories. Consider changing a couple of the interior lights to red; you are travelling with the rig and can go inside for a warm cup of coccoa without ruining your night vision
3) Join some astronomy related groups/clubs which have online presence. I am a member of the San Jose Astronomical Association. They often have great beginner programs, or can even lend you a scope (like SJAA - SJAA - San Jose Astronomical Association). Check out Cloudy Nights Home for a treasure trove of info.
4) If you decide you want to get a scope, consider an 8-inch dobsonian reflector (Orion) or Schmidt Cassegrain (Celestron, Meade) or a 3-4 inch refector (Orion, ExploreScientific or Televue). Make sure you budget 50% more for good accessories like good eyepieces which can generally be used with other scopes. If you get a refractor, make sure to budget up to 50% of the cost of the scope for a good quality mount.

If you have more questions (including my fave dark sky locations) feel free to e-mail me or start a new thread!