I wanna get a decent telescope have wanted one for a while. Whats a middle of the road telescope?
86′d asked:
If you can please give me the telescope shopping basics pros & cons of each type.
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If you can please give me the telescope shopping basics pros & cons of each type.
Where are some places with decent prices?
May 19th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
I always advise people, young and old, to just get a good pair of binoculars and a star chart book and a lawn chair, and get to know the stars. If you’re past that, then look at the Meade LightBridge series of dobsonian telescopes…
May 20th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
It depends on what you want to use it for. For beginners, I recommend a set of binoculars. They’re not as expensive, and work just fine for viewing objects in our own solar system, and some of them can give glimpses at double star systems, and some galaxies. Binoculars are great for lunar observing, and getting a closer look at anything you can see with your own eyes. Some binoculars are even better than telescopes. For the beginner, I highly recommend a good set of binoculars.
As for telescopes, I personally recommend Meade Dobsonians, or really any telescope with a dobsonian base. They’re not that good for astrophotography, but the astronoob isn’t going to be taking any pictures.
But before buying a telescope, visit your local astronomy club, or attend a public star party. The astronomy enthusiests are very nice, and love to share their telescopes and give opinions about them. At some astronomy clubs, they’ll even lend you telescopes at little to no cost. I go to public star parties about once every month. I’ve struck up a friendship with many of the amateur astronomers… many people think they’re loners when it comes to telescopes, but if you approach them and express your interest, they’re very nice.
Buy telescopes from a local specialized shop. Big commercial companies don’t give you the service or the expertise an astronoob needs.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I agree with the person above…. start off with a pair of binoculars. It’s a good, cost effective way of getting to know the stars and the night sky. Also join your local astronomy club… that’s what I did. They let you borrow telescopes so you can get a feel for the different types there are, you can ask the owners of the telescopes the pros and cons of the telescopes they have, and these astronomy clubs often have second hand telescopes on sale… so it’s worth looking into.