What kind of telescope do I need to get to see the LCROSS impact the moon on Friday, October 9, 2009?
TLC asked:
I want to by boyfriend a telescope to see this but I have no idea what to look for and don’t want to spend too much money. Any suggestions???
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I want to by boyfriend a telescope to see this but I have no idea what to look for and don’t want to spend too much money. Any suggestions???
September 29th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
You will need a scope of from 10-12 inches of aperture. Bullseye
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:07 am
Telescopes are not bought based on events like this. This is a bad idea based on the “I don’t want to spend too much money” phrase.
Most observatories are having public events to watch it. I will be traveling an hour and a half away to go watch it at a college observatory. They are selling tickets for $8 to see a light presentation on it, then see the event, then breakfast afterwords. Check around you and take him to the event instead.
Telescopes are bought based on the eyeballs of the owner, strength, transport limitations, and lastly on a budget.
★ I would like to suggest that you join a local astronomy club or astronomical society BEFORE you spend your money on a scope. There are many different kinds of scopes and what is perfect for one person is not perfect for another. Everyone has their own set of eyeballs and no two are the same. If you join a club, you can attend a few of their star parties and try out members scopes to see what works best for YOU, before you buy a scope. The members can also help you when you get your scope and show you how to get the most out of your new scope as well as to help teach you where the treasures in the sky are located. Most clubs have loaner scopes and extensive libraries that you can gather more information from too. Most clubs will have monthly membership meetings with informative presentations given by members and by guest speakers. You can really learn a lot from these clubs and an added plus is all the great new friends you make there too. Go to this site to find a club in your area.
This only has clubs that belong to the National Astronomy League, so there are many more which do not appear on this list. Continue searching google if you don’t see one in your area here.
There are several different kinds of telescopes and all of them have some excellent features. Refractors and Reflectors, plus Schmidt-Cassegrain, APO refractors, Mac-Cass, and many more. There are also several mounts to chose from and the mounts are just as important, if not even more important, than the scope is. All of the different scopes and mounts have some features that some people like and do not like.
★ No two eyeballs are the same and the perfect scope for one person might be completely wrong for another person. ★
There is no one scope that is “better” than another —except for the junk scopes out there which are all just a waste of money. Never, ever buy from Walmart, Costco, Target, or any other discount store like that. Junk scopes are flooded into the market from those stores. You will be buying nothing but bad optics and plastic.
★ If you are new at this, then stay away from anything used from ANY site. If you don’t know what you are buying and who you are buying from you will most likely be getting someone else’s headache—with no warranty either. Some great deals on used equipment are out there, by people who know how to use and take care of scopes, but if you don’t know what you are doing, you might be spending a lot of money on worthless junk. One improper cleaning can destroy a scope. Buyer Beware. B.
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:55 pm
There are many locations where the public is invited to enjoy a view in person at 430AM PDT on the west coast USA. Look on line for those and any live web casts (NASA?).
People in eastern states of US may not be able to see it because of bright sky.
Visit an astronomy club outing. Search for clubs at. My club, the SDAA, will admit up to 300 people at its desert observing station with many telescopes.
Any telescope size of 8 to 10 inches or larger at 50-100x will be fine. Those cost about $800 to $4000 for various types. Dobsonians are the least expensive, and computerized SCTs are the most expensive in those sizes. Celestron, Meade, Orion, Parks, Sky-watcher and Vixen sell many types of them. starryskyn
October 6th, 2009 at 8:43 am
While there are many good reasons to buy a telescope, this is not one of them. We have no idea in advance whether it will even be visible, and if it is, it will be visible for only a few seconds. It will require a telescope of at least 10 inches aperture, which is a pretty big investment (at least $500) for something which may or may not even be visible.
A better approach is to first learn more about astronomy and telescopes in general, through reading books like NightWatch and by joining your local astronomy club.
Here are a few web pages with good information on beginner’s telescopes:
For more advanced information, read Phil Harrington’s Star Ware, 4th edition (Wiley).
You’ll get the greatest value for your money with a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:
Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, either locally or online; don’t buy from department stores, discount stores or eBay as mostly what they sell is junk. Find your local astronomy club and try out different telescopes at one of their star parties:
I strongly recommend that beginners steer clear of astrophotography until they have learned their way around the sky. Astrophotography is by far the most expensive and difficult area of amateur astronomy.
Many people who buy telescopes have no idea how to find interesting things to observe. A good introduction to finding things is NightWatch by Terence Dickinson (Firefly). A more advanced book is Star Watch by Phil Harrington (Wiley). Geoff G
October 7th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
All the answers above are right on track,here is some more info on LCROSS-
The impact will be in a small unnamed crater on the rim of Cabeus A,the crater is Only19 km in diameter which will make it hard to locate and view without some practice.
Your best bet is to watch on nasa.com
Wally wallyrush
October 11th, 2009 at 1:17 am
You definitely need on 10″ or greater See the links below for a sampl of decent scopes.
BTW, you might just contact your local astronomy club and see if they’re going to be observing the impact. Maybe, you could save a few bucks by getting one of them to let you observe with them. Plus that would also give you a chance to get in with some local astronomers could help you with a future scope purchase. digquickly