Anyone recommend a decent telescope? I have an urge to do a bit of amateur stargazing. Just wondering what you get for you money. I mean supposing I want to see the rings around Saturn (I was tempted...) are we talking about a couple of hundred quid, a few grand or the entire budget of NASA? Have tried googling this but it's all very technical for somebody who know very little about the subject.
-
-
Never bought one but I've toyed with the idea a few times.
The advice I had was don't bother, join a club that has a big feck off one already.
If you must have your own get the biggest motorised reflector you can afford, I could only just make out Saturns rings my mates six incher that cost about £400.Science isn't about why, it's about why not. You ask: why is so much of our science dangerous? I say: why not marry safe science if you love it so much. In fact, why not invent a special safety door that won't hit you in the butt on the way out, because you are fired. - Cave Johnson -
That's not bad advice actually. I've got a mate whose folks live in Selsey Bill & Patrick Moore is a neighbour of theirs. He has a huge f off one in his garden.Originally posted by gingerjedi View Post
I guess I want to see things fairly clearly, not just some blurred spheroid shape which if you look at hard enough you can kid yourself you can see the rings around it.Comment
-
Unless you live in an area with little or no light pollution, you are better off joining a club which has access to such a spot, and the gear to go with it. Part of the fun is learning from others who have been doing it for years.Behold the warranty -- the bold print giveth and the fine print taketh away.Comment
-
Depends if the club has any decent totty to liven things up - is 'Astronomy' likely to be a pastime for the female gender?Originally posted by Sysman View Post
If not the clubs may be full of cardigan clad anoraks and best avoided for solitude in a shed at the bottom of the garden with your pot noodle & curtain for company
Good stuff on scope buyingHow fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't thinkComment
-
A friend of mine found his now wife on a solar eclipse trip overseas a few years ago.Originally posted by Troll View Post
So it does happen.My all-time favourite Dilbert cartoon, this is: BTW, a Dumpster is a brand of skip, I think.Comment
-
-
So it's a bit like dogging then?Originally posted by Sysman View Post"See, you think I give a tulip. Wrong. In fact, while you talk, I'm thinking; How can I give less of a tulip? That's why I look interested."Comment
-
-
Got a crappy 6" reflector but fun in the winter as an alternative to a BBQ. Gluhwein and nibbles and lots of oohs and ahs at the Moon, Jupiter's moons, Saturn's rings etc.
Ever seen a satellite in daylight? Google Iridium flares.Comment
Comment