Greetings all! I've been looking at buying a new scope for about a month and it will probably be another before I get the money to get it. I've considered a countless number of telescopes and I am in that position now where the information/myths are just too overwhelming. I imagine this will be quite a long post, but if anyone out there would be willing to take the time to help me out, I would really appreciate it.
I am a 3rd year college student in New Orleans, and while the skies are horribly light polluted, the city has its own advantages ;o) I am looking for a new telescope as a peaceful "get-away", as an alternative to reading, television, surfing the net, etc. My ideal observing session would be sitting behind the eyepiece of a scope, sketching planetary and brighter deep space detail, generally enjoying the view, while offering a peek to whoever is around, just to give you an idea of the type of observing I would like to do.
My budget is around $1000 complete including worthwhile acessories (although I have a bad feeling I'll find some way to justify spending a couple hundred more).
About 6 years ago, I bought a 4.5" Celestron newtonian. It served me well for a year or two until my parents didn't want it in the living room and it became a centerpiece in my room on which to put track medals, leighs, stickers, etc. This was probably a combination of mediocre images, running out of things to see from my backyard, unessesary bulk, and poor mount.
I'll have plenty of floor space/movable furniture in my room, so size isn't much of a problem, but portability certainly is. I need a scope that can be comfortably carried (with mount) down the hall and up a flight of stairs to a top-floor patio in one or two trips (much preferably one). I am willing to invest about $100 for a carrying case that can fit the entire scope or just the OTA. By the way, if anyone's interested, I've heard that golf bag cases meant to transport golf bags as luggage make great scope cases when padded with foam. An $80 case with wheels can transport a 6" refractor tube. Not a bad idea! Also, the scope needs to be easily shipped/put in storage a couple times a year. While I'm fired up now, realistically I don't see myself driving out to a dark sky site more than a couple times a year. It should also be able to handle long car drives for drives back home to NY.
I am particularly interested in detail; that is, enough detail to make a good sketch. While hunting for faint fuzzies is fun for a while, this can be done from any scope (even if the "faint fuzzy" is M57!), so its not my highest priority. I would like to see detail *within* Jupiter's cloud belts, as well as on Saturns disk and rings, give nebulas and galaxies at least some defined shape, etc. Basically, considerably more detail than my old 4.5" reflector, enough to make setting it up worth it.
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I am a 3rd year college student in New Orleans, and while the skies are horribly light polluted, the city has its own advantages ;o) I am looking for a new telescope as a peaceful "get-away", as an alternative to reading, television, surfing the net, etc. My ideal observing session would be sitting behind the eyepiece of a scope, sketching planetary and brighter deep space detail, generally enjoying the view, while offering a peek to whoever is around, just to give you an idea of the type of observing I would like to do.
My budget is around $1000 complete including worthwhile acessories (although I have a bad feeling I'll find some way to justify spending a couple hundred more).
About 6 years ago, I bought a 4.5" Celestron newtonian. It served me well for a year or two until my parents didn't want it in the living room and it became a centerpiece in my room on which to put track medals, leighs, stickers, etc. This was probably a combination of mediocre images, running out of things to see from my backyard, unessesary bulk, and poor mount.
I'll have plenty of floor space/movable furniture in my room, so size isn't much of a problem, but portability certainly is. I need a scope that can be comfortably carried (with mount) down the hall and up a flight of stairs to a top-floor patio in one or two trips (much preferably one). I am willing to invest about $100 for a carrying case that can fit the entire scope or just the OTA. By the way, if anyone's interested, I've heard that golf bag cases meant to transport golf bags as luggage make great scope cases when padded with foam. An $80 case with wheels can transport a 6" refractor tube. Not a bad idea! Also, the scope needs to be easily shipped/put in storage a couple times a year. While I'm fired up now, realistically I don't see myself driving out to a dark sky site more than a couple times a year. It should also be able to handle long car drives for drives back home to NY.
I am particularly interested in detail; that is, enough detail to make a good sketch. While hunting for faint fuzzies is fun for a while, this can be done from any scope (even if the "faint fuzzy" is M57!), so its not my highest priority. I would like to see detail *within* Jupiter's cloud belts, as well as on Saturns disk and rings, give nebulas and galaxies at least some defined shape, etc. Basically, considerably more detail than my old 4.5" reflector, enough to make setting it up worth it.
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