Posts Made By: Victor Kennedy

There's lots of good advice here. I agree, the best bang for the buck is a 6" dob. However, small refractors, in my opinion, aren't useless. I currently have a Stellarvue AT1010, which gives great widefield views, and a C8, which gives higher magnification, narrower views. I use the AT much more. It's small and easy to get around.

Before I got the AT I had a Celestron Firstscope 70 AZ (alt-az mount). You can get the EQ model from Anacortes for $175. Its optics were almost, but not quite as, good as the AT's. With it I could observe the Moon, planets, and most, but not all, of the Messier objects. With a Baader solar filter (under $50) you can observe sunspots.

I have a friend who knows the sky far better than I do, and he learned it with a pair of binoculars; he got his first telescope (an 8" Newtonian) only very recently.

How about a nice summer holiday? Millions of Europeans flock to the beaches around the Mediterranean and the Adriatic in the summer, but not so many go to the mountains. Here in Slovenia there's a beautiful park called Triglav National Park, where the sky is as dark as anywhere I've ever been, and hotels are very inexpensive compared to the rest of Europe. You can also try camping, but after the parks of northern Ontario, I find the campgrounds here not to my taste.

You might not want to lug a big 12" scope all the way, but if you have something nice and portable, you can get a great view of the planets and constellations such as Sagittarius from here.

Oh what the heck--why not take in the beach while you're at it?

Josh, there is a Stellarvue group over at Yahoo:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stellarvue/

where you can get lots of advice and enthusiasm about these scopes.

I have an AT1010, and agree with everything Steve says. It's well-made, light, and very portable. I can add, that if you take it to a dark site, you can see all the Messier objects, and plenty of NGC's too.

I also have a C8, and here's the comparison: the Stellarvue gives a wider field of view, so it's easier to find objects. It also gives a better view of bright, extended objects. You can frame several obects, such as the double cluster, or M81 and M82, in the same field of view. The C8, on the other hand, has more light grasp, and its longer focal ratio gives higher magnification. It shows more detail in planets, globular clusters, and galaxies.

I was at a star party last Wednesday night (actually an open house at my university's observatory), and had my Stellarvue set up beside a Meade LX200 8". It was in a pretty light polluted location, so we were limited to the Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter. (I did point the AT to M13 at one point).

The Meade was showing a larger image of the planets, therefore more detail. The cloud bands of Jupiter were more distinct in the Meade, but it couldn't do one thing the AT did: display Jupiter and M44 in the same field of view. Many people came by, and many people were more impressed with the view through the AT than through the Meade.

At a dark sky location, and for an experienced observer, the larger scope has the advantage, because you can see more detail. When I look at M13 through the AT, I can see a round, fuzzy blob, with a hint of resolution of individual stars, but when I look at the same object through my C8, I see thousands of stars.

Each scope has its advantages and disadvantages, but I'm glad I started with the wide-field Stellarvue. It's easier to find things with it than with a longer-focal ratio scope, especially at a bright location, but you can still see lots of faint objects at a good dark-sky location. I use the SV much more than the C8 when I'm observing from home (apartment, center of town), because the image is more stable. The larger scope is more sensitive to atmospheric distortion, so while the Moon or Jupiter might be boiling in the eyepiece of the C8, the image is more stable in the SV.

Most people will tell you you need two scopes anyway; I'd recommend getting the small refractor first. I'd also recommend getting a decent alt-az mount for it rather than an equatorial, which is bulkier, heavier, and a pain to learn to use. Get the eq later.

Also, get a solar filter. I have a Baader film filter for the AT (you can find one on Astromart for about $50). You'll double the amount of observing you can do, be able to work on your tan at the same time :-), and be ready for next year's transit of Venus.

Sorry to disagree with Steve and Joe, but I think Anthony should invest just a little more money: in a good star chart, a red flashlight, an adjustable observing chair, a subscription to Sky & Telescope or Astronomy magazine, and some software like Starry Nights or the free Cartes du Ciel.

http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/

I wouldn't return the Nextstar 5, though. I had a C5 a long time ago, and a C8 now, and they're good scopes. If you decide in the future you need another scope, say a widefield refractor or a big light bucket, you will probably want to keep the N5 as well.

Well, I deflected the wrath of She Who Must Be Obeyed with a trip to Venice after I bought myself a Stellarvue AT1010 OTA; I'm now considering buying myself a GP-DX, and I think maybe two weeks on the Isle of Skye will provide a suitable diversion.

(the crucial thing to remember is NOT to take the scope on such a trip, so that the Goddess has time to forget the reason for the bribe; otherwise, the sacrifice is wasted).

Check this out:

http://www.william-optics.com/accessory/2inchsct.htm

Nagler eyepieces are too expensive for me, but

man's reach should exceed his grasp
or what's a heaven for?
(Browning - Andrea del Sarto)

It's Bill Gates who is sucking us dry.

Hi William. I took a C8 (OTA only) in a carrying bag on Air France and Lufthansa as carry-on luggage. I don't think anything bigger would fit.

If you can't find it with that lot, a Telrad ain't gonna help :-)

If you haven't got a name for your scope, may I suggest "Argus"?

I bought some Tak eyepieces and the seller included some winged rubber eyeguards that really help cut down stray light. You may be able to get some to fit your eyepieces at a scope shop.

I usually cup my hand over the other eye, but some people swear by an eyepatch for blocking light from the unused eye.