HN Explorer

Ask HN: Which Telescope Should I Buy?

25 points by tzury ↗ HN
Assuming there is a bunch of telescope owners in our community, from professionals experts to amateur astronomers I wanted to get your advice on which one should I start with.

A complete beginner, who want to start observing the galaxies and stars.

15 comments

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JPLeRouzic
The websites like Sky & telescope will tell you something quite true: Invest in something that you will really use:

This because there is an insane arm race to the most sophisticated telescope.

Also what is important is the diameter, something between 9cm and 13 cm (5 inches) is enough. Use a GOTO system. Try to have something easy to move by you (especially in the dark). Electronic eyepieces that help to share images are interesting.

Going to a place where there is a dark sky is helpful.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-equipment/types-of-...

CaptainRefsmat
I would caution complete beginners from buying a telescope, because learning to set up and use a telescope might be too frustrating. I would recommend instead starting with a good pair of binoculars (mine are Nikon Action Extreme 10x50), which are powerful enough for you to find Messier objects. Searching for Messier objects will teach you how to identify constellations, read star maps, and how to scan the sky for faint objects. Learning the night sky will go a long ways toward teaching you how to set up and use a telescope.
Nomentatus
Seconded (and look for Jupiter's moons first, because you can see those even in daylight). https://www.space.com/36733-jupiter-and-moons-mobile-astrono...

Great advice to start with binoculars because you may find that actually seeing things through a lens isn't magical compared to TV images or internet images of the same thing; or discover that seeing Saturn once fer real is enough. Plus you may find it gets cold at night. I did.

TheOtherHobbes
I would caution anyone from buying a telescope unless they're planning to use it for astrophotography.

The sad truth is that we're so used to stunning Hubble images that looking through a real eyepiece can be disappointing, even with an expensive and powerful instrument. Affordable instruments are even less satisfying. (I'm basing on that on occasional access to a 20 inch Dobsonian, which is far more powerful than most scopes, but still rather meh visually.)

There's some pleasure to be had in finding your way around the sky, but for impressive images with some wow factor, astrophotography is much more rewarding - but will roughly double the outlay.

Location also matters. If you're in a big city, even the best optics will be wasted, and if you want to buy a portable scope you can take out to good locations, there's the inevitable trade-off between performance and portability.

The ideal is a rural location with minimal smog and light pollution and good weather, where you can set up permanently. Then a good scope can be worth it.

I don't want to seem downbeat, but I went through this a few years ago. If you're in the UK like I am, where we're very lucky to get 50 cloud-free nights a year, it became obvious that the practical limits of weather and location mean that the expense of a good scope is very hard to justify.

brudgers
It will also go a long way toward determining if a person is actually interested in going out at night and looking at celestial objects enough to warrant buying a telescope...I bought one about thirty years ago and sold it about twenty without much use. I've got one sitting in a closet now that was bought about fifteen years ago and given to my child about ten years ago...and after fooling with it a couple of times back then, it's been sitting in a closet ever since. My limit seems to be about a full moon.
bradgessler
Anybody have recommendations or resources for intermediate amateur astronomers looking to buy a telescope on a budget between $500-$1000? Ideally it would evaluate refractor, reflector, and catadioptric scopes that are reasonably portable. Assume this archetype has mastered solar system observations, knows how to find their way around the sky with an equatorial mount, and is interested in more deep-sky observations.

I’ve looked at an 8 inch Schmidt–Cassegrain scope and the thing is a beast. Would like to know if anybody has a 6 inch they’re happy with and could recommend.

arey_abhishek
Do you intend to travel with the telescope or install it in your backyard? Do you want to use it for photography? Knowing this will help me in suggesting a telescope.

Avoid refractive ones and go for the newtonian reflector ones or catadioptric ones to see objects in better color. You'll also get more bang for your buck in terms of power.

A telescope with an equatorial stand is better than an alt-azimuth stand because you won't struggle to track objects. But an equatorial stand is heavier and difficult to set up.

A telescope with an automated GOTO is pricier, but you might end up using it a lot more because it'll save you hours that it takes to sometimes find and track an object. Good luck!

disago
You may want to take a look at eVscope: 100x ($1600 USD - Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/evscope-100x-more-powerfu...).

It promises a enhanced vision technology allowing beautiful images even inside the city and also the ability to connect to a mesh of telescopes around the globe participating in scientific research from SETI institute, allowing it to be controlled remotely by the object under investigation.

slowmotarget
There's a French company named Vaonis, they're releasing Stellina, a smart telescope ("smart" in a sense that it is interactive and works with a mobile app).

It's on sale at the MoMa design store for the time being : https://store.moma.org/tech/home-electronics/vaonis-stellina...

perilunar
It's a $3000 telescope you can't even look through.

Great idea if you want to look at pictures on an iPhone. Not so good if you actually want to look directly at the stars.

It's also not very good value: you can get a computerised scope with a much bigger aperture for much less.

slowmotarget
Looking directly at the stars will only show you white dots. Astrophotography requires long time exposures to reveal the colors and details of outer solar system objects. That's what Stellina is for :-)