Stayed home with Nathan today, as we did't have daycare. Since I was board, I dug out my 8" Dobsonian telescope I built back in my college days. Now that we live out on an acreage away from the city lights, I'm excited to see how this baby performs.

The primary 8" mirror was pretty dusty after sitting in the basement for years and years, even though I had it covered. So, had to give it a bath in luke warm distilled watter with a few drops of dove soap, followed by a rinse of distilled/90+% isop. alchohol. After dusting/cleaning off the main tube and stand, followed by collimating the primary/secondary mirrors, this baby is all ready to go.

I've even been reading up how you can modify certain webcams as they are a CCD board, to take multiple shots, followed by stacking them togethor using some freeware, to get unbelievable stills of the moon, planets, and nearby clusters, nebulae. Will research this some more.

Curious if any of you are into gazing at the heavens, it has been many many years since I've used my light cannon.

I took an astronomy class at univeristy and like to look up once in awhile, but I do not have a telescope, not much point in the city, but my father has one out at the lake. The moon is awesome through a telescope and it is pretty interesting to see(sort of) Mars and some of the other planets when they are in range.

I've been out to the observatory in town and the one out north of town a few times over the past couple of years. I was so close to buying a big telescope a couple of years ago, but was told that I had "too many hobbies and too many toys"...

Well, Jacob and I just came in from the back yard as he has school tomorrow. Had a few clouds floating around here and there, and some light polution from nearby Des Moines and Norwalk. However, was able to get some pretty good views of Saturn and 2 moons. It was a little windy as well, so the scope was bouncing a little. Jacob was pretty excited, he could not believe we saw Saturn.

It is also very important for the mirror to get adjusted to the outside cooler temprature. We were out for about an hour, and it was much better near the end..

Goodness, I wasn't expecting the word "Dobsonian" to show up here.

I've been an amateur astronomer on and off for a long, long time now. Mostly "off" in the last year or so due to New England winter and work.

I'll be taking a short vacation in Arizona in June, and I'll be bringing my 4.5" short-focus reflector along. Really, really looking forward to that. My "big" scope is a commercial 6" dob.

Sure Randy, as I mentioned before, my undergraduate degree, which is a B.S. in Chemistry, was originally intended to be pre-astronomy, but turned into pre-law. Viewing conditions in the city aren't that great and I don't have much time, but I still observe on occasion.

I'll add that I wonder how many guys seeing the thread title will be curious why you want to try an 8" sub, but'll take a look to read how the Dobsonian sounds.

Count me in as one.

But my foray into scope-types things ends at spotting scopes for shooting sports...

Saturn is usually 821 million miles away, but through this 36x scope, it appears as if it's only 22.8 million miles away... fantastic!

Bren R.

I tried to get my kids (both girls, so maybe that explains it) into just the occassional stargazing, but I think that they were disappointed when they looked through even some larger scopes and saturn was still about the size of a dime at the most. I think that they wanted it to look like they were orbiting the planet and it filled the eye piece.

My first thought as well...

My parents have an 8" Newtonian in the garage, but the mirror badly needs re-silvering. In fact, it badly needed re-silvering when I got it, so it's never been used. Went out with my Dad's 3" Newtonian a few times, mainly to star gazing parties with people with far, far more powerful scopes. I think there was one with a 25" Newtonian, and of course about 1000 with 10-15" Schmitt-Cassegrains. I was also going to go into astrophysics, but decided molecular biology would be easier.


Oops.

The unfortunate byproduct of astronomy posters and sci-fi tv. Most people just don't get the wonder of seeing rings 800 million miles away just by using a mirror. "I can see it better than that on the internet in the comfort of my own home!" Of course these people also like Bose...




By the way, I have a 6" Newt and 8" computerized Schmidt-Cassegrain.

Hey now... I take offense by that doormat!


.... My kids will NEVER like Bose.

Astronomy is on my list of childhood interests to rekindle. However, I'm afraid it's yet another 'never be satisfied with my current equipment' hobbies.

Your telling me Murph. Just looking at what it would take to check into astrophotography raises the cost a lot.

you can't just shove a camera up to the eyepiece of any old telescope?!?!?

Sure, if you want a blurry photo of the eyepiece of any old telescope.

Astronomy forums are a lot like audio forums. About 80% of the Categories deal with equipment, and only 10-15% of the categories deal with the actual practice of the hobby (i.e., observing for astronomy, listening for audio), and the rest are miscellaneous off-topic categories.

This past Saturday, the local Astronomy club had 4 big scopes set up outside the Borders in Medic8r Mall. Mrs. Medic8r, Medic8r Jr and I enjoyed views of Saturn and the moon, and the club members seemed a nice bunch. We are thinking of going to a monthly meeting/party.

Every once in a while, Costco sells some beginner telescopes that get me thinking, but like was said above, I'm afraid of dipping into another hobby and spreading myself too thin. On the other hand, living in the Wilderness has the advantage of little light pollution...

I would not recommend getting one from Costco, ToysRus, Mall stores, etc. or any other local store. If you get serious I would purchase from Orion or Celestron. They have been around forever and great intro scopes to get your feet wet.

ps: many of these local stores will push the magnification issue as being the most important thing, oh boy this little tiny scope has 575x magnification. Bull Honky It is all about "light gathering" or Aperture.

http://www.telescope.com/control/main/

http://www.celestron.com/c2/index.php

or you can buy these and other brands from places like...

http://www.telescopes.com/

I would also read up on the pros/cons of each time of telescope - refractors, reflectors, or schmidt cassegrains.

Oh no you di'int dis Costco!

Costco.com has several telescopes for sale, including two Celestrons and one Dobsonian type. Booyeah!

Thanks for the links and encouragement.

I wouldn't get any of those scopes - I don't know about the "Galileo" dob; there are a ton of odd-brand imported dobs that are actually pretty good...but that may or may not be one of them. Actually, a quick look over at the Cloudy Nights forum suggests the Galileo dobs are vastly inferior to other dobs on the market. Avoid.

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2357927/Main/2357438

Both Meade and Celestron put out a mix of very good scopes, and borderline scopes, and some not so great cheapo scopes. Those Celestron scopes have some "red flags" on them: teensy 5x24 finderscopes (next to useless), 4mm focal length eyepiece (almost certainly useless in these scopes), spindly looking mounts that probably shake a lot.

So, I'll say it, too: DON'T buy a telescope at Costco. Just don't. Not even for a beginner's scope. ESPECIALLY not for a beginner's scope. Buy from a dedicated astronomy retailer.

Yeah John, Astronomy Week ended yesterday, but it's still not too late for you to get with the program and order up a scope! I looked at what Costco advertises and I agree with Jim: forget it. Randy supplied some good links and I'd particularly suggest that you consider the 6"Dobsonian from Orion for about $270 delivered. This is a very good buy in a quality beginning scope that's big enough to excite interest(I've heard comments that 6 inches isn't enough, but that was in a different context), but inexpensive and easily portable. If you're willing to go a lot higher(e.g. $1500-$2500), Schmidt-Cassegrains or Maksutov-Cassegrains from Orion, Celestron or Meade are excellent.

If you request the very attractive printed Orion catalog, they'll continually send it to you until you can't resist ordering.

I have a beginner scope and use every once in a while. For a beginner though, I think I'd recommend my second purchase instead. I got some binoculars, 8x50 if I recall, that are a lot easier to scan the sky with and find objects. I think that is the hardest part in the beginning, even with a book like "Turn Left at Orion" which I have.

So, I would recommend the binoculars. If you use them for a while and feel the need to get into it further, but something better than a beginner scope.

In looking at what costco has to offer, I would still purchase directly from Orion, Celestron, etc. Kinda like the good customer service/warranty you receive from Axiom.

If your looking at one of the Orion Dobs, their "GoTo" feature is awesome.

The binoculars idea is a very, very good one, I recommend that, too. It's much easier to learn your way around the sky (and sky maps) using binoculars, before going to the extra complications of a scope. With a little practice (and reasonably dark skies), it's amazing what you can see in binoculars. Sure, most things are dim little fuzzies, but that's always the case.

"Turn Left At Orion" is a terrific book, by the way. Aimed at kids, but there's nothing wrong with that.

My astronomy knowledge is at the level of a child, so it's a perfect fit!

As a casual backyard astronomer who's been through several scopes in the past decade or so, I can heartily recommend those Orion Maks (Maksutov-Cassergrain) from telescope.com to anyone looking to buy a good but inexpensive scope. They're really nice little scopes. Extremely flexible too, as they work very well as terrestrial scopes (spotting scopes) too, which is why I'd recommend them to a beginner. You can't use a dobson for anything other than astronomy. But you can use a Mak for terrestrial viewing, even as a huge telephoto lens for most cameras.

I have had an Apex 90 for several years and it's been a darn good scope. With a few good eyepieces it's great for lightweight astronomy. Think the moon, planets, comets, bright messiers, etc. It works really well as a spotting scope too, as it's small, compact and the optics don't flip the image. I have an lens adapter for my Nikon DSLR and it's awesome as a huge telephoto lens for wildlife photography. The 90mm is pretty good but if I had to do it all over again I'd get a 127 (M60 vs M80 discussion ). Lots more light-gathering (though nothing like an 8" dob).

I can even attest that Orion's tech support is good. The focuser was messed up on the first one that I received. An actual human being that spoke english picked up on the second ring to their tech support 800 number. Within 5 minutes I was talking to one of their experts. 10 minutes of troubleshooting with him deemed that it was indeed defective. Within 3 days I had a new (perfect) scope and a pre-paid return box for the bad one.

Several years ago I had a Meade ETX-70. Not the greatest optics, but it had their 'goto' system, AutoStar. It was very cool - when it worked. Yeah, you just tell it you want to see 'X' and the scope would slew into position. Slick. But setup & calibration was very touchy. You had to have everything dialed in just perfectly for it to work. I later purchased a Meade ETX-125PE scope, by far the most expensive I've ever owned at over $1k. I used it for a couple of weeks but got so frustrated with the electronics that I returned it. Great optics, but it would take me 20-30 minutes to get the system calibrated, and it would slowly 'loose it's mind' over the course of an evening's vieweing. Made the experience of stargazing frustrating, which is exactly the opposite of what it should be.

Not saying to stay away from them, just know what you're getting into. I know some of the newer goto scopes have GPS built into them and that would probably help a lot as that system ought to be able to calibrate itself more accurately.

I have a GPS goto, but I'm not really sure how much that helps. You still have to be pretty precise on your reference points to get it to lock on. In light polluted areas in can still be quite the chore, often better off just going manual. However, on those occasions when I have locked on it was golden!

On the other hand, turning those knobs on an EQ mount to find, identify, and track something can be quite rewarding.

I wasn't aware you could use those systems on a Dobsonian. As I recall, that wasn't possible about 10 years ago.

True "Goto" systems on a Dob are expensive, but Orion has a cheap "Push to" system that apparently works very well. It doesn't track or move the scope for you, rather it displays whether you need to move left, right, up, down, and when you've "locked on".

(Personally, finding things the old fashioned way is part of the joy of the hobby to me. Many people feel differently, though!)

Yup. I've never used one but I hear they're pretty cool.

8" Intelliscope

Not motorized but the system directs you on how to move the scope. The only drawback compared with the full-automatic system that the lack of motors means that it can't automatically track an object.

But it certainly makes it a heck of a lot easier to find some tricky dim object!

Sounds like it's time for an Axiom owner star party.

Here is the one I'm looking at purchasing. Orion 10" Atlas EQ-G



http://www.telescope.com/control/product...roduct_id=24735

Does it shoot missiles, too?


Seriously, that's a nice looking telescope. I remember I had a cheap one when I was a kid, but I ended up selling it so I could buy a bike. I really enjoy it when I get away from the city and I can actually see stars in the night sky.

A very nice choice. That ought to be a heck of a nice scope. If you get it, do let us fellow stargazers know how it is.

Thanks, I'll have to post a pic of my DIY Dob from back in the college days.

... hook, line, and sinker

John, seems like we have something in common; I too am a B.S. Chemist, but I'm curious about the combo of Chemistry and law. Patent lawyer for a chemical company?

Scott

Oh, like you'll ever get any info out of John.

Scott, my bio(as much of it as I reveal on the web)is: Attorney(criminal prosecution, estate planning, investments, taxation); J.D. University of Michigan; undergraduate degree B.S. in Chemistry.

I've never made any significant professional use of my chemistry degree, but as it applies here my B.S. helps me wade through the BS a lot of audio is swimming in.

A few of my favorite videos that will give you an idea of how microscopic our own solar system truely is compared to the rest of our galaxy and beyond...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jCVh07eSzB8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=h3-Wnn_yCQk

Yes Randy, billions of galaxies with billions of stars in each and possibly trillions of intelligent civilizations. The vastness and beauty of God's universe never ceases to amaze, as it has ever since I learned as a little boy that, in the words of the old science fiction novel, "The Lights in the Sky are Stars".

More lunch time browsing.

Doesn't look liek a super quality product but might be something to get you into stellar photography. No pun intended.

Digital camera eyepiece

Changed my plan and now looking at this 11" Schmidt Cassegrain setup.

oooh, purdy!

Definitely.

That's what you call astronomy porn right there.

This hobby is worse than AV, I've changed my mind again, now looking at this...basically the same optical tube assembly, just on a dual fork altazimuth mount versus a german equitorial.

Ahh, "The Rock" - no prisoner was ever proven to have escaped from Altazimuth.

Bren R.

Oh, they escaped. The question is whether they survived.

So you're saying it's the San Francisco prison? I thought he meant the Harry Potter prison, with the floaty dementor guys that symbolize depression.

You lose me on Harry Potter jokes, sorry. Just a poor man's Tolkien to me.

Bren R.

A poor man's Tolkien or a very rich woman's?