Hi Everyone! Can anyone answer some questions for me?

[Razsky]

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for letting me into this community. I am 19 this year and has always been interested in Astronomy. I am currently planning to buy a telescope. However, i have quite a few qns and was wondering if anyone can help me with it.

1) Is there alot of difference in the amount of stuff that i can see between a 3" and 5" telescope? How big a difference?

2) I am told that a 3" refractor will give me pleasant views of deep sky objects like the Orion nebula. Is it true?

3) In a 3" using a magnification of 90x, how big will saturn be? A dot? the size of the moon?

4) In a 3", can i see saturn in colour?

5) In a 3", can i see nebulae in colour?

6) I am very interested in deep space objects like nebula and galaxies. What kind of telescope should i get? How much will i need to spend?

That's all for now. Sorry if i asked too much but really hope someone can help out! THANKS! AND PLEASE, CLEAR SKIES!!

[Meng Lee]

Hi, I hope I can help here:

1) The darker the sky, the larger the difference. Optical quality plays a big part here also. Nonetheless, a well made 5" will show you more than a well made 3".

2) The darker the sky, the more pleasant the views for any aperture. Magnification also plays a part, and contrast. A 3" refractor with good contrast will show you decent views, but the price is steep.

3) Hard to describe the size without using technical words. At 90x, Saturn will be visible as a small ball with very obvious rings.

4) You can see colour in Saturn in any aperture.

5) In 3", seeing nebulae in colour is impossible. For the brightest nebulae, to see a slightest hint of colour, you may need roughly a 10".

6) To see very good details in nebulae and galaxies, you need at least 8" and dark skies. If in Singapore, then you may need 10"-14" to do that. Don't ask about the price. Different scopes serve different purposes, think clearly what you want then discuss about the price.

All are my own opinions.

[Razsky]

Thanks for the quick reply. You sure did clear up a alot of stuff for me. What i really want to achieve is to take nice astro photos. But that will come at quite a while later when i learn more about the sky. I am a beginner with a tight budget. I have been using a small binoculars i bought in pri sch till now. A 10*25 china made binoculars that give blur images . I just need a telescope that can allow me to get a better view of stuff like star clusters and planets. Someone recommended the Celestron Firstscope 80 EQ Refractor. At around $700+, do you think it is a good bargin?

[Meng Lee]

Yes, nice astrophotos that you see in magazines are certainly alluring. But that will come after much planning and much captial input (at least 4k), and also how hardcore you are after finding out more.

That scope is nice, but don't buy it. The mount is shaky, the aperture is too small, the achro nature of the lens does not let you pump up enough magnification for planets, i can say for Mars, you hardly can see much with that scope at all.

Look for nice packages in the "Buy and Sell" section. I think a C5 + a Porta mount or Mak 127 + a Porta mount is a good beginner package, although it will exceed $700 a bit, but you will enjoy much more with them.

[Razsky]

Thanks for that reply man. I almost bought it in excitement. Lucky me. I saw a few scope in the buy and sell forum.

1) Celestron 8" F5 Parabolic Newtonian OTA

2) Celestron C90 Mak

I am no sure if they are still selling it. But do you think these scopes are good enuff a beginner? Or more importantly, will a beginner able to handle it? Its so much cheaper.

[MooEy]

hunt ard 2nd handed market. often u see the manfrotto 055/190 + 410 gear head going for 300 range. 5" mak often turn up for 500 to 700 range. grab a simple 20-30mm plossl, a 7x50 finder or red dot finder and maybe a 1.25" diagonal. easily under 1k range.

~MooEy~

[MooEy]

the c90 mak is prolly not bad, although u might find it a little small on the aperture side. the 8" f/5 is a pretty big scope. better plan on how to move it out, and the mount required for it. of course, if ur budget allows, there's a pretty nice c5 with goto mount for 1.2k.

~MooEy~

[Meng Lee]

Yah, Mak 90 is too small. 8" Newtonian is not easily handled, and needs a solid mount, and the mount will cost around $600 at least.

The ideal case is the 5SE telescope. See if your budget allows.

[Razsky]

You guys rock man. so many answers in such a short time. Thanks alot. Well, for me, i really just wanna keep it under $500. can i get anything with that, or with you experience. rather i not get anything and save up tilll i can get a 5SE? and boy does a 5SE look good!

[JJLoke]

Hi Rasky, I used my first second-hand Willam Optics 3" Refractor for almost a year, like you, Im interested in astrophotography too.

Well, the budget is the limit. So far for my 3", I have only invested in a 2" dielectric diagonal. I want to maximise the use of what the 3" can do before moving on to bigger scope.

A small often used scope is better than a large chucked-away-in-the-corner scope. Using my trusty scope, I can find objects in the sky quite easily now.

As for astrophotography, Im learning Afocal myself. Play around with exposure and iso before going on to DSLR

Everything has a learning curve, dun jump into big things without experience, give yourself a little more time !