Buying a Telescope- Newbie

rlow · Post by **rlow** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:09 pm

The best book in my opinion to read about this stuff is "the backyard astronomer" revised edition by Alan Dyer and terence dickinson.

About buying a telescope, another good book to look for which primarily covers on astro-equipment would be 'Star Ware' (3rd edition) by Philip Harrington.

star.reggie · Post by **star.reggie** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 10:36 am

Where to buy a copy of Backward Astronomy? Me also newbie

yanyewkay · Post by **yanyewkay** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 10:52 am

backyard not backward..

Meng Lee · Post by **Meng Lee** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:33 pm

I bought "the backyard astronomer" from borders. S$99 ah! Thats the only book, I just take and go without looking for cheaper alternatives. Starware could possibly be found in Kino. Its a good book also, but slightly dated. Read both books and I am sorry to say that you have sunk into the deep waters of Practical Astronomy.

star.reggie · Post by **star.reggie** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:48 pm

hehehe... typo

alvinsclee · Post by **alvinsclee** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:39 pm

yanyewkay wrote:backyard not backward..

Thinking about it further... when we look at a star or a nebulae, we are actually seeing light from hundreds/thousands/millions of years ago! So... 'backward' is also good picturesque term

wucheeyiun · Post by **wucheeyiun** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:58 pm

Yes, what alvin says is something to ponder about...the star you may be looking, may have been swallowed by a black hole, and no longer there, we are just seeing an image which which take thousand of years to reach us...

And for that the reason why astronomy is so mystical and enticing...

The 2nd earth (Gliese 581 c. ) we just discovered could be different today as the image took 20 years to reach us...

yanyewkay · Post by **yanyewkay** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:17 pm

i guess 20 years is pretty quick.. terra transformations won't happen that quick.

wucheeyiun · Post by **wucheeyiun** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:31 pm

yanyewkay wrote:i guess 20 years is pretty quick.. terra transformations won't happen that quick.

and that can be true as well, but if that planet is going through the final stage of global climate change ( assume ) ...it will be a different story....

or worst off, it could be hit by an asteroid shower 20 years ago with the atmosphere completely punctured and now laid to waste...

sorry for the OT....

You should just get a mewlon and all your problem is solved....just enjoy the nice views....

btw Baskar, if you see my avatar, i took Jupiter with a mewlon 210 and i stack the video using a ccd usb camera...

you should consider getting one if you are seriously going into astronomy, as i have bought many scopes, this lasted with me the longest time....

i first started out with a bluesky scope from carfour, which hardly see the craters of the moon

then a c4r ( 4" refractor ) with is long and cumbersome, which also attract fungus, which is impossible to clean.

then a C8...which was ok, but not perfect.

then a flt 110, which lacks aperture for deep sky viewing,

and then a mewlon 210 which i bought from markus ludds...which i must say it is the best scope that i have had, although i would like to upgrade to m300...

looking back , i should just get a mewlon 210 and save all the time of finding the right scope...

river · Post by **river** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 7:10 pm

you need toys to grow up... it will be very diffrent experience if you just get the mewlon when you start the hobby. You saved some buck but miss the "childhood" of astronomy.

Sure.. I know there are "express class".. this is just my personal view on entry scope.