Questions from a newbie (:

[bleujos]

Hello everyone, I know the following questions are probably going to be 1. no brainer, 2. stupid, 3. answers can be found in the forum.

But I rather not sift through dated articles to search for what I need, so (:

Question 1. If I were to get a telescope, what kind would you suggest? By the way, I live on the 9th floor of a HDB building with quite a high ceiling height, which a mounted telescope should work best. Budget should be/must be <1500 depending on how much my parents will splurge o.o

I am looking for all type of planetary objects, be it any random star, galaxies or planets. So, that should narrow down the list of telescopes that I can utilise.

Question 2. I presume there are no degree available in astronomical science/astronomy in SG right? ):

One more thing, I am looking at first hand telescope, and not second hand. Thanks (:

Happy new year in advance,

Cheers,
Jos

[weixing]

Hi,
Welcome to SingAstro!!

Question 1. If I were to get a telescope, what kind would you suggest? By the way, I live on the 9th floor of a HDB building with quite a high ceiling height, which a mounted telescope should work best. Budget should be/must be <1500 depending on how much my parents will splurge o.o

I am looking for all type of planetary objects, be it any random star, galaxies or planets. So, that should narrow down the list of telescopes that I can utilise.

Hmm... please note that most GOTO (computerised) scope probably won't work if you obs from your flat as it's required to do some alignment and need a open sky. Also, the price of a GOTO scope will be higher. Anyway, you can look at the following scope for a start:
1) Sky-Watcher/Orion 5" MCT,
2) Sky-Watcher/Orion/Celestron 6" F5 Newtonian
3) Orion StarBlast 4.5 Newtonian

Question 2. I presume there are no degree available in astronomical science/astronomy in SG right? ):

Yap... I don't think there is an Astronomy degree in Singapore.

Happy shopping and good luck.

Have a nice day.

[superiorstream]

Hi,bleujos
If you are interested in just new stuff and can buy offhand a place to look for is astrobargain by Joo Beng.He is very knowledgible and also his price is very reasonable.A discussion with him can be very enlightening.
Astroscientific is also not bad but his price is a bit steep.
But in buying astrogear nowadays be very careful--LOOK OUT FOR PLASTIC PARTS-I NOTICE THAT EVEN VIXEN DO PRODUCE ALUMINIUM LEG WITH PLASTIC (eg the old 5 kg load porta) PARTS(at the hub connection end)(some even mount >10 kg wt on these leg--eg retrofitted GPD).THESE PARTS WILL INTRODUCE WIBRATION INTO YOUR SYSTEM and may be mechanically unstable at old age(well for those who say nowadays plastic are well developed and strong--put it this way --how about using plastic/polymer as the skeleton of a building-haha strong enough and lasting????.Answer is obvious right.
If you had the money reject all plastic parts telescope.Try only ALL METAL MECHANICAL PARTS TELESCOPE.My 2 cents.

[andeelym]

I second superiorstream's recommendation of astrobargains. Joo Beng is very friendly and nice to talk to. I am sure he will be more than happy to guide to in your new purchase. Even though he might not have the stock ready for your particular scope, he can always bring it in at a similar cost if you were to do it yourself, minus the hassle. Check out his pricelist at http://astrobargains.com/Price List page.htm

For astronomy degree, you can also talk to Joo Beng. If I did not recall wrongly, he is pursuing a Master in Astronomy thru distance study. Sounds very interesting but kinda taxing according to him. Just talk to him.

Have fun in astronomy!

[aquinto2416]

For question 2, there's a specialization in astrophysics for physics majors in NUS.

[bleujos]

@ andeelym - link broken ): lol thanks

@ aquinto - i see. thanks for the info

@ weixing - okay, then lets say i bring the GOTO scope out to an open field. would it be very bulky and difficult to move around?

Another question, I have no idea about what those websites say about their telescopes. So I narrow down to just one manufacturer - Celestron. Which series of the celestron telescopes are decent and good? Any idea?

[andeelym]

@ andeelym - link broken ): lol thanks

The URL has spaces, dun ask me why. Below is the whole link
http://astrobargains.com/Price List page.htm
Copy and paste it unto the browser.

or simply go: http://astrobargains.com/

[bleujos]

Okay, I finally settled on a telescope. Now I need to someone to evaluate this -Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope-

And tell me if it is worth to buy thanks

[fizzy123]

Hi Bleujos, welcome to the world of astronomy and stargazing.

Regarding the question with regards to which telescope is suitable for you, I suggest that you postpone any plans to purchase one for the time being. Instead, you should join in different obs sessions, so you can find out via first hand on issues with regards to different scope design. Such as, is it portable enough, how is the view in different designs, cost, maintenance? I was quite worried that you suggested that your first scope will be a 8 inch dobsonian. As much as I appreciated the simplistic designs, low cost per inch, easy setup and brighter images compared to SCT; I hope that you are aware of the large size of such equipment. So unless you drive, it is not easy to bring such setup to dark sites easily via MRT, Bus. This leave you with the only option of Taxis, which can be expensive overtime.

So why not settle for a used small refractor or reflector in the buy-sell section. They are cheaper, more manageable, thus they will not burn a hole in your pocket that much

[weixing]

Hi,
Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope is a good scope and should perform very well, but it's heavy and bulky... the length of the OTA (Optical Tube Assembly) is around 1.10m and fully assembly weight is around 18kg.

Remember scope look small on paper... you might think "how's big an 8" scope can be??" But it's quite big even the C8 (may be it's the smallest physical size 8" scope) is quite big physically.

If you think the size and weight is ok for you, then go ahead.

Happy shopping and good luck.

Have a nice day.