SingAstro

hi all !

i hate exams.
anyway, thats not the point.

I duno, but i think the link below shed hell lot of light on several terms which i used i find really really alien (pun alert), no more now -)

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=ss&id=9

star.reggie, do give it a read, quite useful. at least i know what a Mak-cass is now -)

And no, not that zentan from Clubsnap -p

oh one question... i think it might sound silly... but... can someone give me a rough guide like..... what len size can see up to which planet and stuff ?

eg. like... 4" can see up to moon...
6" can see up to Jupiter....8" up to pluto blablablabla.....

wucheeyiun, maybe u can advice me on this ? cos i duwan a scope to jus see the moon.... -.-'

and oh, where do i find the Singastro viewing session schedule? my exam's ending 4th may... i would like to join the view session asap if i could... thanks!!

zen

what lens size can see what thing?

Hmmm, the rough guide is an aperture lets you calculate a theoretical limiting magnitude and then you compare with the magnitude of the object and maybe it can be seen.

But due to light pollution, the above rule work quite ok for planets. but for nice nebula views, at least 4" is needed to a "white patch" 10" and above to see lots of details.

Sharpness and details on planets corresponds to what kind of scope is for another topic. hehe.

ahh.. hmm..... ok ... frankly, dun realli understand -.- keke.

nvm i'll be meeting u sometime nxt fri yeah? hope to learn from u more den -)

ps: will call u sometime near fri -)

looking back...if i will have to start again,

i would just get a c5 or c8 for about $ 500 - $900 ( best value dollar per aperture ) , with a vixen gpe mount for another $800, start looking for weixing, or remus and the host of others, to start up an ob session, as they are the nice guys to be with.

you can learn to collimate your scope....enjoy playing with them.

after a few "WOW" session....you can upgrade to a better scope ie mewlon...after a year or so...if you are bitten by the bug.

i am sure others can share their experience in their journey in astronomy too...

Hi zentan, welcome to our community

For your question, i'd like to just say.. a 5inch scope will suffice to see most things in the night sky. I've been with my 5inch Mak-Cass for 3+ years already and i'm still enjoying a lot of things. You'll be able to see most planets (probably even pluto if you try in Mersing? Someone correct me if i'm wrong.. never tested.), star clusters (both open and globular clusters), some nebulae, and most of the bright galaxies. I haven't finished exploring even the common ones that my scope can see yet..

If you're mostly going to do observation in Singapore, and you don't have a car, you will want your scope to be portable, and i think 5inch cassegrains are the most portable and bang-for-buck scopes now. Unless you want to join manhunt or the muscleman challenge, then you can consider buying an 8inch scope to train up

Singastro does not have any viewing session schedule. Most sessions are planned and posted on the Observations sub-forum a few days before the session, so do check back often for updates. depending on where you live, there are a few ob groups out there that do regular sessions.

Hi, zentan,

Ya, I will be meeting you next friday. And next friday, I will be giving a demo session on webcam planetary imaging to the NUS astro club then I will let you try out the Mak 90. Is it ok? Do join me for the demo session at 7pm. sms me for details.

Meng Lee wrote:Hi, zentan,

Ya, I will be meeting you next friday. And next friday, I will be giving a demo session on webcam planetary imaging to the NUS astro club then I will let you try out the Mak 90. Is it ok? Do join me for the demo session at 7pm. sms me for details.

You guys meeting up on fri? At the same rooftop? Can I join in? :oops:

Zentan,

The best is to join NUS astro or some other Singastro observation (which usually are posted) to have a first hand look through a telescope. There is no need to rush to get a telescope. Operating and choosing what to buy is very complicated.

zentan
agree with Zong that the C5 would give the best bang for buck and a good balance between aperture and portability. The C6 would have been even better. This will suppress your aperture fever until its time to upgrade again!

btw, I get alot of questions from friends and colleagues asking me "how far can your telescope see". This is similar to your question "what lens size can see what planet" ? The answer is all telescopes and lenses can see FOREVER!

All scopes no matter how small will invariably pick up at least a photon or 2 from objects at the edge of the universe but of course, your retina would not be able to interprete them as "objects" nor can they detect it. You just need to increase the numbers and that is where size of scope and duration of exposure comes in.

As a general rule, magnification of scope = Focal Length of Telescope divided by focal length of eyepiece. x50 to x100 would allow you to see many wonderful objects. Some telescopes are built better as are some eyepieces. Apart from magnification, the size of the aperture is also important. Naturally, the larger your net, the more fish you will catch. same principle here.

Frankly speaking. Even the C5 is very unimpressive in Singapore for a seasoned astronomer. They will do well at Mersing under dark skies of course. To get that omph in singapore, I personally feel an 8" is a minimum.....but fo portability, a C5 or C6 is probably a good compromise.

cheers

hi all, exam's over finally.

thanks for all the replies.

yeah, no hurry. tmr i will be meeting menglee to demo the mak90.

and oh, do have a car ,i can get my hand on it, but i think portability does matter to me. a good scope is one that i will use often, i suppose.

exciting stuff, will be my first time looking thru a proper scope, other den the bino at home which i use it to look at gals =p

will drop some virgin exp after tmr =)

thanks