Hey, have any of you guys used a spotting scope for astronomy before, does it really do the job ?? Recount old war stories with your first spotting scope with me and let share the good old days with it.
What can i really see with my 60mm , 50x scope. ??
And newbies like me... don't really know the sky too well,,,, i use a ZIRE71 loaded with skychart and start my travelling there, i own a 8x30 bincolars but i use it for finding stuff.
And if you are a NYP student pls do contact me ! Looking foward if you are!
Spotting Scope for Astronomy
Re: Spotting Scope for Astronomy
Dude, do you know what I started with? I started with a 40x 40mm scope. If I had a 60mm scope back those days, I would be on cloud nine.Kelvin wrote:Hey, have any of you guys used a spotting scope for astronomy before, does it really do the job ?? Recount old war stories with your first spotting scope with me and let share the good old days with it.
What can i really see with my 60mm , 50x scope. ??
And newbies like me... don't really know the sky too well,,,, i use a ZIRE71 loaded with skychart and start my travelling there, i own a 8x30 bincolars but i use it for finding stuff.
And if you are a NYP student pls do contact me ! Looking foward if you are!
Your spotting scope should be a zillion times better than my cheapo, single lens 40x40mm scope. And even with my cheapo scope, I found half of the M objects.
You should have no reason why you can't use your scope for astronomy.
Only M42???? :roll:Kelvin wrote:Are exactly are M objects ?? I understand in singapore skies only M42 of the Orion are visible, i really didn't get any star clusters or milky way.
Think you need to ask around first. You can certainly see more than just M42. Just off my mind, you can certainly see things like M4, M6, M7 (nice!), M8, M11, M13 (nice!), M15 (this could be barely..good to train your eyes), M17, M18(barely again), M20 (challenging), M22, M24, M27, M28, M31 (nice!), M35, M36, M41, M45 (seven sisters), M57 (challenging), etc....Plus omega centauri, jewel box, eta carinae, etc
See...I already listed so many just off my head.
Get a good book or browse around. Surely the 60mm scope can do more than just M42.
Mr President,<--- ex-NYP student, president of the astro club from 2000-2001. Anyway I seldom contact them, but my friends still do, so I still got news of what's happening at the club. Anyway, welcome aboard Singastro, hope you will enjoy your time here and learn much stuff here.
Nice to see you onboard the singastro, well i haven;t been in the club yet, just popped a sign-up form in front of the door. I do hope i can really learn some useful skills, and maybe they can purchase a scope for me at a lower price ! heheh
Well, Best Regards Mr President.
Kelvin
- weixing
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Hi,
My advice is don't listen to them... they can do that because scope in US are a lots cheaper than here and they are generally "bigger size" than us, so they can handle bigger scope.
Small scope have their advantage too. It is more portable and you can basically bring them to anywhere at anytime...
If this is your first scope, my advice is don't get anything larger than 5 inch. Unless you got the budget, the muscle and are those "die hard" observer, anything larger than 5 inch may see more spider web on your ceiling than the stars...
Anyway, try using your spotting scope more offen and get familiar with the sky first using star charts. Remember, without the knowledge, it will be useless even you have a larger scope.
Have a nice day and happy Chinese New Year!
My advice is don't listen to them... they can do that because scope in US are a lots cheaper than here and they are generally "bigger size" than us, so they can handle bigger scope.
Small scope have their advantage too. It is more portable and you can basically bring them to anywhere at anytime...
If this is your first scope, my advice is don't get anything larger than 5 inch. Unless you got the budget, the muscle and are those "die hard" observer, anything larger than 5 inch may see more spider web on your ceiling than the stars...
Anyway, try using your spotting scope more offen and get familiar with the sky first using star charts. Remember, without the knowledge, it will be useless even you have a larger scope.
Have a nice day and happy Chinese New Year!
Yang Weixing
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance."
"The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance."