THE BORE
General => The Superdeep Borehole => Topic started by: Howard Alan Treesong on November 03, 2008, 08:09:09 PM
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I'm thinking of getting a telescope and going camping and looking at the stars, mang
does anyone know anything about anything about that
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Download this:
http://www.stellarium.org/
Useful so you know what you'll be looking at.
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Would a special lady be attending :-*
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"special lady" is an oxymoron; all women are whores
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I took an astronomy class once. Hope that helps.
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Astrophotography is cool too
Looking at the stars :-[
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If you're buying a telescope, get the biggest aperture you can. The more light you get in, the more you'll see.
Magnification is not as important, and certainly something like 300x or 400x is utterly pointless. The more magnification, the dimmer the image, and at 300x through a little 3" aperture telescope you won't see much. Something like 50x is actually useful.
For example, I'd much rather have a pair of 12x 50mm binoculars than a 200x 50mm telescope. With twice the light-gathering capability, you'll see heaps more with the binoculars even though they are lower magnification.
I'd try to get a reflector telescope rather than a refractor, because you'll generally be able to get a much bigger aperture in a reflector. Something like a 4" or 6" reflector would be excellent as a first telescope.
That the sort of info you're after?
Oh, and stellarium is indeed awesome.
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I'm thinking of getting a telescope and going camping and looking at the stars, mang
does anyone know anything about anything about that
I know how to camp... you trying to kick it with a dude?
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thanks, that is very useful Bildi
another thing - I have to wear glasses which makes some telescope eyepieces a great bear to use. is there anything I should look for when choosing an eyepiece type?
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also, how do I determine aperture?
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aperture science... we do what we must, because, we can
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thanks, that is very useful Bildi
another thing - I have to wear glasses which makes some telescope eyepieces a great bear to use. is there anything I should look for when choosing an eyepiece type?
I think they make cups that will accommodate glasses (shape wise). That and I think good eyepieces should have diopters which will compensate for people who need glasses (my DSLR camera has this for the viewfinder, I'm farsighted).
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Aperture refers to the diameter of the tube at the light-gathering end (the big end), and will be clearly stated, such as four inches, or 60mm or something. If it's not stated, you could measure it easily.
Some eyepieces are made to have a longer eye relief so when you view them from a distance, you still see 100% of the frame. Radian eyepieces are good for people with glasses I understand, a couple of links:
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=513
http://www.telescopes.com/telescope-accessories/eyepieces/televueradianeyepiece114inch.cfm
There are probably others too.