Posted: 7/18/2009 8:38:24 AM EDT
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Anyone here into hobby astronomy? I had one as a kid (crappy one, but still cool) and last night I was out on the lake and could see all kinds of stuff in the sky you normally can't see while in the city. Jupiter was super bright. I was wondering if there are any out there that have a built in digital camera, so that I could snap a picture if I found something cool then transfer it to the computer? I'd like something fairly powerful.
I found this one at Costco, though it doesn't have any sort of photographic capabilities. link |
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I'm anxiously waiting for this to finally goddamn deliver:
https://www.galileoscope.org/gs/ |
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Stay away from dept store scopes and stay away from Galileo!
Number one rule of telescope purchasing is staying away from dpt store models. However in this case a dob is a great choice. I have a Celestron 8" dob. If you want one like that get a Celestron or an Orion. If you look at a refractor get no less than a 90mm and stay away from any GO TO electronics as they often stick those on a cheap scope to make it more expensive and appear better. Do a google search on choosing a 'scope for some tips. |
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Quoted: Stay away from dept store scopes and stay away from Galileo! Number one rule of telescope purchasing is staying away from dpt store models. Do a google search on choosing a 'scope for some tips. Look at an astronomy newsgroup or other group forum, but read-read-read before you buy. |
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I own a Celestron Newtonian, but it is rough to tote around. For the casual observer I strongly recommend the sealed tube design and ergonomics of the refractor.
If I hit it big I'd have a giant refractor. Reflectors (newtonian and dobsonian) and Catadioptrics (Maksutov or Schmidt cassegrains) give up razor sharp images by using a mirror as the primary objective lens for the cost savings. The largest observatory scopes are the same way- but not for cost reasons, for manufacture reasons. It's hard to create glass refractor objective that big and accurrate. I bought mine from Scope City in Simi Valley- a long time ago under a different name- Orion I think. |
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I've got a 10 inch Meade Schmidt Cass scope. It's fairly good, with clear images for a scope of it's type.
I would consider any small maksutov scope such as the Questar (very expensive) or the Meade copies (also quite good). Make sure that what ever you purchase used 1.25 inch eye pieces. Here are some small scopes that will work well for a beginner. http://www.meade.com/etx_premier/index.html |
| Astro photography is one of the most complex and demanding aspects of the astronomy hobby. Unless you just want to snap pics of the moon, you need a really good (read BIG) telescope and very precise clock drives, at a minimum. If all you wan to do is view deep sky objects, you can get a decent Dobsonian telescope, some eyepieces and various do-dads for $500-$800 or so. To get started in astrophotography effectively, you can at least double that figure. |
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They make camera attachments to most telescopes but they are for real cameras not point and shoots. That said I got this pic by putting my point and shoot up to the eye piece of my telescope. ETA: I had the flash on. Only why to fool the camera into taking a short enough exposure... Everyone else out there yelled at me.  Quoted: Quoted: This may be a dumb question but I'm going to ask it. Could a cheap telescope be used at the range as a spotting scope? I doubt they could resolve something that close, may be wrong though. I've used mine for that several times. Just remember right and left are flipped. |
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This may be a dumb question but I'm going to ask it. Could a cheap telescope be used at the range as a spotting scope? I have a small Bushnell refractor and I use it at the range all the time, it works fine although the image is reversed from left to right as stated above. |
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This may be a dumb question but I'm going to ask it. Could a cheap telescope be used at the range as a spotting scope? I doubt they could resolve something that close, may be wrong though. Yes. This. The Celestron C80 ED. http://www.telescopes.com/spotting-scopes/astronomy-spotting-scopes/celestronc80edrefractorotaf75.cfm If you want something for celestial as well as terrestrial viewing, this is a great way to start out. Back when I bought it I did A LOT of research on what to buy for both celestrial and terrestrial viewing as I lived high up over a valley which allowed for a fair bit of "exploring" over the countryside and all roads led me back to this scope as a way to start out. Be prepared to spend A LOT on eyepieces. I haven't played around with astronomy for awhile but if IIRC I spent around double on 3 eyepieces than I did on the price of the scope itself. Then there is the whole issue of the mount...and don't discount the value of a solid mount with fluid movement. Without it, your viewing session WILL be ruined. After all my research I learned that you are much better off spending money on a quality smaller aperature scope than you are a larger one for the same price, ESPECIALLY if you are going with a refractor. My little scope, by my experience and from what I have read, offers a lot of bang for the buck and is quite versatile too given its versatility for terrestrial viewing. I never got much into trying to track down celestrial objects, rather I liked to scan around and then later figure out what I saw. I will never forget when I found Orion, then later figured out what it was. It made it that much more beautiful. |
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Go to Orion Telescopes, scroll down and read the Telescope Learning Center stuff, including How To Choose A Telescope:
http://www.telescope.com/control/main/ Orion has scopes ranging from starters to fairly big bucks stuff. They have great customer service too. I answered a guy's questions in another recent thread, I can try to help you, if you like. I'm an amateur astronomer of about 30 years' experience. For starters, consider a 6" or 8" Dob as a first scope. That's enough aperture to keep you going for years. Budget enough to get a few eyepieces of various focal lengths beyond whatever comes with the scope, or get a decent Barlow lens, which will multiply your available focal lengths. Don't get hung up on magnification, aperture is more important. You'll find yourself using the scope more at low power than high. To answer one question, some telescopes, such as refractors and Maksutov-Cassegrains, can be used as spotting scopes at the range, with proper erecting diagonals to give a right side up view. |
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Quoted: They make camera attachments to most telescopes but they are for real cameras not point and shoots. That said I got this pic by putting my point and shoot up to the eye piece of my telescope. ETA: I had the flash on. Only why to fool the camera into taking a short enough exposure... Everyone else out there yelled at me. http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m6/FITorion/Wallpaper/MySaturnSmall.jpg Yep, that is about how Saturn looked to me in a 6 inch dob I had. |
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They make camera attachments to most telescopes but they are for real cameras not point and shoots. That said I got this pic by putting my point and shoot up to the eye piece of my telescope. ETA: I had the flash on. Only why to fool the camera into taking a short enough exposure... Everyone else out there yelled at me. http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m6/FITorion/Wallpaper/MySaturnSmall.jpg Yep, that is about how Saturn looked to me in a 6 inch dob I had. What would it take to actually see the individual rings and colors? Probably way more than I'm willing to spend.... |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: They make camera attachments to most telescopes but they are for real cameras not point and shoots. That said I got this pic by putting my point and shoot up to the eye piece of my telescope. ETA: I had the flash on. Only why to fool the camera into taking a short enough exposure... Everyone else out there yelled at me. http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m6/FITorion/Wallpaper/MySaturnSmall.jpg Yep, that is about how Saturn looked to me in a 6 inch dob I had. What would it take to actually see the individual rings and colors? Probably way more than I'm willing to spend.... You would need a personal Hubble scope for that, I would think. |
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They make camera attachments to most telescopes but they are for real cameras not point and shoots. That said I got this pic by putting my point and shoot up to the eye piece of my telescope. ETA: I had the flash on. Only why to fool the camera into taking a short enough exposure... Everyone else out there yelled at me. http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m6/FITorion/Wallpaper/MySaturnSmall.jpg Yep, that is about how Saturn looked to me in a 6 inch dob I had. What would it take to actually see the individual rings and colors? Probably way more than I'm willing to spend.... You would need a personal Hubble scope for that, I would think. A 6" reflector should show Saturn's yellow orb, and whitish rings. People can have unrealistic expectations of what they'll see when they look through a scope––colors are muted compared to professional processed images. |
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They make camera attachments to most telescopes but they are for real cameras not point and shoots. That said I got this pic by putting my point and shoot up to the eye piece of my telescope. ETA: I had the flash on. Only why to fool the camera into taking a short enough exposure... Everyone else out there yelled at me. http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m6/FITorion/Wallpaper/MySaturnSmall.jpg Yep, that is about how Saturn looked to me in a 6 inch dob I had. What would it take to actually see the individual rings and colors? Probably way more than I'm willing to spend.... You would need a personal Hubble scope for that, I would think. A 6" reflector should show Saturn's yellow orb, and whitish rings. People can have unrealistic expectations of what they'll see when they look through a scope––colors are muted compared to professional processed images. Well I have no idea WHAT to expect. 
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I have a Celestron 9.25" SCT.
I also mount a digital camera to it (Nikon CP5400 Point And Shoot). Here is a pic I took of Saturn and some of her moons... (Note: This is a composite pic using AstroStack) In no way is this pic what it looked like through the eyepiece!! This pic is a compilation of over a couple dozen pics that I then processed. A camera is able to bring out things that the eyepiece visually never will, however the eyepiece is the easiest way to see see the wonders of the universe!!! Have fun! 
Here is a pic of my telescope: 
Here is how I attach my camera: 
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I have an Orion 8 inch Dobsonian and it performs pretty well. Here's a GREAT site with lots of reviews by Ed Ting: http://www.scopereviews.com/.
AZ_Sky, those Celestron SCT 9.25 were supposed to be one of the best scopes for the money. Congrats! ARKAR |
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Nice pix and set-up above there- I always wanted a piggy-back on mine.
Hopefully I'm not showing my age here (which is still young by all regards damn it), but is that a digital camera you have attached or film? I have a Canon AE-1 program that I used to use, but that was way before digital was around. Not using film seems kinda odd- how does that work with astrophotography, sensitivity to light, and exposure time with a digital? I used to have all kinds of fun taking pictures with the scope, then running the camera into the night sky for star trails with a long exposure, hell even neighbors with pets who ran around at night made for some cool photos. Certainly all kinds of fun can be had. |
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Nice pix and set-up above there- I always wanted a piggy-back on mine. Hopefully I'm not showing my age here (which is still young by all regards damn it), but is that a digital camera you have attached or film? I have a Canon AE-1 program that I used to use, but that was way before digital was around. Not using film seems kinda odd- how does that work with astrophotography, sensitivity to light, and exposure time with a digital? I used to have all kinds of fun taking pictures with the scope, then running the camera into the night sky for star trails with a long exposure, hell even neighbors with pets who ran around at night made for some cool photos. Certainly all kinds of fun can be had. Yes that's a digital camera, it's a Nikon CP-5400 advanced point and shoot. I have it mounted to take afocal projection photos - I know that is not the best setup for proper astrophotagraphy but my Nikon D80 DSLR doesn't have mirror lockup for prime focus astrophotagraphy. Someday I'll upgrade my Nikon D80 to a more advanced Nikon that does have mirror lockup. Actually I've never tried film but I've seen some truly amazing astrophotos taken with digital cameras. |
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Tag. First time I saw saturns rings was a wow moment. Ha! I was given to me one of those cheap Walmart telescopes. I did take an astronomy course in high school (I actually was interested) but it was an easy course. Then one night I set up that "cheap" telescope and pointed it at a "star" that I just couldn't seem to focus on. I tried and tried then I sat myself down and really looked - and I thought to myself, "MY GOD THAT'S SATURN, I can see the ring"! Yup, it was a WOW moment..... |
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Stay away from dept store scopes and stay away from Galileo! Number one rule of telescope purchasing is staying away from dpt store models. Do a google search on choosing a 'scope for some tips. Look at an astronomy newsgroup or other group forum, but read-read-read before you buy. What's wrong with the Galileo for a dirt cheap telescope as a step up from binoculars? FWIW, I bought mine on the recommendation of my uncle: http://www.stsci.edu/~bond/ |
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There's a lot of reading there- pardon my laziness, long day- what do you mean by "Galileo"?
If you mean the style of how the telescopes mirrors/lenses are arranged then a Galileo would be a refractor. I think all things considered the best style for a first scope- with a solid/heavy duty equatorial mount and very solid tripod of course. There is also apparently scopes running around taking odd oculars from the posts above. ETA- stick with Celestron or Meade, then maybe Orion if they are still around IMHO. Check the link up farther in this thread that talks about purchasing advice. I have not, but I'm sure it's same as it was when I bought mine. |
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There's a lot of reading there- pardon my laziness, long day- what do you mean by "Galileo"? If you mean the style of how the telescopes mirrors/lenses are arranged then a Galileo would be a refractor. I think all things considered the best style for a first scope- with a solid/heavy duty equatorial mount and very solid tripod of course. There is also apparamtly scopes running around taking odd oculars from the posts above. ETA- stick with Celestron or Meade, then mabe Orion if they are still around IMHO. Check the link up farther in this thread thats talks about purchasing advice. I have not, but I'm sure it's same as it was when I bought mine. This is the Galileo scope-$15 dollars plus $10 shipping but takes 2-3 MONTHS to deliver-ordered mine end of April, just got it yesterday: http://www.galileoscope.org |
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Costco = Fail They put smaller eyepieces on to keep the price down. Do a lot more research before you buy. You really need to decide on what type of observations you'll be doing. No one telescope does everything well.  I agree. I use a Meade (this one) http://www.meade.com/lx90/index.html You can add an adapter to send images to your computer. |
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This is the one I currently have. I don't have a lot of room in my townhouse to store a bigger one. It works fine for my needs. |