Telescope Help

[Clairelh87]

Hi Everyone, my partner is mad on stars and galaxies etc, and he wants a telescope for his birthday but me not knowing anything about them just wanted to know what would be the best kind for him? There are af ew on E-bay on in particular that stood out is SKY-WATCHER CAT NEWTONIAN TELESCOPE 114MM FL1000 NEW the description says A NEW SKYWATCHER REFLECTOR TELESCOPE.THE TELESCOPE USES A 4.5" MIRROR 114MM AND HAS A FOCAL LENGTH OF 1000MM.IN SUPERB CONDITION WIT ALLOY TRIPOD EQUATORIAL MOUNT 25MM & 10MM 1 1/4" EYEPIECES AND A RED DOT FINDERSCOPE.A FANTASTIC TELESCOPE FOR NOVICE OR NEWCOMER AND HAS ENOUGH APATUER TO GIVE FINE DETAILED VIEWS OF MOON AND PLANETS AND BRIGHT NEBULA. As you can all appreciate i dont want to be ripped off and i dont want him to be unahppy with his gift would you be able to tell me if this sound about correct for this model, and if it would be worth the money? At the moment the id is only upto £38, but will obviousley go up. If it isnt very good could you please tell me what would be? My price range is probably 100- 150ish. Thanks.

[carlos_dfc]

Hi Claire

hope this isn't too late for you, but SkyWatcher are indeed a decent make.
Those 114mm reflectors go for around £100 to £120 if you were to buy from a dealer.
They come in two focal lengths - 1000mm, and 500mm - the focal length determines what magnification you will get when using any particular eyepiece.
Of the two - I would recommend the 500mm version if you have the choice, for two reasons...
a) The 500mm has a parabolic mirror, the 1000mm has a spherical mirror combined with a corrector lens built into the focuser. Of the two designs, the parabolic mirror gives sharper images.
b) For general use, a lower magnification, and hence, lower focal length, is better for viewing most of the popular galaxies, nebulae, clusters, etc....
(The mistake that many begnners make is to get hung up on magnification - I do most of my viewing at low-medium powers - 30x and 80x - only really push beyond that when viewing planets)
If this post has come too late - then don't worry, the 114mm /f1000mm isn't a BAD scope, it's just that the 500mm version would have been slightly better - and if you got the one on e-bay for under £100, then you got a bargain.
If you didn't get the one on e-bay, and are still looking, here's a couple of decent dealers....
And remember, in astronomy, the diameter of the objective is THE most important factor - not magnification.
Skywatcher Reflectors - First Light Optics
Skywatcher telescopes - Rother Valley Optics

[Clairelh87]

Hi Carlos

Thank you for your reply, i didnt buy the one off ebay, because i needed some feedback off someone first, i am looking into getting the Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145PM off one of the links you supplied. For only £120.00 my partner can get a good feel for these things and we can gradually get bigger and bigger. Would you defenatly recommend one of these Carlos?

Thanks again for your reply it was a big help.

Claire

[carlos_dfc]

Originally Posted by Clairelh87

For only £120.00 my partner can get a good feel for these things and we can gradually get bigger and bigger. Would you defenatly recommend one of these

Yep, I'd definitely recommend 'SkyWatcher' - 3 of my current 6 telescopes are 'Skywatcher' brand. They are probably the best balance of good quality, at a reasonable price, in the UK telescope market at the moment.
One of mine is the 150PM, which is basically just a bigger brother of the 1145PM - it's a very good scope, I use it pretty regularly.
Actually, the 1145PM was named by Sky at Night magazine a little while ago, as the 'best buy' budget starter scope.

And as for 'bigger and bigger'.....
Yep - It's known as 'aperture-fever' - and if you get hooked into the hobby, you will most certainly suffer from it

[Clairelh87]

Thank you carlos, hes birthday isnt until early may so hopefully will be able to give an update, or maybe i can get him on here to share some pics. Were would be a good place locally to wolverhampton to take him?

[carlos_dfc]

Originally Posted by Clairelh87

Where would be a good place locally to wolverhampton to take him?

Hmmm - That's a toughie
In and around Birmingham is all pretty heavily light-polluted - and looking at my light-pollution map, you are really gonna need to be heading out towards Wales to get away from the worst of the skyglow - and you may need to go quite a distance to escape it's effects.
Again, looking at a map (I don't know the 'Brum' area very well at all) I'd say to head west, beyond Bridgnorth. Nearest 'blue' area to Wolverhampton on the map (blue is good) is about halfway between Bridgnorth and Ludlow. If you can find a quiet spot somewhere beyond the A49 (Shrews to Hereford road) would be ideal.
I'm lucky, only 20 mins away from a nice dark picnic area in the North pennines

[Clairelh87]

hmmm sounds like this birthday is going to end up being a weekend away then, wales it is Thanks for your help. Be sure to keep you updated.

[k9]

Hi there, yes wales is lovely at night. Have had to practically abandon my telescope nights now due to a large hospital being expanded and with the awful new street lights its like day time at night here in the midlands. Its so lovely when I get to wales and see the sky at night again, but I've missed my nights out with the stars.
Good luck with the scope. Ive got a celeron refractor which I have loved using, but its not getting much use now. k9