[Chaos-l] Question about telescope

[Ned Light]

Hi Michelle,

You have received lots of excellent advice, but I would like to know how old
is your son?  Is he old enough to help move around a potentially heavy
telescope?  An eight inch dob stands about 52" tall at the zenith, the eye
piece will be a little lower.  If he is young, you might need a chair to
help him.  If you are tall, you will want one to avoid hunching over.
Also, where will you observe?   Is it heavily light polluted with street
lights and/or neighbors' lighting?  I find that a light weight portable
telescope gets much more use than a larger one.  It is very easy to get
caught up in aperture fever, but a small telescope in a dark location will
show you much more than a large one from heavily light polluted skies.
 Also, the best telescope is always the one you use the most.  I live in
Durham, my neighbor's garage light shines right in the only area I have
clearance from trees to observe, plus there is a street light about 60 yards
away.  My four inch telescope shows me the rings of Saturn plus several
moons, the moons of Jupiter plus the great red spot, the phases of Venus,
our moon, many cool nebulae, clusters and galaxies.  I rarely pull out my
eight inch any more.  If you are new to the hobby and trying to save money,
I would give very serious consideration to the Orion XT6.  Combined with
some maps and a good intro book you will be happy for several years.  If the
two of you stick with it, than you can start to acquire larger apertures,
better eyepieces, other mounts, telescopes and cameras.  Also, keep in mind
none of the telescopes mentioned will show anything like the pictures you
see on the web or in books.

Sincerely,

Ned Light

On Mon, May 23, 2011 at 10:51 AM, michelle s <shellytex1 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi, my son and I want to buy our first telescope. We want easy to use but a
> good quality one that won't break the bank, and we won't want to replace
> after a few months. From what I've been reading on the internet, the Orion
> skyquest xt8 looks like a great one. Can anyone give us advice about it? Is
> it worth getting this one over the xt6, or is there an entirely different
> one that is preferable?
> He is anxious for me to order one NOW, so pls advise. Also, I'd prefer to
> purchase used, as they are pretty pricey new. No idea where to find one
> used.
> Thanks,
> Michelle
>
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