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Looking for a telescope / system for young kids 10 years old. It would be great if you could build upon the system as interest and knowledge improves. Willing to invest in a good system.

Hi everyone, I'm part of my universities astronomy club, I've just joined this semester, but the club is a semester or 2 older than that. Everyone in the club is very much a amatuer, and last spring or summer they had bought both telescopes and didn't really know how to use them. They were able to manually, using the controller I mean, point and view objects, but never got the tracking down.

This past observing night, I was able to get the 3 star/skyalign tracking down, was very simple. Worked very well, told it to go to jupiter and we observed that for awhile, no issues. Had it go to the pleiades, again no issues. Then, someone was messing with it, then told it to go back to the pleiades, but it decided to point straight up instead not at the pleiades. Telescope got stuck for a minute because the eyepiece was catching on the mount below it as it tried to point straight up before someone caught it.

Telescope carried on the rest of the night, but I could never get it to properly realign. I tried the skyalign, 2 star auto, 2 star, amd even solar system alignment options. Every time it would say that it aligned, and then if you had it point to a object, it would go to a random direction pretty much. Tried turning it off and on, reentered all our time data and such, but no luck.

Next time I'm with the Telescope, ill be changing out the batteries, checking to make sure the software is up to date, and going into the settings to make sure nothing got turned off or on by accident, any other tips?

Some other maybe helpful info, it was a clear night, between 30-40° f, we were on flat concrete, not many lights around. The bubble said the Telescope was level, but I'm buying a additional level and brining it next time to verify. And near the end of the night, the dew was getting outrageous and the field around us even started to fog rapidly. Not sure if any of this can contribute to the issues, but any insight would be so greatly appreciated!

Saw an 8" Skywatcher 200p Classic on facebook for 400 CAD.

Came with just the OTA, no mount
Was wondering if this was a good value.

Or is storing in shed or garage a no no??

Hello, total newbie here, so excuse my magnanimous ignorance.

My question is: if I want to observe or photograph only the moon, is it possible just to find the moon with the telescope and press the moon tracking on goto mount? Will that procedure keep the moon in sight?

I have a degree in astronomy and know how to work a telescope, but I’ve never gotten into astrophotography. The largest telescope I’ve been allowed to use on my own is the 0.9m telescope at the McDonald Observatory in TX. Where I just recently moved to has AMAZING skies and I think it’s time I get an astrophotography telescope for myself. I know people have said NexStar isn’t good for deep sky objects but is good for planets. If I want something that’s good all-around for astrophotography, what should I look at? I hope to stay under US$2,000 if I decide to go expensive.

Hi all! Big amateur astronomy aficionado with little tech experience here.

I have an Orion 150mm Go-to Reflector telescope (Starseeker IV). I don’t think they make it anymore, but here’s a video of it on youtube: https://youtu.be/Z7goOnANFZQ?si=n2JncgB8eyr7VrXW

It’s been a few years since I used it, and I have a bunch of junky miscellaneous eyepieces floating around. I’m trying to figure out what eyepiece is best for viewing the moon, Jupiter, and Saturn from eastern Long Island. Any technical specs or specific recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

10" truss dob from Explore Scientific. The shroud is homemade with fabric from hobby lobby. I built the tripod table with scraps I had in my shop, mostly deck boards and fence pickets. It brings my scope up to a comfortable standing viewing height for me. And Evinrude my cat.

Hi :)

So I'll give you some information about the star tracker that I should go and see tomorrow evening, the star adventurer gti.

here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zA-tQgqfL2lbvDWLYMaJgLQUpALD4eBS/view?usp=sharing

you can open it with this file to install on windows or other operating systems:

https://adgsoftware.com/phd2utils/

maybe you already know it if you use PHD2 as software, here is the screen you will have:

https://i.imgur.com/bw1FbE4.png

the seller says "for the backlash I have not detected any particular problem honestly, the mount is relatively new as it is just over a year old and is still under warranty" and then adds "in any case you can do any type of test and you can come if you want accompanied by some more experienced friend there is no problem"

he says he is selling it as he has just bought the zwo am5

this person has a website and is very experienced in the photographic sector in Italy, known by other astrophotographers

What else do you recommend I check on this star tracker?

Just replaced all my eyepieces, I had the svbony redlines for my first upgrades, replaced those with these, left Celestron xcell lx 25 mm then vixen slv 9mm and vixen slv 6 mm , svbony sv 216 2x Barlow, Got the Celestron for 65 dollars on AliExpress and the vixens were about 100 each in Amazon. The Barlow was about 70 dollars. . I think I did pretty good for what I spent, what do you guys think?

I was gifted the above telescope on its stock tripod. I can understand why people call these “hobby killers” as the tripod is super wobbly and the mount is flimsy. Is the OTA tube worth putting on a better mount?

(Picture for engagement)

I read through the sticky but there is just so much information that I don't understand. I don't currently and have never had a telescope and I know nothing. I want to get my daughter a nice telescope. I want something more than just a "toy" but not extremely expensive (less than $500 maybe?.) I am hoping to find someone who can give me real life advice regarding what would be good. I looked at a few of the recommended telescopes but a lot of them don't have great reviews so I don't know why they are there. Any help would be great, thanks.

Edited to add: She is interested in seeing planets, we are in the southwestern United States without too much light pollution (I have no idea how to read the map). Portability is nice but not a must-have.

The best I have found so far is Celestron – StarSense Explorer 114mm Tabletop Dobsonian Smartphone App-Enabled Telescope – Works with StarSense App to Help You Find Nebulae, Planets & More – iPhone/Android Compatible but not sure if it's appropriate.

Looking into getting my first telescope, and came across this one.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/926466273/edusnap-smallest-smart-telescope-for-visual-and-photograpy?ref=discovery&term=telescope&total_hits=121&category_id=340

Hi I'm thinking to get binoculars for my daughter (7) hopefully to build on her fledgling interest in the moon and the planets but failing that to be able to use during the daytime to look at ducks in the park and so forth. I wonder if someone would be so kind as to suggest one or two binocular models I should look at to help me get started? If be budgeting up to $200 but ideally less.

Thanks!

Hey everyone, basically a quick rundown we had our telescope out last night for some awesome views of the night sky. We have a Sky-Watcher Evo star 100ED, we've had it for a few years and have some good fun with it. It comes with 2 - 1.25" eyepieces 25mm and a 5mm and after a year of owning we purchased a Teleview 1.25" Barlow lens that gets used and I seem to find its helped alot. My question is I don't have anywhere around me that i can see what a 2" lens looks like and my mind figures since I can fit it in this scope I want to invest in one. They appear to be very expensive and I don't have any problem investing in one I just want to make sure I get the right one because they ain't cheap 😅 Can anyone recommend was going from 1.25" eyepieces to 2" worth it? I would assume so but I'd like so real opinions. Also I'm torn on what magnification to get as I've only viewed thru what we have listed and to be honest the 5mm can be kind tricky and hard to view with but assume the 2 lenses that this scope came with may not be that great of quality. Any info will greatly be appreciated.

Hi,
I'm new to telescopes and found a telescope like this for 78€. Can someone say what grade of quality could be expected with a model like this (We are aware that it could have some use marks, but just asking about the model overall)? There is an "Instru-Scope" sticker on it and looks very much like the one in the linked comment. (Yellow, short, Newtonian Tanzutsu written around the lense, not sure about lense values tho). We checked the lense once and it said Newtonian Tanzutsu, so I think it's the same lense (Unfortunately, didn't take a pic of the lense myself so not sure if the values are the same as in the comment's telescope). Thanks!

https://www.reddit.com/r/telescopes/comments/1b5ksyw/comment/l398pvp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

https://preview.redd.it/crqhquh40wzd1.jpg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=11966d4ebbdb5353637a9ea668ef9be2661cf85f

https://preview.redd.it/em04rnh40wzd1.jpg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=073103dbded50e66236e79a65445a8103ab0dee2

https://preview.redd.it/enbzmoh40wzd1.jpg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77ea55a447fb13048d5a18abfd079aa984de85b3

https://preview.redd.it/frz6goh40wzd1.jpg?width=3456&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03e05e0c2e46e7073c29ee90a39459f3ad2da820

My young kids (5.5 and 7.5yr old) wanted a telescope and rather than buy a toy from kmart, I manage to get this Astro master 70 off marketplace for $40

I have never owned a telescope (but am not completely clueless on how things work...just new to this...)

Anyways manged to get this all setup and the kids loved being able to view the moon, we also saw a star and keen to get into this hobbym

I saw on AliExpress there are some things that may or may not be worth purchasing???

Barlow lens? Etc I'm not entirely sure on what each part does or is worth upgradeable? Not even sure on the specs of what I have apart from what's on the manufacturer website but I bought used and wish it could have longer viewing capabilities.

Any help appreciated especially with worthwhilst upgrades. Links(or search term/specs) also appreciated

Hello Experts,

I'm a beginner and about to buy my first telescope. I live in Geneva, Switzerland.
And I have narrowed down the choice to the following list and any advice on which one I should get would be greatly appreciated.

- Sky-Watcher Dobson telescope N 150/750 Heritage FlexTube DOB

- BRESSER Dobson telescope N 150/750 Messier DOB

- BRESSER Telescope AC 102/600 Messier AR-102S Hexafoc Nano AZ

- BRESSER Telescope AC 90/500 Messier Nano AZ

I have always been fascinated about space but I never found a telescope that fits my criteria’s

I live in a really light polluted area so as a beginner idk what to do

Most of the good telescopes I find don’t ship to where I live (Malaysia)

Does anyone have a recommendation and a good place to buy it?