Telescope.

[IanA]

Yea, not a bike, but thought I'd ask around , you never know..

Owned this Telescope around 5 years, 8" reflector on EQ mount, around £450 new without the extras I'm selling mine with.

I'm selling it with EG alignment mini scope, 3 eye pieces, webcam, collumator, compass, moon filter field box and Philips star guide. For £250. Also have a very expensive 6mm eye piece for £50

it will have to be collected, it is large and heavy, so posting is too risky, not even sure how I'd pack it !

reason for sale, well, started cycling and spent £500 so far, and promised the wive I'd get the money back by selling the scope...haha

regards

Ian

 

[Globalti]

Tell us what kind of things an amateur could expect to see with this?

 

[IanA]

Stars !

haha, only joking, well Jupiter, very clear, Saturn too, picked out Mars. The moon is just unbelievable, I did some webcam of the moon and every time I show folks they can not believe the detail !

But it depends on the night....clear and cold are perfect, best time.....early hours of the morning, but that's if your a perfectionist and want crystal viewings.

You have to watch looking at the moon through the telescope. A full moon is very very bright and the moon filter must be used.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

With an 8" telescope at the right time of the year you will see Saturns rings, a few of Jupiters moons, some detail on Jupiter including the great spot (or whatever it is called) maybe seem details of Mars. Unbelievable views of the moon, seeing plenty of craters. Further out you should be able to see some of the messiers and with a camera attached you could get some stunning photos of galaxies etc.

these were done with an 8" scope (not mine)

http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/astro/exhibit0.html

 

[PaulRide]

That's a goodly amount of scope for the money, and on a decent stable mount as well. My avatar was taken through an 8" scope, with a humble Philips webcam.

You'd be able to see all the Messier objects - galaxies, planetary nebulae, globular and open clusters - and a good selection of other stuff from a dark site.

For photographing the fainter stuff - esp galaxies - you'd need good dark skies and, more significantly, not only motors but probably also guiding which involves computers and clever stuff like that.

 

[outlash]

No courier would insure the scope. I know this the hard way!

Tell us what kind of things an amateur could expect to see with this?

Other than the Moon, and the planets, Deep sky objects (DSO's) are largely dependent on the seeing, light pollution and the scopes' optics in good condition. Given average skies, you should still see a great deal but don't expect things like detail on galaxies and resolving cores on globular clusters. An 8" reflector is a good all-rounder IMO.

You'd be able to see all the Messier objects - galaxies, planetary nebulae, globular and open clusters - and a good selection of other stuff from a dark site.

For photographing the fainter stuff - esp galaxies - you'd need good dark skies

*cough* seeing all the messiers from the UK is impossible...

FWIW, you can easily do DSO imaging in suburban skies. Filters can cut out a huge amount of light pollution and you can even image emission nebulae in urban skies or under full moonlight with narrowband filters .


Tony.

 

[byegad]

Sadly in Eastern County Durham the light pollution makes dark skies impossible. I gave up stargazing in the 1970s as it was impossible to pick out 5th magnitude stars with the naked eye on a totally clear night. If I lived elsewhere I'd be out there most clear nights.

 

[PaulRide]

*cough* seeing all the messiers from the UK is impossible...

Tony.

I'm curious - Messier was observing from Paris, wasn't he?

 

[outlash]

I'm curious - Messier was observing from Paris, wasn't he?

He was..

 

[PaulRide]

I guess you'd be pretty lucky to see the Ptolemy cluster from the UK, as it's nearly 35 degrees south, but I've seen reports of it being viewed from Somerset. That's the only really difficult one, isn't it?

Anyway, back to this scope: has it sold yet? Would it go on the back of a cargo bike?

 

[kerndog]

Tell us what kind of things an amateur could expect to see with this?

ufo's...

 

[outlash]

I guess you'd be pretty lucky to see the Ptolemy cluster from the UK, as it's nearly 35 degrees south, but I've seen reports of it being viewed from Somerset. That's the only really difficult one, isn't it?

Paris is 48 degrees north and M7 (Ptolemy's cluster) gets something like 6 degrees above the horizon, so you'd do well to see it even from there. As we're a few degrees further north... M7 is pretty bright though (mag. 3) and I guess on a really clear, still night you may see it from the south coast but I've never heard of anyone doing the Messier marathon for that reason.


Tony.

 

[PaulRide]

The report I remember was of M7 skimming through the trees on a distant Somerset horizon, which makes sense. Makes me wonder whether I might try to complete the list one day - so far, it's the galaxies that have proved most elusive, but I have to confess to having taken advantage of holidays under dark French skies to explore the Scorpius and Sagittarius regions which are usually hidden from me in London.

 

[numbnuts]

Tell us what kind of things an amateur could expect to see with this?

Clouds lots of clouds

 

[PaulRide]

...and if you're lucky you might see an upside down radio mast.