Amateur Astronomy for Beginners: Basic Review of Mounts
Amateur Astronomy for Beginners: Basic Review of Mounts
Last Updated on Sunday, 11 July 2010 01:24 Written by Administrator Sunday, 11 July 2010 01:24
A brief discusion of telescope mounts: Alt-Azmuth, equatorial, and dobsonian. Also answering a question about moon phases sent to me by email.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
@heresatissue i would recomend a ETX 80at bb backpack observatory its a nicee telescope
For beginners I typicaly recommend a minimum diameter 4 inch reflector or 80-90mm refractor. Preferably a dobsonian over refractors and anything else equatorialy mounted.
Hey I subscribed to your channel, I don’t do that often. I am getting a telescope for christmas and I haven’t came to a decision yet. All I have now is a pair of WW2 binoculars to look at the moon with. My budget is 250-300 dollars and I will be transporting it often to the beach near my house. I would like to know what you would recommend me looking into and researching further to come to a decision! cool videos, I will stay posted.
Can you email me the model of your telelescope? I believe my email address can be found at the end of any of my videos. I’ll do my best to help you out.
Hi dear, I was wondering if you could help me with sth. My husband has always loved to watch the sky and for a long time wanted to get a telecope. Well, he did get a reflector one two days ago and for some reason we cannot see anything w/ it. Maybe we constructed it wrong? And how do we use the red light and where to place it? Keep in mind that is our first time. Thanks very much and keep up the good work
ohh pwnd
That was two words.:D
KEY word: amateur
Hope you dont mind my levity. Clear Skies!
one word: white balance
If you want to get technical there are two times a year where the moons inclined orbit passes “directly” between earth and sun along the Z axis. For the sole purpose of illustration in this video we choose to look at the system from above in order to understand the position of the moon at new moon.
Technically yes, thats what happens in a solar eclipse. If you look at the system from above at new moon you would see that it does pass directly between the sun and earth. If you looked at the system from the side however you would see that the moons orbit is slightly inclined and thus the shadow dosent always fall on the earth but sometimes above or below.
um…. Help me understand this. You said in this video that the new moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun. Wouldn’t that be called a solar eclipse?
Will do, it’s one of my targets for the next night out! thx
Hey thanks for that feedback on the XT10! I’m glad you got to see Neptune its quite a challenge! Try for galaxy M51. Its well placed in the evening sky next to the tip of the handle in the big dipper. With a 10 you have a chance to see a hint of its spiral structure under the right sky conditions.
Hey there Truemartian, we spoke like 4 months ago, you helped me choose my XT10. I saw Neptune last night in my XT10 Orion Telescope, cool stuff. I’ve seen Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune so far. Some Globular clusters, open clusters, no galaxies yet. And 1 nebula, best buy I ever made.
thanks :-]
As they say… the sky is the limit!
Thanks!
I’ll take your advice and buy a Dobsonian to “warm-up” on
I’m getting tired of “theory” anyway.
Keep up the great videos!!!!!!!!!!
PS: I’m 43 and have been playing webmaster since 94, Astronomy is refreshing for me because it is so new and “unlimited”, Internet is getting boring for me
I wont tell you that saving for a good scope is a mistake. Especially since you have been learning and reading in the meantime. If you are not out under the stars learning to identify the constellations then that is your biggest mistake. Learn those constellations by heart and it will help you when you go to use that new scope. The best scope is always the one you use the most. This varies for everyone.
Hi!
I am armature, but saving since 2 years now for the “Celestron C-14 Schmidt Cassegrain” on a “Go-to” mount. (I am learning and reading in the mean time) is this “ok” or definitely a mistake?
Thanks for the comment. You would have to do some research to see if there are any camera/telescope shops in your area that carry Orion products. I have always had to order by internet. Orion does have an 800 number to talk to a live sales rep if you are uncomfortable ordering over the net. I might also suggest the XT6 over the XT4.5 simply because it may be more comfortable. The XT4.5 is awesome but it does sit low on the ground. Either one are great scopes. I do not recommend Intelliscope.
Great post truemartian thanks ^ ^ But I have a question. I want to buy a skyquest xt 4.5 But should I buy it through the internet or a store? Do you know any telescope stores name? Please help thanks
Are you sure that dot wasnt the comet? Look to see if it has moved. Remember also that Saturn moves you will have to compare the positions of both to nearby stars.
I use my glasses to see far, -7 on both eyes, horrible, I can see perfect anything under 5-6 inches though, if you can please show me a nice eyepiece for my problem. A refractor 6 inch hmmm sounds good! maybe next year!!
Ha, you never know, we might live until 2061 when Halley comes back again! Thx again for the info bud! Joined a nice astronomy forum also called Cloudy Nights, nice place!
Yeah, now I know how you feel about missing something rare like that. Last night I was doing some research, ended up installing stellarium, finding my house’s lat/longitude and realized Saturn and LEO were just outside my window. First time I noticed a planet btw! I could see a dot next to Saturn (one of its moons maybe?) and knew the comet c/2007 Lulin was right under, but couldnt see it with the naked eye, damn!!!!! Anyways, cant wait for my scope, ill start with the dob 8 or 10 inch for now