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Ask HN: Which Telescope Should I Buy?

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Re: Ask HN: Which Telescope Should I Buy?

#11

Post by brudgers »

CaptainRefsmat wrote: post #3

I would caution complete beginners from buying a telescope, because learning to set up and use a telescope might be too frustrating. I would recommend instead starting with a good pair of binoculars (mine are Nikon Action Extreme 10x50), which are powerful enough for you to find Messier objects. Searching for Messier objects will teach you how to identify constellations, read star maps, and how to scan the sky for fa…

It will also go a long way toward determining if a person is actually interested in going out at night and looking at celestial objects enough to warrant buying a telescope...I bought one about thirty years ago and sold it about twenty without much use. I've got one sitting in a closet now that was bought about fifteen years ago and given to my child about ten years ago...and after fooling with it a couple of times back then, it's been sitting in a closet ever since. My limit seems to be about a full moon.

Re: Ask HN: Which Telescope Should I Buy?

#12

Post by tzury »

arey_abhishek wrote: post #9

Do you intend to travel with the telescope or install it in your backyard? Do you want to use it for photography? Knowing this will help me in suggesting a telescope. Avoid refractive ones and go for the newtonian reflector ones or catadioptric ones to see objects in better color. You'll also get more bang for your buck in terms of power. A telescope with an equatorial stand is better than an alt-azimuth stand becaus…

travel indeed.

Re: Ask HN: Which Telescope Should I Buy?

#13

Post by disago »

You may want to take a look at eVscope: 100x ($1600 USD - Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/evscope-100x-more-powerfu...).

It promises a enhanced vision technology allowing beautiful images even inside the city and also the ability to connect to a mesh of telescopes around the globe participating in scientific research from SETI institute, allowing it to be controlled remotely by the object under investigation.

Re: Ask HN: Which Telescope Should I Buy?

#14

Post by slowmotarget »

There's a French company named Vaonis, they're releasing Stellina, a smart telescope ("smart" in a sense that it is interactive and works with a mobile app).

It's on sale at the MoMa design store for the time being : https://store.moma.org/tech/home-electronics/vaonis-stellina...

Re: Ask HN: Which Telescope Should I Buy?

#15

Post by perilunar »

slowmotarget wrote: post #14

There's a French company named Vaonis, they're releasing Stellina, a smart telescope ("smart" in a sense that it is interactive and works with a mobile app). It's on sale at the MoMa design store for the time being : https://store.moma.org/tech/home-electronics/vaonis-stellina...

It's a $3000 telescope you can't even look through.

Great idea if you want to look at pictures on an iPhone. Not so good if you actually want to look directly at the stars.

It's also not very good value: you can get a computerised scope with a much bigger aperture for much less.

Re: Ask HN: Which Telescope Should I Buy?

#16

Post by slowmotarget »

perilunar wrote: post #15
slowmotarget wrote: post #14

There's a French company named Vaonis, they're releasing Stellina, a smart telescope ("smart" in a sense that it is interactive and works with a mobile app). It's on sale at the MoMa design store for the time being : https://store.moma.org/tech/home-electronics/vaonis-stellina...

It's a $3000 telescope you can't even look through. Great idea if you want to look at pictures on an iPhone. Not so good if you actually want to look directly at the stars. It's also not very good value: you can get a computerised scope with a much bigger aperture for much less.

Looking directly at the stars will only show you white dots. Astrophotography requires long time exposures to reveal the colors and details of outer solar system objects. That's what Stellina is for :-)
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