Any serious or advanced amateur astronomers out there? I’ve had a growing interest and have been using SkyView on my iPad for a couple years. Thinking of taking the plunge and buying a telescope. Since I live in Sugarhouse and want to use it for the night sky I’ve read up some but don’t have a practical understanding of how big an aperture should be 80-102-120+ and what makes sense to start on expense. $250-500? Too much or not enough? Any info is appreciated
Boardmail me. I got a telescope for Mrs. CCU a few years ago. Sadly I can’t recall the specifics off the top of my head. I got it through Amazon. She’s enjoyed it, and the skyview app has helped us find stuff in the night sky.
1 Like
Auto tracking is a real plus, I think most of the mid-grade scopes havr it. I think the ones at Costco do, and they are usually Meades.
1 Like
It’s all Important and cool.
Lots of light pollution enables complete understanding of planets and brightest stars movements. These inform not only understanding of the ecliptic, but also serve as an integral base to find other clusters.
2 Likes
This is the one I got my wife a few years ago. Price has come down quite a bit in the, almost 4 years since it was purchased.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007UQNKY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also purchased some eye pieces to go with it. Again, these prices have come down considerably in 4 years. So the prices are much less than you were stating.
1 Like
SL astronomical society has star parties in the summer both at the Harmon’s observatory and out here in Stansbury. Stansbury has a pretty good array of bigger scopes. Including the largest amateur scope in the world. It might be worth a trip out here next year when they get going again.
1 Like
Great thanks! Will give me something to do outside of Football season 