As a beginner for viewing planets, which is more useful? This telescope, or the Orion 10x50 Binocular Stargazing Kit?
1755987
I thought this telescope for my husband and he loves it. He says that when you look up into the telescope you can see everything so close.
770255
I assume you are asking about the orion scope vs the celestron scope? I've no experience with the orion st, there's a comparison on cloudy nights' user forum. There is a lot of info there. I beive that is where I found a write up on what to expect from various size optics and focal lengths. I'm still happy with the astromaster. It has pretty good optics, but as many people have pointed out, the mount is a little flimsy.
2274958
The Ultima 80 would probably be a good scope for that. Not so good for astronomy, but good in low contrast situations. You might also consider the Ultima 60 or some good zoom binoculars.
2210052
This unit is just a finder. You cannot use it to see the planeta or stars; for that you need a telescope. This unit just helps you identify what you are looking at
2119555
Absolutely. This is a fine telescope for any astronomical use. The only drawback is it's size. It's a bit of work to get it somewhere and set it up, but I love mine. For detailed planetary study, a large refractor is better, but for deep sky, this is MUCH better than the refractor, so a good all around scope.
927308
I wish you lived around atlanta and I could help you focus it. it comes with a focusing lens and some tools. Alan head wrenches. You can find videos on culmination. I can also say that if you are viewing city areas it will not be as clear regardless. As for the size of the planet. It comes with a 25mm lens you need a 4 or 6 mm lens to make jupiter look a little bigger but if then it is no bigger than a dime. Fell Free. The telescope is made to see distance objects. Like the orion nebula thousands of light years away looks pretty nice with higher mm lens like 25 or 40mm. Hope this helps. Seeing a galaxy or a planet like mars is really cool it just takes time to practice setting it up. I wish you lived around atlanta and I could help you focus it. it comes with a focusing lens and some tools. Alan head wrenches. You can find videos on culmination. I can also say that if you are viewing city areas it will not be as clear regardless. As for the size of the planet. It comes with a 25mm lens you need a 4 or 6 mm lens to make jupiter look a little bigger but if then it is no bigger than a dime. Fell Free. The telescope is made to see distance objects. Like the orion nebula thousands of light years away looks pretty nice with higher mm lens like 25 or 40mm. Hope this helps.... » Read More I wish you lived around atlanta and I could help you focus it. it comes with a focusing lens and some tools. Alan head wrenches. You can find videos on culmination. I can also say that if you are viewing city areas it will not be as clear regardless. As for the size of the planet. It comes with a 25mm lens you need a 4 or 6 mm lens to make jupiter look a little bigger but if then it is no bigger than a dime. Fell Free. The telescope is made to see distance objects. Like the orion nebula thousands of light years away looks pretty nice with higher mm lens like 25 or 40mm. Hope this helps. Seeing a galaxy or a planet like mars is really cool it just takes time to practice setting it up. « Show Less
1535196
I as well did not receive a lot of information but I went online and learned everything. The telescope comes with an extra lense ( at least mine did). Go to www.orion.com and see what comes up.
1127068
No, not at most telescopes have the worst spotting scope for the money. The Orion is awesome but be sure to aline it with what your telescope sees.
622876
If viewing relatively fixed objects at long distances is all you want to do, a telescope would be better. For general use and very basic star gazing, these would be fine.
72106
I just ordered the Celestron Nexstar SLT 130, as recommended by a friend who has been into astronomy for years..as a beginner myself I would definitely recommend this telescope...I've used it every night since I've gotten it...the computer makes it really easy to set up and find planets and stars right away!
1323126
Hi Ryan,As you know that this is a fast dobsonian, you have to use quality eyepieces to get the most out of it.With my Celestron eyepieces I got reasonable level of contrast of Saturn including Casini division, few saturnian moon with little cloudy bands of the planet in 300x .My cloudy nights friends who are using Pentax XW or TV Delos have got lot of viewing pleasure and some of friends who are using Orthoscopic eyepieces also satisfied well with this telescope.I think that you cannot go wrong with this telescope. Clear Skies...Best regardsDr. R.A.N.S Rajapakshe.
2279567
You would probably be better off looking at a small telescope for star gazing, good luck.
1706393
I cannot, but I can give you my perspective on the StarMax 90 mm by Orion. It is small, portable, and clear, but I wear glasses, and it is hard to see through with the 10x eyepiece. I think all of the small scopes will be. I wish I had spent the extra $100 and bought the 6" Dobsonian mounted reflector, but I wanted to use this during the day for spotting animals from a distance. I gave this as a present to my wife who hasn't worked with the telescope yet, and she may have different opinions. I did get her the camera mount, polar lens, and an extra eye piece that doubles the magnification. I think that you'll find that both are probably one in the same IMO. I do like the table top mount that the Orion has. I think once the weather warms we will be able to give a more thorough opinion. I think I will end up getting the reflector with the Dobsonian mount the color CCD eyepiece from Orion, and a few extras. If you have room I'd suggest the 6" reflector, or this http://www.telescope.com/Orion-XT45-Dobsonian-Telescope-amp-Beginner-Barlow-Kit/p/102027.uts . I feel that we may outgrow the Starmax 90, but I think the 4.5 or 6 with Dobsonian would well used for the lifetime of star gazing.
350550
For Night Sky viewing you want a 50 mm lens or better.. like a 8X50 or so.. need bright lens to view stars or planets.. get the best you can afford. Tasco makes a good night vision binocular at a good price
1069145
Look at it this way; there is no way that a binoculars can replace a telescope not unless its for land or terrestrial use. Once you're looking into space and seeing the planetary system, binoculars are pretty great but using a telescope its a different ball game altogether. I've never had the privilege to look into a telescope before but I have many acquaintances told me its so much details you can see. I've looked at Jupiter with this pair of binoculars and I can clearly see three of its moons and I can also see some of Jupiter's coloration. I'm pretty sure with a telescope you'll see much much more details. All in all binoculars have its place for planetary viewing especially these SkyMasters, they're a class of its own. But in comparison to an Orion Goscope (80mm) telescope there's absolutely no binoculars that I can compare it with.
1873331
No, You will not be able to see all the planets with great detail. I volunteer at an observatory with a 16" scope, and neptune still looks like a blue dot. If you want to look at planets, then get a refracting telescope. Also, you do not want an eq for your first scope.
1924096
Novice skywatcher here, but from what I've researched, it not that they're "better", it just more convenient. You can't see Mars or the rings of Saturn with these, but you can see details of the Moon as well as faint views of star clusters and glows of nebulas and galaxies that you'd never see with the naked eye. Skywatching isn't just about 500x magnification, its also about low magnification observations. So, the short answer is portability, quick setup and overall convenience. People say smaller scopes are used more then larger ones.