telescope

[Cannon]

I wanna buy a good telescope.

I'm not planning to do any bigger research, idk i might in future, but for now i wanna see mars, jupiter, saturn and moon, and other planets, but not like few pixels, i wanna see clearly, as good as possible, and in the case of moon, i wanna see really close, craters, stones, idk.

Anyways, i found few on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00D05BKOW?cache=fb82659b79bc3eaddbb57f0cdc08de79π=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&qid=1415060138&sr=8-4#productDescription_secondary_view_pageState_1415060202986

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002JNUAVU?cache=fb82659b79bc3eaddbb57f0cdc08de79π=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&qid=1415060138&sr=8-11#ref=mp_s_a_1_11

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000GUFOC8?cache=fb82659b79bc3eaddbb57f0cdc08de79π=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&qid=1415060138&sr=8-13#ref=mp_s_a_1_13

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000ARFND2/ref=pd_aw_sbs_5?pi=SY115&simLd=1

Last two are really too expensive, but nvm, recommend me anything, and if possible post photos of some planets or moon seen from that telescope.

[Cannon]

Seeing galaxies and stars would be cool as well

[Godot]

Well, a Schmidt-Cassegrain is better than a Newton for planetary observation.

And 11" are larger than 8". Therefore the Celestron CPC 1100 StarBright XLT GPS would be the best choice I guess

[Cannon]

Well, a Schmidt-Cassegrain is better than a Newton for planetary observation.

And 11" are larger than 8". Therefore the Celestron CPC 1100 StarBright XLT GPS would be the best choice I guess

Yeah i know, but it's really expensive, is it worth it?

[benzman]

I have owned a four and a half inch reflector for many years. The trouble with ALL telescopes is that they show you just enough to make you wish you had bought a bigger one! My advice is to buy the biggest and best telescope that you can afford.

[Cannon]

Alright, let's say i buy Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope which is $1.000

Should i buy any extra accessories for him?

And i heard it needs batteries, for what and can i use it without them?

Also what kind of batteries do i need, are the available in small city shops?

Are they rechargeable?

[Godot]

Well, obviously because it is a computerized telescope:

http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/astronomy/telescopes/nexstar-8se-computerized-telescope

Which IMHO, especially for a beginner, may be of great help ...

as it seems like, after initial calibration and entering location and time, you just have to tell the telescope which star/planet you want to look at and it then aligns itself to the position.

No spending time in order to align one axis to Polaris (as you have with the german parallax mount) and no endless searching for the stars/planets you want to look at, via the finder telescope (and then constantly having to manually readjust yout telescope in order to keep the star/planet in focus of the main telescope because it travels so fast across the nightsky, that is is out of your main telescopes field of view within seconds)

[Djsnowboy267]

I would recommend the NexStar telescope. Just a year ago I purchased a NexStar 4SE, which is smaller and a little different from the one you are looking at, and I like it a lot. From even the 4SE I get good views of Jupiter and Saturn, Mars is decent, and Uranus and Neptune can be seen but they appear as stars without higher magnification (eyepiece). In terms of deep sky objects, I've seen several galaxies and nebulae with not much problem. With yours, you should get even better results. Keep in mind you need a dark sky site. I could see more with my 4 inch scope out in a dedicated observing site than you could ever see with an 8 inch from a big city, light pollution is a big factor.

I have to agree with what everybody else is saying about going big. If you have the money, start big. 8 inch is a good size middle ground telescope and seems to be pretty good middle ground in terms of power vs. portability. I actually wouldn't go much over that for a starter scope.

My biggest piece of advice would be to get yourself some good eyepieces! I'm stuck with some old eyepieces I got from a cheap telescope years ago and they are the bane of my astronomical viewing. It looks like your scope might come with a 25mm eyepiece, mine did too, and that is a good starting point. I would try to grab something around 10-15mm for a good balance, and somewhere between 5mm-10mm for planetary viewing. For your power problem, I use a portable power pack sold by Celestron, it's rechargeable and you just need the right cord to plug it right into the scope for power. Lots of other good stuff too.

http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/astronomy/accessories/other-accessories/powertank,-12v-power-supply

I would definitely recommend Orion Telescopes, it is a good site that I have bought just about everything from! The Celestron site isn't very clear about what comes with the scope, but Orion has a page about everything included.

http://www.telescope.com/Celestron-NexStar-8SE-GoTo-Schmidt-Cassegrain-Telescope/p/9756.uts?keyword=nexstar

My Final advice: Think about whether or not this is a hobby you want to get really serious about, or just want to get casual looks through the scope. I'm warning you: it's addictive! If you are interested, you could seek out an astronomical club in your area. I joined one near me, and I have gotten a lot of help from them and they are fun to talk with. If, however, you don't plan on being very active with the hobby, consider something lighter and cheaper. Obviously, a larger scope will require more dedication.

[CelticCossack51]

I would recommend the Orion StarMax for details on the moon, but I don't know if it's good for the gas giants.

[cantab]

To start with I wouldn't buy from Amazon. Better off with an actual telescope retailer who know what they're selling and can give proper support if you need it.

Anyway, start with a realistic idea of what to expect. The Moon will look spectacular, it does in just about any scope, but the other planets will look small. "Pea-sized" is the common analogy. That said, a good scope and good eyepiece in good conditions can give a view that's crisp and detailed, and can't be imitated by print or screen.

As for deep sky, bear in mind that most things you can see in a scope you can only just see. There'll be a few objects that are easy and that show some detail, but many more that take effort and technique to even see at all. A larger scope will move some things from the second group into the first. And expect a black-and-white view - very few nebulae show colour to the eye.

You'd do well to look for sketches, rather than photographs. Cameras can do a lot more with the same size scope, but a sketch shows what the eye can see.

Then you need to consider:

Your budget, of course.

Your portability requirements. Some scopes are bulky or/and heavy. An 8 inch Dobsonian for example will fit in most cars but isn't something you can carry in a backpack.

Do you want a computerised "GoTo" scope? They seem great - input what you want to look at in a handset and the scope will point to it and then continue to follow it. But there are drawbacks. The systems need to be aligned first and the process can be confusing. The mounts often can't be used manually so when the batteries run out it's observing session over. The handset might be able to point to ten thousand things but that's no guarantee you can see them. And ultimately they mean spending money on electronics that could be spent on optics or mechanics.