*** The Official Astronomy & Universe Thread ***

Well the most popular suggestion for beginners is without a doubt this:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

But depending on your expectations the 150P might be just as good. Just to throw more options your way, i think you can get the 150P for £10 than the 200P with an EQ3-2 mount, which would come in useful if you did get into AP. Or £200 on a dobsonian (which is a lot easier to use).
 
@#331: I don't know, i've got some 8x40s that i use occasionally, but it's so much of a fuss coming up with a way to keep them still and it's not really that much better than naked eye. How big are 70mm bins? Because you can get good sized 80mm scopes...
 
Ha, was just out for a bit with the bins after we were talking about them, caught the pleiades (although they didn't look quite that good ;)), Jupiter and i think two of her moons quite fleetingly and i'm sure i saw the Orion Nebula as a sort of cloud using averted vision.

Thanks for giving me the idea to go out with them by the way, was a lot better than i remember.

Now for Stargazing Live :D
 
Yup, loved it. Shame it's just a once a year thing... it's things like this which make you realize how good the BBC is. Things like Wonders, or Attenborough, or Being Human (or Mongrels :().

Things like East Enders' and most of BBC 3 make you realize how bad it is ;)
 
Jongo said:
So one think I've always been fascinated by is astronomy and been pondering buying my own scope for quite a while now. After Catching Stargazing live I think I just might.

Now I've been researching various scopes for a while now and I think the Skywatcher Explorer 130P would be perfect so just wondering if anyone here has any experience with it? any tips etc.

Also i was thinking of later maybe getting into astrophotography but didn't want to break the bank with some of the crazier setups ive seen recently, i've heard a lot of people have used webcams to great success, just wondering what type of webcam would be best to use with a Skywatcher Explorer 130P and if its even possible with that scope.

Many thanks in advance for any advice :)
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It's a good scope, but for the price (well, maybe a bit more) you'd be far better off getting a 150P dob. Larger aperture (which is what really matters) and the 130P on an EQ would have a pretty poor mount, might get away with it for observing much of the time but it's a no go for imaging.

Without breaking the bank you're not going to get much in the way of AP (AstroPhotography) gear. But you'll probably find that that becomes secondary when you have started observing. At the very least i'd suggest just buying the scope now and waiting until you know a bit more, and you've learned your way around the sky until you start worrying about it.

That said, you could still get some nice shots of the moon and maybe a few planets just by holding a phone camera up to the eyepiece.
 
Jongo said:
Just had a look at the 150p dob on FLO, looks like a right beast to move around, being a tall guy i could imagine it might be a bit of a pain to constantly be bending down.

How portable is the 150p dob compared to a 130p?
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Definitely more portable than the 130, if for nothing else than the mount. It has a handle, which might not sound like much but it makes it so much easier. On an EQ there's nothing you can just grab hold of and go, if you're moving it any decent distance you'd probably have to take it all down, take the tube off and re-assemble it when you got there. Not my idea of portable.

Also, not sure you would be bending down so much - remember of course that the eyepiece is at the top. It might be at a height where you could use a seat, but you'd have to try that out before you bought it. Are there any scope shops near you? Just so you could get an idea about what each is actually like...
 
Dr Delphi said:
I believe one of the terms used is the goldilocks band - i.e. not too close and therefore too cold, and not too far, therefore too hot. As for something with 'helo' (you might mean helio, i.e. the Sun), I don't know that I know/remember from the Masters days.
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Other way round :p

But yeah, every (well, most) star has an area around it that could theoretically support a planet with liquid water. Which is a good indication of life. Not sure luck has much to do with it though, it just is.

Interestingly, both Mars and Venus lie within what we class as Sol's "goldilocks zone."
 
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Missed the first one (was developing a film), must grab my tripod and head out at around 11 :D

I would point out that you won't be able to see the ISS for the whole transit, it will be eclipsed slightly before it reaches the highest point.
 
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StriderX said:
I am not really knowledgeable about designations or the star map whatsoever.

But currently there is quite a bright star/planet emanating from just below the moons position.

Just wondering what it is.

From my position it is almost directly 225 degrees from the moon.

Edit: Obviously probably too late now, but i assume someone must know.
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Could it have been Venus?

9QyYc.png
 
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