Red Optical Filter
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Is the Refracting Telescope on the top of this webpage good for a novice to casually peruse the night sky?
http://www.telescopesa.za.org/tsa_optics_refractors.htm
I mostly want to see the moon, mars, perhaps some other fascinating features ![]()
For this I am thinking of getting the first refractor on the page above.
Optical Tube 80mm(3.1") F=640mm (f/8) 2 elements 1 group achromatic
Focuser 1.25" Rack & Pinion
Diagonal 1.25" 90deg
Finder scope 6x30
Eye pieces K9mm, RK20mm
Motor Drive Single Axis (Optional)
Mount JE 100A
Tripod 1.25" Stainless Steel
Accessories Red LED; Moon Filter; 1.5x Erect Image Lens; 3x Barlow Lens
No, I would not recommend this telescope. It has too small an aperture (80 mm) to show much detail, and is on a very shaky and hard to use mount. You would be very disappointed with it. All the telescopes on this web page are from a second rate Chinese manufacturer, mostly poor copies of the better scopes (also made in China) sold under the SkyWatcher, Celestron, and Orion brand names.
Here are a few web pages with good information on beginner's telescopes:
http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0702_Buying_a_Telescope.pdf
http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html
http://observers.org/beginner/j.r.f.beginner.html
For more advanced information, read Phil Harrington's Star Ware, 4th edition (Wiley).
You'll get the greatest value for your money with a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:
http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~VIEW_INDEX=0/~VIEW_SIZE=1000000
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?class1=1&class2=106
Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, either locally or online; don't buy from department stores, discount stores or eBay as mostly what they sell is junk. Find your local astronomy club and try out different telescopes at one of their star parties:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/organizations
I strongly recommend that beginners steer clear of astrophotography until they have learned their way around the sky. Astrophotography is by far the most expensive and difficult area of amateur astronomy.
Many people who buy telescopes have no idea how to find interesting things to observe. A good introduction to finding things is NightWatch by Terence Dickinson (Firefly). A more advanced book is Star Watch by Phil Harrington (Wiley).
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