[haul0348]

Just was wondering if anyone could tell me how good of a view and the distance i can get with 300x magnification?

[sgcullen]

Don't make the magnification mistake. There is a point that you cannot magnify the image any more without serious to complete degradation of the image. A rule of thumb is that you can magnify 60x for each inch of aperture of your telescope. So, if you have a 4" refractor, your maximum magnification would be about 240x. My advice, get the best optics and the largest aperture you can afford...don't pay attention to the magnification message you get with department store telescopes.

[haul0348]

Thankyou for the tip i am just getting started but have been interested in sky viewing for years. I like to watch as many discovery programs as i can like fire in the sky,etc. I often wonder when our next near miss or strike will be? Not knowing what is out there but wanting to see is enough fuel to keep you wondering and wanting to see more. I think i have a great view point from what i have researched because our back lot is pitch black and we have a 180 degree view of the sky with no obstructions.

[haul0348]

If it helps with my previous question the objective diameter is(2.36"). The focal length is 600mm, it has 3 eyepieces a h25mm, h12.5mm, and sr4mm. Diagonal 6x24 1.5 erecting eyepiece,2x barlow and optional moon filter. It was an early christmas gift and i didnt really get to pick and choose but i was wondering about how well of a starter rig it would be? The bummer is i havent been able to try it out yet because of the weather.

[Astrogirl]

Hi,

I'm no expert but know the basics so i hope this helps, at least a little.

With the size of your scope, 2", the Moon and main planets ie : Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus should be available to you. You can see some DSO's but really only a selection and that depends on how dark your skies are. You should see the Orion nebula no problem, and what a beautiful sight it is.
With your selection of eyepieces you should get some good views but try not to magnify too much as then you end up losing the detail and getting a blurry image. The 2xbarlow basically doubles the magnification of any eyepiece.
What you have is a great starter scope, it will give you some good views. Word of warning though.....you WILL end up wanting bigger.

What make of scope is it? This does make a difference due to the quality of the optics.

[haul0348]

It is a tasco just a plain cheap telescope i have been looking a few bigger ones with the software that locates everthing for you. This one was a present and i figured i could get a rough idea and get use to the basics with it. Any suggestions on a good reasonable quality telescope? Thankyou for the info. Also im new what is a DSO?

[Astrogirl]

HI Walter,

Firstly a DSO= Deep Space Object, Nebulas, star clusters etc, anything outside our Solar system.
Your scope will be ok for learning your way around. Once you do upgrade you will notice the difference. Don't expect too much from it though. When you are ready to upgrade you will also want to upgrade the eyepieces as the ones Tasco(and most other company's)supply aren't really the greatest. One that came with my Skywatcher, compared to my Meade 4000 super plossol, was quite bad, fuzzy colours around the edges of the object.
Before jumping into buying a goto i would upgrade to a motor driven one first. I started out with a Skywatcher 130PM, £175 and loved her. I learnt then how to polar align an EQ mount and find my way around the night sky a lot quicker. The motor drive allows the telescope to track an object once centered in the EP. I now have a goto as well which i find excellent for imaging and as a grab n go scope.IMHO i think goto scopes take the fun out of hunting objects down yourself. It's such a buzz when you find your first dso, it would be a shame for you to miss out on that feeling.
I would get the feel for things with what you have then decide what you would prefer to use the scope mainly for, ie solar system objects, dso's, or both then whether you might want to try some imaging later on. As to what brands, well i can only say from my experience. I have used Skywatcher, Celestron and Meade. I love the Skywatcher, my baby, great scope but also wouldn't part with my Celestron SE 4. IMHO the Celestron SE beats the Meade ETX range by miles. Have a look around on the net, loads of useful info can be found. I tend to use one company but they are based here in the UK. They do have some good info. Sherwoods - Telescopes - Binoculars - Night vision - Microscopes & Giftware
The list goes on but for now have fun with your gift and when your ready to upgrade just post and i'm sure these friendly bunch would be more than happy to help.

[haul0348]

Thankyou a bunch astrogirl it seems the options are almost endless. Thankyou also for being so friendly and helful as a newbie i have alot to learn.

[Astrogirl]

Thats ok, it's nice to be able to help someone else instead of me asking all the questions,LOL.
Have fun

Karah

[haul0348]

10-4 i really do appreciate the help.