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Space Science and Astronomy thread

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This stunning image shows NGC 2207 and IC 2163, two spiral galaxies currently interacting and colliding with each other. The gravity between them is twisting their spiral arms, triggering intense star formation and revealing massive clouds of dust. This image combines James Webb Space Telescope (infrared) data with Chandra X-ray Observatory data, highlighting both star-forming regions and energetic X-ray sources.📸 Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA – James Webb Space Telescope
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Where’s a good place to get advice on buying a new telescope?

Tring Astro used to be near me but it’s shut down sadly.

I looking for something portable but smart/goto (I don’t know what the difference is if Im Honest). so that I can tell it to point at Jupiter and it just does. Ideally it should be able to work from my garden as well as dark skies.

What are the kinds of things I need to think about? I don’t know a dobsonian from a case Schmidt whatever the fuck that is, and all of the jargon confuses me.
 
HellsBells said:
Where’s a good place to get advice on buying a new telescope?

Tring Astro used to be near me but it’s shut down sadly.

I looking for something portable but smart/goto (I don’t know what the difference is if Im Honest). so that I can tell it to point at Jupiter and it just does. Ideally it should be able to work from my garden as well as dark skies.

What are the kinds of things I need to think about? I don’t know a dobsonian from a case Schmidt whatever the fuck that is, and all of the jargon confuses me.
Click to expand...
I keep researching rather than buying because I don’t really know either but this has some good suggestions:
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HellsBells said:
Where’s a good place to get advice on buying a new telescope?

Tring Astro used to be near me but it’s shut down sadly.

I looking for something portable but smart/goto (I don’t know what the difference is if Im Honest). so that I can tell it to point at Jupiter and it just does. Ideally it should be able to work from my garden as well as dark skies.

What are the kinds of things I need to think about? I don’t know a dobsonian from a case Schmidt whatever the fuck that is, and all of the jargon confuses me.
Click to expand...
I was in a similar situation a few years ago and ended up with a Skywatcher (beginner scope) which was quite limited so I took the plunge and went for a Seestar (a Smart computerised scope with Goto) and I can't believe what it produces image wise - my profile pic of the Horsehead Nebula came from it. I bought it online & now I just tell it which astral body I want to image and it does the rest.

I had good advice from @DaveH & @Kevj who helped me no-end with basic advice before going for the Sky-Watcher through the board as I knew nothing. It's a very confusing subject for someone like me that knew little. I've been in the back garden earlier tonight imaging all sorts.
Scorer said:
I keep researching rather than buying because I don’t really know either but this has some good suggestions:
You must be logged on to see external links
Click to expand...
You'll research for ever (I did), the market is so confusing and wide that I'd suggest contacting an astro shop online for direction because it depends how far you want to go with it, it's endless.
70s traveller said:
I was in a similar situation a few years ago and ended up with a Skywatcher (beginner scope) which was quite limited so I took the plunge and went for a Seestar (a Smart computerised scope with Goto) and I can't believe what it produces image wise - my profile pic of the Horsehead Nebula came from it. I bought it online & now I just tell it which astral body I want to image and it does the rest.

I had good advice from @DaveH & @Kevj who helped me no-end with basic advice before going for the Sky-Watcher through the board as I knew nothing. It's a very confusing subject for someone like me that knew little. I've been in the back garden earlier tonight imaging all sorts.

You'll research for ever (I did), the market is so confusing and wide that I'd suggest contacting an astro shop online for direction because it depends how far you want to go with it, it's endless.
Click to expand...
I'd also suggest popping along to Sunderland Astronomical Society [SAS] where people that know the topic can speak with you, I went there when I got my Seestar and was struggling with a chromebook to operate it so I went there and saw what it could do with an Android as the Chrome OS wouldn't fully work with it despite their claims.
 
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70s traveller said:
I was in a similar situation a few years ago and ended up with a Skywatcher (beginner scope) which was quite limited so I took the plunge and went for a Seestar (a Smart computerised scope with Goto) and I can't believe what it produces image wise - my profile pic of the Horsehead Nebula came from it. I bought it online & now I just tell it which astral body I want to image and it does the rest.

I had good advice from @DaveH & @Kevj who helped me no-end with basic advice before going for the Sky-Watcher through the board as I knew nothing. It's a very confusing subject for someone like me that knew little. I've been in the back garden earlier tonight imaging all sorts.

You'll research for ever (I did), the market is so confusing and wide that I'd suggest contacting an astro shop online for direction because it depends how far you want to go with it, it's endless.

I'd also suggest popping along to Sunderland Astronomical Society [SAS] where people that know the topic can speak with you, I went there when I got my Seestar and was struggling with a chromebook to operate it so I went there and saw what it could do with an Android as the Chrome OS wouldn't fully work with it despite their claims.
Click to expand...
This is good advice. I’m not aware of any good astronomy shops in the North East, but when buying a couple of things, Rother Valley Optics have been excellent. Try giving them a call or mail them.

One of the things to think about is if you want to see everything with your own eyes. Smart scopes are looking very impressive, but there is something about looking down a eyepiece and seeing Saturn or the moon for the first time.
 
DaveH said:
This is good advice. I’m not aware of any good astronomy shops in the North East, but when buying a couple of things, Rother Valley Optics have been excellent. Try giving them a call or mail them.

One of the things to think about is if you want to see everything with your own eyes. Smart scopes are looking very impressive, but there is something about looking down an eyepiece and seeing Saturn or the moon for the first time.
Click to expand...
So is the difference between smart scopes and goto scopes that smart scopes are really just looking at camera images on a screen? Goto scopes are actual telescopes and you get to look down the scope?

I think I’d prefer the latter, you’re right, there something about real live viewing that’s what I’m looking for.

Although I would love to be able to take some cool
photos anarl.
70s traveller said:
I was in a similar situation a few years ago and ended up with a Skywatcher (beginner scope) which was quite limited so I took the plunge and went for a Seestar (a Smart computerised scope with Goto) and I can't believe what it produces image wise - my profile pic of the Horsehead Nebula came from it. I bought it online & now I just tell it which astral body I want to image and it does the rest.

I had good advice from @DaveH & @Kevj who helped me no-end with basic advice before going for the Sky-Watcher through the board as I knew nothing. It's a very confusing subject for someone like me that knew little. I've been in the back garden earlier tonight imaging all sorts.

You'll research for ever (I did), the market is so confusing and wide that I'd suggest contacting an astro shop online for direction because it depends how far you want to go with it, it's endless.

I'd also suggest popping along to Sunderland Astronomical Society [SAS] where people that know the topic can speak with you, I went there when I got my Seestar and was struggling with a chromebook to operate it so I went there and saw what it could do with an Android as the Chrome OS wouldn't fully work with it despite their claims.
Click to expand...
Is the seestar like a camera? Like can you actually see Jupiter through it if you tell it to point at Jupiter? Or is it like watching it on a screen?
 
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HellsBells said:
So is the difference between smart scopes and goto scopes that smart scopes are really just looking at camera images on a screen? Goto scopes are actual telescopes and you get to look down the scope?

I think I’d prefer the latter, you’re right, there something about real live viewing that’s what I’m looking for.

Although I would love to be able to take some cool
photos anarl.

Is the seestar like a camera? Like can you actually see Jupiter through it if you tell it to point at Jupiter? Or is it like watching it on a screen?
Click to expand...
Yes, smart scopes are basically a mount, a telescope and a camera. You use an app on your phone, tell it what you want to look at and the image slowly builds up on your phone screen.

A goto is a standard telescope with an eyepiece, but has a computerised mount. I think some of the more modern ones use GPS and may be able to auto align. I have to pick 3 bright stars fairly far apart and by slewing the scope around at each in turn, it can work out where it is pointing. From there you tell it to point at Jupiter or Andromeda and it does.

A more traditional scope you do all the hard work yourself. Often interesting things are found by star hopping. Point to a known star, then follow a line north until you see a little cluster of 3, then west, etc etc.

What sort of budget are you looking at?
 
DaveH said:
This is good advice. I’m not aware of any good astronomy shops in the North East, but when buying a couple of things, Rother Valley Optics have been excellent. Try giving them a call or mail them.

One of the things to think about is if you want to see everything with your own eyes. Smart scopes are looking very impressive, but there is something about looking down a eyepiece and seeing Saturn or the moon for the first time.
Click to expand...
What I should have added was that seeing e.g. Jupiters rings or the Moon with your own eyes takes some beating.
HellsBells said:
So is the difference between smart scopes and goto scopes that smart scopes are really just looking at camera images on a screen? Goto scopes are actual telescopes and you get to look down the scope?

I think I’d prefer the latter, you’re right, there something about real live viewing that’s what I’m looking for.

Although I would love to be able to take some cool
photos anarl.

Is the seestar like a camera? Like can you actually see Jupiter through it if you tell it to point at Jupiter? Or is it like watching it on a screen?
Click to expand...
It takes a pic that you can view; if you select any planet or astral body from it's computer database it locates it & puts that image onto your phone/computer screen to view. A smart (computerised) scope is a data base that has a goto option which centres it to take an image, Looking through a scope is one thing but imo it's limitations for deep sky viewing & imaging are far outweighed by the simplicity of picking a distant object & letting it get on with it then it shows on your screen. You can see on your screen what is being imaged in various programs. In relation to your Jupiter-seeing; yes if you pick it from solar system it appears on screen before you take the photo. Its far easier than taking a Jupiter image with a dslr mounted on a scope. If it's live viewing you're after a scope is probably for you but astral imaging is a different game.
 
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Visibility pemitting I'm currently planning to attempt a Seestar image of NGC206 (bright star forming cloud) within the Andromeda Galaxy.

What's up there is mindboggling.
 
Roker Mackem said:
The other thing to add to that is each of those stars are an unfathomable distance away from each other as well. Its unbelievable how tiny we are compared to the size of the universe.
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We're nothing really in the grand scheme of things. Videos and pictures like that just blow my brain.
 
newly formed magnetar* discovered recently

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* stuff of nightmares
 
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