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Anonymous
Hey /p/,

I don't know where else to ask in 4chan about this

I recently bought a telescope. A Celestron PowerSeeker 127. Thoughts? Is it any good? Or should I get another one? I was thinking of getting a Meade ETX-80AT.
>> Butterfly !xlgRMYva6s
>>115170
hey hey you didnt just compare 4chan do aol did you?
>> Blackadder !!bSWRwu/NqzQ
>>115176

Would I do a thing like that? I am of course referring to the shut-in mentality that "the internet stops here" that was going on at the time.
>> Anonymous
>>115169
I'm assuming the OP is familiar with the community here, so he feels more comfortable asking this community than some new community with which he's not familiar.
>> Butterfly !xlgRMYva6s
>>115177
full of retards who think this is the internet, you know its not that bad a comparison. We're even split up into different sections for different cat- OH SHIT WE REALLY ARE AOL.
>> ac !!VPzQAxYPAMA
>>115178
If he were *familiar* with the people here, this is the last place he'd go for advice.
>> Anonymous
>>115160
50% off all telescopes in-store at Ritz Camera is all the info I can give you.
>> Anonymous
First, don't replace the 127 with an ETX-80, neither of them are worth a shit. There is no point in moving to a smaller diameter scope, even if the ETX-80 has a shorter focal length.

What do you want to be able to see? If you want to see anything other than the moon, you pretty much need at a minimum a 6" diameter scope. Don't get sucked in to all the remote-controlled, auto-finding bullshit. Just a good equatorial mount is fine. Celestron and Meade both make very good scopes and also both make some pretty shitty low-end ones (basically anything less than 4" and/or sold at Ritz camera).

First decide exactly what you want to do with the telescope, then figure out what is the most you can afford. From there it should be pretty easy to pick a model.
>> Anonymous
>>115212
I don't want to have one with the remote control, which is why I chose this one because I am a beginner. It's a 5" and I would like to see stars, the moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae.
>> Anonymous
>>115221
That scope should be great for the moon and ok for a few planets and star clusters. You probably won't see any nebulae with it though, and planets probably won't resolve much more than fuzzy dots. It's a good place to start though, and if you decide to stick with it you can upgrade later. An 8" scope would probably be the minimum if you want to see any nebulae or any real detail on planets, but it's really not as striking as it looks in pictures. Most everything is just fuzzy spots with a bit of color here and there. Unfortunately you need a pretty damn big scope to really see anything.
>> sv !!vC9KZM3Ch/H
>>115212

Um, what? I've seen magnitude 9 with my 90mm in a heavily light polluted area (6+ million people). Granted it was very, very, very faint, but still..

And that "auto-finding bullshit" is great when 1) it's fucking cold outside 2) it's fucking light polluted outside 3) you're kind of drunk 4) you're kind of lazy and your back hurts

Sure, my 10" Dobsonian is preferred (and I recommend a Dobsonian over just about any telescope really because of cost+aperture), but you can do a lot with smaller apertures and with "auto-finding bullshit."
>> Anonymous
>>115258
I tend to define "seeing" something differently than most astronomy buffs. Locating a nondescript puff of fuzz where a nebula is supposed to be doesn't do a whole lot for me.

Also I don't bother to even set up a scope in a light polluted area or when I'm feeling lazy or my back hurts, I don't drink, and I own a coat. Computer controlled scopes are convenient, but I hardly think they're a deal breaker.

I don't actually own a scope anymore. I had an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain but sold it last year because I never felt like bothering with it. I just go to my university's observatory on open nights and use their (vastly superior) equipment for free.
>> Lynx !!KY+lVSl0s2m
My sis is at college and left her Orion Skyquest XT-6 here. 6 inch dobsian without all that couterweight bullshit. 1200mm f/8.
Yes, I have no idea wtf I'm doing with it I just read the sticker on the side. So far it's been to cold to go out at night with it. It costs about 4 times op's, so its gotta be a little better, right? :P
I've waiting for some extra cash so I can get a t-mount for it to use my camera. Does the 1.5 crop factor still apply with this thing?