OK.
I have been using the Orion XT8 Classic. Scope + shipping will leave you enough for an extra EP.
As for what you can see?
Well, what would you like to see?
I read and re-read that article about buying a scope for the first time. The XT8 was NOT my first scope, but it was my first "semi-large" scope and it was the first time I spent that much money on a scope.
If you want to take pictures of what you see, do not go with the XT8 or any other Dob. The best pictures require long exposure times that are not "impossible" with a dob, but it is very very very very very difficult. However, for looking and sharing the views with your friends, the Dob is the cheapest, most powerful solution for your buck. Setup time is under 5 minutes as well.
"Goto" scopes......I agree with what was said earlier, but Im going to add one minor detail.
(XT6 Intelliscope = 399.95 BEFORE SHIPPING (shipping on my Dob was over 100.00 (I think it was like 140)) (***just checked my invoice, it was 40.00 shipping, NOT 140.00. I thought that was rather high, but it was off the top of my head)
(XT8 Classic = 329.95) <-----------------(My choice, I spent an extra 120 bucks on the Celestron EP/filter kit. Comes with 5 EP, 10 filters and a nice 2x barlow)
(XT8 Intelliscope = 529.95) (the Intelliscope and the classic have pretty much the same everything as far as optics go)
Looking closely at those prices, which one is the better value?
And before you say "I saw the XT10 Classic online for under 500, Ill get that" consider the following:
How often are you going to use a scope that weighs over 50 pounds? Even my crapping 2 inch plastic reflector will give better views if you never take yours out of the closet.
For me, the hardest decision was either buying a 10 or an 8.
And yes, I can lift the 50+ lbs telescope, no problem.
But carrying 50+ lbs of telescope with very sensitive "you dont want to bang it into anything" optics? I dont trust myself THAT far. So I bought a little hand truck with bungie, combining that with two of the Styrofoam shipping molds for the tube a viola. I goes anywhere I want. Lay a folding chair down on the truck, Telescope on top of that, one free hand for EP case (Eye Pieces that is), and with that same hand my mini bag with my home-made battery/fan combo (Yes, at 8 inches or more you will want to be able to "defrost", or "dedew" the primary mirror) and this guy is ROLLING
You should learn the sky anyway. What if your out and your batteries die? How do you explain to a child that you know what galaxies look like but you cant even find the big dipper? That same child points to a brite red object, is it Mars? or is it Arcturus? Without knowing the sky, how can you be sure? (I own a 500 dollar telescope but don't know if that's a star or a planet?)
These come with a special version of starry night. This will allow you to print star charts.
I first got into astronomy when I was in the 5th grade. I flipped a book open and the very first page I saw had M31 as taken from the 200-inch Palomar. I asked my teach what it was, and he explained that it was a galaxy, much like our own, with millions of stars. Some of those stars could have a planets, and some of those planets could have life. From then on, I was hooked into at least looking up, which lead to more questions, which lead to a little 2 in reflector. Since, Ive owned a Celestron 4.5 inch reflector, but an improper cleaning lead to destroyed optics. So a few years later I got a decent tax return and purchased my XT8.
Bottom line:
Planets out to Saturn. AWESOME (havent spotted Uranus and Neptune yet, Im told that I can with my scope, but they will be more "starlike" than "planetlike" in my FOV.) These appear tiny with the stock EP, but under good conditions I can drop in my 4MM EP and see some details, at that magnification though its hauling butt through the sky and you will need to track it by slewing your scope by hand. (even the intelliscopes (Dob style that is) are NOT motorized. The controller has two little arrows and you move the scope by hand until they are gone. Motorized "Goto" is on a different, more expensive, type of mount)
Galaxies: AWESOME (To me). M31 is a faint fuzzy disk with a bright nucleus at FIRST GLANCE. But the more you look, the more you will see. It was horribly cloudy that night and I only had windows of a minute or two to observe between cloudbanks. (And Betelgeuse, for giggles I lined up during a clear spot, clouds rolled in, star is now invisible, but look through the scope, and there it was. This star is AMAZINGLY powerful to punch through the clouds like that after traveling all this way.)
Orion Nebula, AWESOME (not hubble mind you, but nothing beats seeing something with your own eyes)
Star clusters, AWESOME
There is more information available in these forums, I wont go into why cameras can take long term exposures in color when your eye registers the deep sky object as being mostly black and white. Thats a whole discussion in itself. Stars and planets show up in color, nebula and galaxies appear more black and white.
OK thats enough for me now, I have to get ready for work. Ill be home around 7-730is, and if weather permitting, be out for 2 or 3 hours. I post back what I see
Star
PS I feel that I should point out to you that 2-3 EP is better than one "Zoom" EP. I spent 70 dollars on a zoom and it is my ONLY regret
I can dial the zoom to say 9MM and yes, the view is *Not bad*, but when I drop in an actual 9MM EP, it looks a lot better. For my 70 bucks I could have picked up a 9 and say a 4. The scope comes with a 25MM Plossl. The EP is where your "X" (Magnification power) comes in. Any scope can be made to go to ANY power. But without a large primary it will be very faint, and track out of you FOV in two seconds flat. Rule of thumb, the more you magnify, the dimmer it gets, and the faster it goes.
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