HELP ME!!!!!!!

[afaqurk]

My name is afaq. I am really interested in astronomy and astrophysics. I have spent about a year reading and thinking about buying a telescope for amateur gazing. But it has lead nowhere. I have around $700 saved up. <b> If you have any suggestion as to where when and waht i should buy or do before i buy please let me know!!! What should I do?, where should i look?

 

[tfwthom]

Well everyones going to say buy a 6" or 8" Orion dob<br /><br />Depends on where you live if thats a good buy.<br /><br />Read some more... http://uplink.space.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=askastronomer&Number=595&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=<br /><br />Maybe we can answer some questions then. <br /><br />BTW $700 isn't a lot of money but is enough to start this hobby with to find out if you have a real interest in it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[bad_drawing]

For that amount of money I bought a very nice Orion 10" dobsonian. If you don't mind slewing around and star hopping this is the way to go.. Easilly the most aperture for your buck, however if you want to do astrophotography for deep sky objects or anything like that I'd recommend something else. Figure out what you want to do. If you don't mind lugging around a big beast, go for the Orion or something similar. If you know you won't use something that massive most of the time, save your money and buy a nice Schmidt-Cassegrain that you can lug around in a case. Good Luck!<br />

 

[nevers]

Save your money - the clouds will never go away! My suggestion would be to find an astronomy club in your area and attend a "Star Party". That way you can look through a variety of telescopes and see them first hand and in action. Then you'll have a better idea as to what you like best.

 

[afaqurk]

I just wanna say thx. I'm gonna play it smart and find an astronomy club near by and try stuff out first. By the way that Link in the first reply is VERY VERY Useful. Thx again.