What is the best Equatorial Mount telescope that can be bought for under $600.00 that will see to Uranus?
491826
Pretty much any telescope will see 'to' Uranus. Occasionally it can even be seen without any optical aid. That said, do not expect to see more than a small blue dot, even with a fairly big scope (one past what you are willing to pay).\n\nGenerally speaking, refractors are better for planetary viewing because they allow a higher magnification (longer focal length). The problem is that they are subject to chromatic abberation (little rainbows around bright objects) unless you spend a lot to correct it with good quality lenses. Reflectors will more often have spherical abberation, which tends to blur out features, so they tend not to be as good for planets.\n\nNext, are you talking about just the telescope or is the $600 for the telescope AND eyepieces? The right eyepieces can make a huge difference, so don't neglect them when shopping. For planets, get a couple of medium to high power Plossl eyepieces.\n\nBelow is a site with some good refractors. Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Orion Telescopes.
874618
I came up with a magnification of about 16\n\nThis interactive website will calculate what you need ==>http://www.csgnetwork.com/telescopemagcalc.html
979714
The Cosmos - Alex Filippenko    - ISBN 0-03-005218-1\n\nVery good introductory book, covers everything from the basics to some more in depth cosmology.\n\nTo accompany a telescope, I'd recommed Philip's Guide to the Night Sky
253253
I guess 260,000 is the price\n\nhttp://takahashi.telescopes.com/products/Takahashi_C-400_Observatory_10230.html\n\nhttp://www.digitecoptical.com/prod/takahashi-c-400-observatory.html\n\nhttp://www.astrosurf.com/sogorb/takahashi/takahashi_c.html\n\nStrange, here it says 49,950  ??\nhttp://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?t=7&pid=3424&m=
1089369
I think an 8" dob is an excellent choice. I haven't seen this particular model, but from what I've heard I think it's a good one. Orion Telescope and Binoculars (www.telescope.com) is another good source for this type of scope. The Yahoo telescopes group, and the Cloudy Nights forums are a couple of good places to go for more information and opinions.\n\nI think these scopes usually come with a 25mm eyepiece. A 10 or 12mm eyepiece would be a good next eyepiece. Or buy a 2x Barlow lens; that will double the power of any eyepiece. Eventually, you might also want to get a wide-angle eyepiece around 30mm in 2" size. These are great for panoramic views of the Milky way, and also handy for finding things.\n\nHere's wishing you clear skies!
49711
this is subjective - but - Celestron has been having financial troubles, and was bought by another Far east company, whereas Meade seems to be doing pretty well, and has invested quite a bit in new automated manufactuting in Calif. So if you are talking about their SCT scopes, I think current Meades are likely better than current Celestrons, but the scopes are not all "exactly" the same, and you might find an example of a new celestron that does have better optics. There smaller non-sct scopes are in general, made in the far east and are likely pretty much the same quality.  Again, this is highly subjective, and 10 people will give you 11 opinons.  Meade has just introduced there new RC line, which the current issue of Sky and Telescope raves about as really superior to the SCTs.
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This is the best I have ever used, plus it uses real satelite pictures: http://earth.google.com
1170213
It depends on what you need telescope for.  Things like Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, the Orion Nebula will look great.  This is a great out of the box scope but it isn't a large one.  If you want to do a lot of deep space exploration you need a bigger/different scope.  There is an article at Sky & Telescope about chosing the right scope.\n\nhttp://skyandtelescope.com/howto/scopes/article_241_1.asp
243874
First, the type of telescope you want depends mainly on what kind of observing you want to do. If you're mostly interested in deep space, get yourself what's called a REFLECTOR. I have an 8" Meade reflector and under good "seeing" conditions can observe just about every star in our galaxy visible from the Northern Hemisphere, plus structures beyond the Milky Way up to about 10-billion light years. Just be sure and buy a reflector system that has a clock drive. This makes it possible to stay locked on to some object without having to constantly move the 'scope tube to compensate for Earth's rotation.\n\nIf you're into Solar System observing, then a refractor will do nicely. They don't gather as much light as a reflector, but the resolution is much better--plus images aren't inverted as with most reflectors.\n\nCelestron Inc puts out the Cadillac of telescopes, but Meade provides very good products at less cost. Do NOT buy any telescope from retail stores like K-Mart, Sears, etc.,. Most of the stuff is cheap junk. Either buy mail order from Celestron or Meade, or visit a store that sells nothing but astronomy-related things.\n\nGod is spelled B-I-G B-A-N-G\nPBrax@netscape.com
784963
Lots of options and opportunities to specialize in that price range.\n\nA few possibilities: \nCatadioptric: 12" Meade LX200R http://www.astronomics.com/main/product.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/SH2RX8FAHP0M9KU9QPNE5T8P61/product_id/12210RU\nDob-Newt: 14.5" Starmaster\nhttp://www.starmastertelescopes.com/new14.htm\nor 15" Obsession\nhttp://obsessiontelescopes.com/telescopes/index.html\nRefractor: 130mm TMB Signature (you'll have to skimp on the mount to stay under $5k; maybe a used GM-8)\nhttp://www.astronomics.com/main/product.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/X9S97ENNVDED9JVW6C3HAN0S10/product_id/TMB130\nor a 102mm Stellarvue and plenty left for a good mount\nhttp://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?t=&pid=11163&m=93
1000403
What sort of features are you hoping to see? An 80mm would be enough to see the red spot on Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. It probably won't make out the Cassini division in the rings, though.  You should also be able to see cloud bands on Jupiter. When looking at Mars, you might be ble to see some dark splotches during excellent seeing conditions, but Mars is a hard object for everyone. The most you will ever see on Venus is the phase because the clouds obscure everything else. Mercury is a hard object and is way too small to see anything. Uranus will be a blue dot as will Neptune. You won't see Pluto.\n\nI hope this helps!
419025
Join US army.They have very good satalites.\nThere is no such live satelite for civilian use.
788820
Sky and Telescope reviewed under $200 telescopes in the December '05 edition, and their well-rated telescopes (in order of preference) were:\nOrion SkyQuest XT4.5 Dobsonian\nOrion StarBlast Astro Telescope\nOrion SpaceProbe 3 Altazimuth\nOrion Observer 70mm Altazimuth Refractor\nScientifics Astroscan\n\nThe two at the top of the list have the largest apertures, at 4.5", and will therefore show you more than the others. The next two on the list are smaller, and the Astroscan won't take enough magnification for planets.\n\nDon't listen to people who will try to tell you that a small telescope is better for light polluted skies - bigger is ALWAYS better.\n\nStay away from Walmart and other discount stores, sporting goods stores,  science stores, camera stores, and eBay. Buy from a reputable telescope dealer. I've listed a couple below.
982426
That depends what consideration you have.  Reflecting have the advantage of having less chromatic aberration than refractor, and tend to be larger for a given weight.  The most important aspect for a telescope is the size of the primary mirror, because it defines the light gathering capability, so this is a case where bigger is better (as long as the quality is there, evidently)\nCassegrain is a variation of the reflector, where a secondary mirror sends the light back through the center of the primary; the other style is Newtonian where a diagonal mirror sends the light t the side.  For moderate size telescope Newtonian is more comfortable.\nA very important aspect to consider is also the mounting.  If you only want to do optical observation, then a Dobsnian mounting is very cheap, as it forgoes the tracking mechanism.  If you would want to do astophotography with long exposure, then you would need an equatorial mount with a drive that can track a star.  Recent models rely on computerized motorization, which as most electronics, have allowed the advanced capabilities for an relatively acceptable price.\nMy suggestion is that you document yourself, perhaps buy a couple of issues of astronomy magazine, like Astronomy or Star & Telescope, and get acquinted with the market.  You will be able to decide what you want, and what you can afford.\nAnd I hope you have access to clear sky and dark night.\nHappy observations!
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i looked last summer,it was $60 a month !\nOuch !\nthat's sattelite prices with a crummy feed to boot !
552520
My favorite of the free ones is Celestia.\n\nhttp://www.shatters.net/celestia/\n\nyou can fly to any star and then center the view on our sun, Sol.  By turning on constellation boundaries, you see what constellation it is in--and how badly mangled the constellations become when you go far away!  It has some extra solar planets modeled too (generic planets, since we don't know what they really look like).\n\nSo if you go to this site and download and run Celestia, you can do the following:\n\nclick Navigation at the top, then goto object.  Type Arcturus in the "Object" field and click "goto".  The way I have it set up, my screen is now all white (I'm TOO close to arcturus!).  I rotate my scroll wheel down to move back some to see the star better.  (HOME and END move forward and back if you have no scroll wheel).  Then, I click Navigation, then Select Sol to select our sun.  Then hit Navigation and Center Selection, and there's a teeny yellow dot in the center of the screen--that is the sun. It appears to be in the constellation Cetus (a really mangled barely-recognizable Cetus).
1143611
Well, first off avoid the TASCO ones 'cos they have a reputation for using cheap optics with overly powered eyepieces (according to those in the know) - I bought one myself off Ebay a couple of years ago.\nIt ain't exactly bad (apart from the wobbly stand, cheap eyepieces, hopeless spotting scope)...... more stupid but savable than bad. Couple weeks ago I finally got round to buying a better quality "Orion Explorer II 7-21mm Zoom" eyepiece, which is a good investment, but the usual New Telescope/Accessory + sky gone cloudy once it's dark enough outside to use it jinx has been occuring ever since I got the blinkin' thing!\n\nLooking @ Telescopes.com, within your budget I'd suggest...... *drum roll*....... \nthe \nCelestron - FirstScope 114 EQ Short Newtonian Reflector  @ $159 (knocked down from $377)  http://www.telescopes.com/products/Celestron_FirstScope_114_EQ_Short_Newtonian_Reflector_5936.html\nor the Meade - 114EQ-A Short Tube EQ Reflector @ $179.95 (knocked down from $249)  http://www.telescopes.com/products/Meade_114EQ-A_Short_Tube_EQ_Reflector_-_Deluxe_Mount_42684.html\n\nAnother alternative is to scour the adverts in the back of Astronomy magazines for ones people are selling off..... or of course good old Ebay\n http://photography.listings.ebay.com/Binoculars-Telescopes_Telescopes_W0QQfromZR4QQsacatZ74927QQsocmdZListingItemList\n\nFor more advice, check out:\nhttp://skyandtelescope.com/howto/scopes/