Starting astronomy

"Remi Lillelien" wrote in
:

Hi everyone,

I'm planning on picking up planet gazing. My favoritte objects are
Mars and Jupiter. and im looking for a telescope to match my needs.
I've been lingering around the Meade ETX-90/EC. Now im pretty green
about telescopes, but the lady in the shop kept braging about a super
offer they had which included a 2x barlow lens, now what is that?

A Barlow is a type of negative lens which effectively increases the focal
length of your telescope. A 2 X Barlow will double the magnification you
would normally get with a particular eyepiece.

The Meade ETX 90's are generally reported to have fairly good optics but
not so good on the mechanical side. Also remember this scope only has a
90mm aperture, so don't expect too much. Check out the Yahoo Meade groups
to get lots of info on the ETX.


My question is what do you recomend for starters (with a 1000$
budget).. and any good books about the subject (telescopes, not
astronomy)


Personally, I would go for an eight or ten inch dobsonian (Newtonian on a
simple ALT/AZ mount) plus some decent eyepieces. Not as portable as the ETX
but aperture rules!

L.


Remi, Norway

Read the telescope buyer's FAQ at www.telescope.com. Then, find your lcoal
astronomy club and attend a few of their "star parties" where you can try
out a number of different type scopes first hand and see how they work.
Having experienced advisors nearby is way better than trying to go it alone.
You'll have more fun, too!

Hap Griffin

"Remi Lillelien" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone,

I'm planning on picking up planet gazing. My favoritte objects are Mars
and
Jupiter. and im looking for a telescope to match my needs. I've been
lingering around the Meade ETX-90/EC. Now im pretty green about
telescopes,
but the lady in the shop kept braging about a super offer they had which
included a 2x barlow lens, now what is that?
My question is what do you recomend for starters (with a 1000$ budget)..
and
any good books about the subject (telescopes, not astronomy)

Remi, Norway

"Remi Lillelien" wrote in
:

Hi everyone,


FYI a good link on Barlow lenses:

http://www.astunit.com/tutorials/barlow.htm


Remi, Norway