now this is very interesting! you’re added to my favourites

Posted by freakychucky666, on November 23rd, 2008, at 8:16 am. #.

Any telescope worth its money will be more than a hundred bucks. I highly recommend saving up. The Orion SkyQuest XT6 or XT4.5 (without the Intelliscope computer)are the best beginner scopes I’ve seen so far out there. They run around $200-$250.

Posted by truemartian, on November 24th, 2008, at 9:34 pm. #.

hey dude i love your videos but want ask you where can i find a telescope that is good to look at the planets but under 100 dollars, and is it refractor or reflector telescope,and dude make a new astronomy video.

Posted by mangadude101, on November 27th, 2008, at 2:33 am. #.

ok and thanks for getting back so quick. carry on the good work.u do a great job.. ***** for your video and help.

Posted by djla1, on November 27th, 2008, at 5:14 am. #.

I recommend a minimum 4 inch diameter reflector. Keep in mind that the smaller the telescope diameter the less detail is resolved. Do not be disappointed with venus. Its completely covered in clouds and only displays a brilliant white disk in small telescopes, that will undergo phases like the moon. Keep in mind that there are limitations to what a backyard telescope can show you. Especially given that the detector is the human eye. Conditions of the sky affect how you percieve an object too.

Posted by truemartian, on November 27th, 2008, at 3:06 pm. #.

hello. love your video. just want to ask: what size reflector scope do i need to see jupitar or other planets. i brought a ta800-80. 800mm focal length/80mm objective with 6mm/12.5mm/and 20mm eyepieces with 3x barlow lens. yesterday i could see the moon venus and jupitar with the eye. i looked though my scope and focused on venus but it just looked like anouther star. do i need a 6inc to 8 inc scope to see the planets. eney help will be greatfull. ty

Posted by djla1, on November 27th, 2008, at 8:55 pm. #.

As far as a beginner scope I recommend only dobsonian type reflectors (truss types, ie. lightbridge, on dob mounts may also be acceptable) Orion also makes a series of dobs called SkyQuest XT. The Orion SkyQuest XT6 classic is an excellent starter.

Posted by truemartian, on November 30th, 2008, at 11:38 pm. #.

saw ur reply and thks
do u have any reomendations for reflectors?
thks once again

Posted by chuananrock, on December 1st, 2008, at 10:38 pm. #.

Havnt used a lightbridge before but 8 inches is a good size.

Posted by truemartian, on December 2nd, 2008, at 6:33 pm. #.

nice!
is meade lightbridge 8inch a gd beginner telescope?

Posted by chuananrock, on December 2nd, 2008, at 11:04 pm. #.

I just wanted to thank you for the response. Your videos are great. Im just getting in to this so im sure I’ll be watching them often. I’m glad to see someone like you takes the time to do what your doing. Keep up the great work I think people like you help the beginning hobbyist.

Posted by budsipper69, on December 6th, 2008, at 2:08 am. #.

Its difficult to tell you what you may see in a telescope Ive never looked through myself. In general a small telescope like yours will not resolve much detail so you may be in for a bit of disappointment when it comes to deep space. Of course the moon and all the bright planets are great targets. My honest and true advice is this; to not listen to what anyone might say as to what you can or cant see with the telescope you hav. Observing objects for yourself is vital for your learning process.

Posted by truemartian, on December 6th, 2008, at 1:01 pm. #.

Hi Great vid. I had a question about a Telescope my father recently gave me. It is a Bushnell 440×60 refractor telescope model: 78-9440 I was wandering if you could give me an idea as to what I might be able to see with it assuming I set it up right and figure out how to properly locate objects in the sky. This is my first telescope and I’m kind of excited to learn more about Astronomy. Thanks.

Posted by budsipper69, on December 8th, 2008, at 3:06 am. #.

Thanks mate, great vid!
I will enjoy watching all of the rest of them! Keep em’ coming please.

Posted by gritz888, on December 10th, 2008, at 11:07 pm. #.

Spectral type is a clasification of stars. from largest/Hotest to coolest/smallest they run something like O A B F G K M and I think T and L now too. Our sun is a type G2. Each letter is subdivided 0 to 9. The odd sequencing of letters occurs because a few changes were made in the system to place stars that had already been clasified in the corect temperature sequence in the proces of discovery. Various other characters apear next to the leter and numrical dsignation to furthr describ the star.

Posted by truemartian, on December 14th, 2008, at 7:11 am. #.

I am assuming that J2000 is probably the position of objects in the sky as of the year 2000. If stellarium has been programed with the radial velocities of all the stars it displays then it could conceivably display the exact positions of stars for any year after 2000. Dont go quoting me on this I didnt really look it up! lol Im relying on things ive read somewhere sometime ago. Not sure what you mean by #s being never the same length apart?

Posted by truemartian, on December 15th, 2008, at 2:45 pm. #.

Hello Jay,
Quick question,…I noticed on stellarium that the RA/DE comes 2 different ways. Theres “J2000″ and then theres “Equ of date”.
And theyre not a whole lot different. For instance, Sirius, when I was looking at it, was(J2000), 6h45m8s\-16*43’33″. And the other is 6h45m32s\-16*43’33″. Also, the #s are never the same length apart. What is the deal there? Also, have any idea what “Spectral Type” is? Some examples of those are,…A0m, B7V, M2lb. LOL,….yah

Posted by lair333, on December 15th, 2008, at 6:52 pm. #.

well this is a great upload always been a sky gazer.

Posted by philos4r, on December 19th, 2008, at 3:52 am. #.

A 10mm difference is not significant.

Posted by truemartian, on December 21st, 2008, at 1:31 pm. #.

Well then, how would you compare a 120mm refractor to a 130mm reflector for planetary viewing?

Posted by Pingletons, on December 23rd, 2008, at 11:21 pm. #.

I’ve never compared an 8 with a 4 but I do have a 4 and a 10. In the 4 the Orion nebula is just a fuzzy patch of light surrounding its central stars. In the 10 the nebula actually begins to take shape like its pictures and tendrils of gas become visible. In the 4 individual stars are barely resolved in M13, in the 10 it looks like someone dropped a pile of diamonds in the sky.

Posted by truemartian, on December 25th, 2008, at 9:33 pm. #.

How would you compare, say a 4.7 inch refractor, to an 8 inch dobsonian reflector? I am mostly interested in planetary and lunar viewing. In fact, what is a good rule of thumb in general when comparing the two?

Posted by Pingletons, on December 26th, 2008, at 8:51 pm. #.

You are probably seeing a background star. Jupiter only has 4 moons visible in backyard telescopes. All the rest of its 63 moons are small and asteroid like.

Posted by truemartian, on December 30th, 2008, at 7:16 am. #.

cool. what size scope did you use? mine is small and cheep, only couple hundred, but I have a blast. I have taken out my scope past few nights to see jupiter. I can clearly see the 4 moons Callisto, Io, ganymede, europe. however, as I zoom in closer to jupiter I see another moon that I dont know. its real close. it was about 3 oclock and Io, the closest “big” moon is about 11 oclock. do you know which moon this is? or am i seeing something diffrent? I used a 10mm and 4mm eyepeice f=700mm d=60mm

Posted by jfl187, on December 30th, 2008, at 4:25 pm. #.