posted on Sep, 30 2018 @ 07:09 AM
a reply to:
Allaroundyou
I am by no means the expert some here are, but I looked into this recently also and here's what I found...
First, it's a deep rabbit-hole with lots of considerations.
There are kind of two different paths you can go down; one is photography and the other is what I would characterize more as actual astronomy. If
you're wanting to look at and photograph things like the Moon or planets a good camera, tripod and software might be a better option. If you're
wanting to find distant stars and constellations then a telescope is the way to go.
Either way you go, the base you mount your optics to is actually more important (and more expensive) than the optics themselves. Sometimes several
times more. Then there's the software. It's not really astronomy software as much as it is photographic software used to enhance the images you're
seeing. The software is not particularly expensive (some of it is free), but it is fairly complicated and takes time and practice to learn. The
other software you'll need is what I would call navigation software which can convert star charts into actual azimuth and elevation off the horizon
settings based on your exact location and the date and time. This too takes time and practice to master.
In the end what I found is, you're not really buying a telescope. You're buying a whole bunch of other stuff which just happens to come with a
telescope as an added bonus.
I'm sure someone will be along shortly to say I'm just crazy, but that's what I found.
edit on 9/30/2018 by Flyingclaydisk because: (no reason
given)