Naked-eye astronomy is more than just meteors.

To profdant139: Here is a link for an Astroscan...
http://www.cloudynights.com/classifieds/item/41945-edmund-astroscan-made-in-japan-model/

There is more than one avail.

Ultra, thanks for the tip -- as my kids used to say, "good lookin' out, dawg!" I am not sure what that means, but it sounded cool when they said it.

Ultralife wrote:
To profdant139: Here is a link for an Astroscan...
http://www.cloudynights.com/classifieds/item/41945-edmund-astroscan-made-in-japan-model/

There is more than one avail.

I'd hold off for a new one with the Telrad finder. Edmund's will fix this. If I'd known that I could have sold my used one for $180...:E That's about what I paid for it originally.

LS

Here are a couple of links to a U-2 pilot who does (or did) "naked eye" astronomy from 70,000': http://www.flyingsquadron.com/forums/topic/20563-satellites/?p=392046

http://www.flyingsquadron.com/forums/topic/20563-satellites/?p=392078

LS

Here is another example of non-telescope night sky. I have a page of night photos at Night Time Photos

Devils Tower

U can without a dought does not have any lites , saw it a month or so ago , no lites, but does move at a good pace. Now it's all happy-camping

Monaco, we have what is technically called a "pronoun antecedent issue:" when you say you saw "it," which "it" is it?? Thanks for clearing "it" up!

LenSatic wrote:
The best starter scope, IMHO, is the Edmund Scientific Astroscan. They're simple and so rugged that I use to carry it as carry-on luggage. "Yes it looks like a bomb, but it's not a bomb, ma'am." The new ones come with a red-dot sight as a finder scope. No tracking, but it's a rich field (wide field) low power scope, so tracking is not a problem. The go-to feature is you; it's the best way to learn the sky. I gave mine away before moving to AZ and will be getting a new one soon. (They are out of stock until the end of the year.)

LS

I'm sorry, but this telescope doesn't begin to address the items profdant139 was asking about. It also might have been great in it's day, but it's been left behind by many reasonably priced scopes with greater aperture.

FIRST, the question asked was:

profdant139 wrote:
So this brings up another related question -- is there a good compact telescope suitable for RV travel into the boondocks? It would have to be rugged, light, easy to set up and take down, and preferably with a mount that would track the stars -- I think those are called equatorial mounts. And as long as I am dreaming, it ought to have one of those fancy computerized "go to" controls, where you say "find me the Andromeda galaxy." And it should use very little power -- probably connect to an inverter, plugged into the 12 volt system in the RV. After all, if you have ordinary 120 volt power, you are probably in an RV park, with the attendant light pollution.

The now discontinued Astroscan does not begin to meet those requirements. It's a basic 4" newtonian reflector, of only 445mm focal length, without any kind of a Go-To or tracking system. With it's supplied eyepieces, a 28mm and 15mm, it is only capable of 15 and 29 power respectively. Because of it's fast f-ratio, of f4.0 and short focal length, it is not capable of much higher power without image degradation. Light gathering and field of view should be it's forte but with the cheap Plossl eyepieces with which it ships it has only 3 degree and 1.6 degree fields of view respectively. IMHO, it's not even worth upgrading with better eyepieces.

Putting aside the wish for a Go-To for a second, there are far better choices available in a USABLE newtonian reflector with a bigger mirror, greater light gathering capability, and the flexibility for higher magnifications.

For beginner scopes, expecially on a limited budget, I always say go with aperture and light gathering capability over bells and whistles. One of the best choices available today, and as a "grab-and-go" for an RV, is the Sky-Watcher Collapsible Dobsonian 8" The photos don't do it justice to show how compact it is when collapsed.

At $449, only $100 above the last price I can find for a new Astroscan, it's well over twice the telescope. 8" mirror, 1200mm focal length, with the included 25mm and 10mm eyepieces 48 and 120 power respectively. PERFECT !! The 48x is perfect for wide field, like open clusters, the full disc of the moon, and large nebulae and the 120X has enough to be satisfying on planets (with good atmospheric conditions) and globular clusters, galaxy, and nebula. It's a serious instrument.

We just gave one away in our astronomy club's Christmas raffle and the winner, who also has a 16" dobsonian reflector, stopped bringing the 16" to public outreach events and only brings the 8" Sky-Watcher. He's also an RV'er, and keeps the 8" Sky-Watcher in his RV for a "grab-and-go" now.

Addressing profdant139's desire for a "Go-To" telescope, and assuming he's not going to do astrophotography, an Equatorial mount would not be necessary but they're my personal preference (because I do image). Rather, a good Alt/AZ mount with go to capability would be easier to learn and use. For a good easy to use scope on an Alt/Az mount, and suggesting an aperture of at least 6" in a Schmidt-cassegrain, the Celestron NexStar 6SE Computerized Telescope would be good choice. 6" f-10 SCT design, 1500 mm focal length, 44,000 object computerized database, SkyAlign technology to get you aligned and ready to observe in minutes. It comes with only one 25mm eyepiece for a power of only 60X but the optics are such that you can accessorize with any eyepiece you want with a 15mm giving you 100x (for readers who don't know, Focal Length mm / Eyepiece MM = Power).

This mount can also be upgraded with a GPS receiver (accurately sets location and time) and StarSense AutoAlign


Just my opinion, but I do a ton of public astronomy outreach and set a lot of people up with their first scope.

profdant139 wrote:
I talked to them -- they have stopped making them because they were unhappy with the quality of the Chinese optics -- they are working with another manufacturer and hope to have new units by mid-2015. After shopping around, that is the one I want -- there are other small "go to" computerized reflectors around, but they are not as foolproof as the Astroscan. I can wait!

LenSatic wrote:
UPDATE ON MY TELESCOPE RECOMMENDATIONS!

I've been looking into the Astroscan shortage and it seems that they are made in China now, not the US, and QC may be inconsistent. I've contacted Edmund's and am waiting for a response.

LS

This response was much longer till I looked at profdan's profile. Never mind. Maybe an Astroscan is all you have the space for though I still think there are better and more useful alternatives.

You mentioned a "Go-to". How about a "push-to" with a computerized digital setting circles or "Object Locator", where it tells you which way to point but you provide the motive power?

Orion StarBlast 6i IntelliScope Reflector Telescope

In regard to the mention of "China", probably 75% of the consumer astronomy optics sold in the US are made in China anymore and "Chinese optics" certainly is not synonymous with poor quality.

Since 2005, Celestron has been owned by SW Technology Corporation, a division of Synta Technology Corporation of Taiwan, which is basically just a Delaware holding company for Celestron. Synta had made a large part of Celestron's products for 15 years before that. Synta also makes the Sky-Watcher line of telescopes and mounts which have been marketed in Europe and Canada for years and which are now marketed in the US and are headquartered right in Celestron's Torrance, CA facility.

Synta also makes a large part of the Orion line of telescopes, accessories, and mounts with most of the rest of the Orion line made by GSO (Guan Sheng Optical) also a Taiwan otpical company. GSO also made much of the optics (mirrors, focusers) for many of Meade's products for years. William Optics from Taiwan also makes a few of Orion's products most notably some of their eyepieces.

I have no problem with Celestron being owned by Synta as the merger injected billions of dollars in capital into Celestron and has allowed them to expand and refresh their product line. Celestron still makes some of their Schmidt-cassegrain telescopes in Torrance and also has their factory service facility there.

After struggling terribly since around 2006, with bad quality and poor customer service (after moving manufacturing and service to Mexico), Meade Instruments was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. I followed their SEC filings closely during this time and the statements like, "Our machine and manufacturing tools have worn out and we do not have the capital to replace them. It is doubtful that we can continue as a going concern." Meade teetered on the brink of cessation of operations for many years, until they were sold to Sunny Optics Inc, a division of the Chinese firm Ningbo Sunny Electronic Co Ltd., in September of 2013. We shall see if their outcome is as good as Celestron's.

There's others. iOptron (Nanjing iOptron Scientific), many of Takahashi's products, much of the Explore Scientific Line, some of StellarVue's products...the list goes on and on. Almost no one is immune to using Chinese manufacturing or optics.

AstroRig, thanks for the detailed analysis -- you have given us a lot to think about! I will be bookmarking your commentary, that's for sure.