Telescopes & Binoculars

Question:

Trying to decide between the Nexstar SE 6 or 8?  Recommendations for accessories as well.  Live in small community — rural area.  4 kids ages 8 - 18.  Thanks….. Robert

Answer:

Both are kid-compatible because you can adjust the eyepiece low enough for seated viewing, even for kids.

Differences:

The light gathering of the 8″ is 78% larger than the 6″, which means nothing on the Moon and planets. But it means everything for other deep-sky objects (of which there are 14,000 in the memory), which are fairly faint. An 8″ can show you a lot more than a 6″ in the sky.  Weight difference is 26# vs. 32#, not consequential for an adult. All the accessories that work on the 6″ work on the 8″. The 8″ wiggles a little more (higher center of gravity), but this is not severe in visual use. Neither scope is a photographic instrument.  Other than a quick snapshot of the Moon through the eyepiece, I would recommend Celestron’s 6″ or 8″ on an Advanced Series GoTo mount if photography was a critical factor. But, those scopes are 50# and 56# respectively, so substantially heavier. I don’t know where you live, but chances are darker skies are a little drive away.  Both the 8″ and 6″ SE can EASILY be transported to a darker site. Accessories may be important, so I’m attaching a list of the most popular accessories with telescopes. If that matters for your budget, take them into account.

Don

Celestron NexStar Telescopes:

Item No. 111-10060
Manuf. No. Takahashi TSS1021

Complete TSA-102 system. Package includes TSA-102 refractor, EM-11 Temma-2 Jr. GOTO mount, tube holder, 7×50 finder, finder bracket, tripod, 18mm LE ocular and 1.25″ Takahashi diagonal with compression ring.

Not only is the TSA-102S a great visual instrument, it can be converted into a flat field f/7.84 or an f/5.98 wide field imaging platform for a CCD camera or digital SLR. The addition of the optional camera angle adjuster allows the image to be rotated 360? without loss of focus. The camera angle adjuster is also very handy for visual applications to position the ocular or bino viewer in the best most comfortable position.

See Details:

Takahashi Telescope TSA-102II FL DBLET APO, EM-11 TEMMA-2 JR 300X MT. TSS1021

Item No. 890-10582

MaxIm DL: The Gold Standard

MaxIm DL is the fastest and easiest way to image the night sky. Whether you want to produce stunning portraits, collect science data, or hunt for new objects, MaxIm DL has the tools you need.

Version 5 adds a host of new capabilities, to make imaging and processing faster and easier than ever before possible.

See Details:

CYANOGEN MaxIm DL Pro Suite (w/DSLR)-v.5 For CCD Imaging

Item No. 787-10050
Manuf. No. Unihedron SQM-L

Finally, an affordable meter for measuring sky brightness for astronomers!

The Sky Quality Meter - L measures the brightness of the night sky in magnitudes per square arcsecond.

Unprecedented sensitivity in a handheld meter!

Designed by Dr. Doug Welch and Anthony Tekatch

See Details:

Unihedron Sky Quality Meter - L SQM-L