ENTER AND DOWNLOAD STELLARIUM FOR FREE Question : Can I connect a DSLR camera to this telescope? What accessories are needed?
Answer: Yes, of course. You can connect a DSLR camera to this or any other telescope. You'll need a projection adapter and a T2 adapter ring appropriate for your DSLR (there are five DSLR mount standards: Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus E, Petax K, and Sony Alfa/Minolta AF). These adapters are available in our online store in the astronomy accessories section.
Question : Can I attach a compact camera to this telescope? What accessories are needed?
Answer: Of course you can. You can find a suitable adapter for compact cameras in the astronomy accessories section of our online store ( universal adapter for compact digital cameras ).
Question : Can I attach a HYBRID camera (a large, compact camera with the dimensions of a SLR) to this telescope? What accessories are needed?
Answer: You can try this, but it's not recommended. So-called hybrids are poor performers in astrophotography because they lack the lens removal capabilities of an SLR, and their large size and large lenses make shelf systems unsuitable. Vignetting is significant because the lens can't be brought very close to the telescope's eyepiece. We recommend purchasing an SLR or an inexpensive compact camera.
Question : What else is worth buying for this telescope?
Answer: The presented telescope is a complete set, ready for astronomical observations on the first clear night. As a supplement, we recommend educational publications, which will make both using the telescope and observing more conscious and easier. It's also worth considering purchasing planetary contrast filters and solar filter foils (available in the astronomy accessories section).
Question : Can this telescope be used as a spotting scope/nature scope?
Answer: NO. This reflecting telescope (Newtonian) is not suitable for observing terrestrial objects because it produces an upside-down image ("green-down"), and there are no good optical methods for "restoring" it. However, this does not impede astronomical observations, because for a terrestrial observer, the concept of up and down makes sense on Earth; in space, it does not exist.
Newtonian telescopes, on the other hand, are quite good for photographing terrestrial objects and observing airplanes at cruising altitudes.
Question : Can I observe both planets and nebulae through this telescope? Is this telescope only for city or country viewing?
Answer: All telescopes offered allow observation of the Solar System's planets (all of them) and nebulae, or more precisely, galaxies, star clusters, emission nebulae, etc. The clarity of planetary surface detail and the number and brightness of nebulous objects are a separate issue. A smaller telescope has its own sky, a larger one its own, but we can always count on stunning observations of the Moon's surface structures, the phases of Mercury and Venus, the disk of Mars, Jupiter's belts and Jupiter's four Galilean moons, Saturn's ring, and the disks of Uranus and Neptune. The brightest nebulae, such as the Great Andromeda Nebula (M31), the Great Orion Nebula (M42), or the globular cluster in Hercules (M13), always delight; even a small telescope will reveal dozens of the most beautiful nebulae. Finally, a telescope equipped with a solar filter can be used to observe sunspots on the solar disk.
There's no division between city and country telescopes; rather, there are recommendations: if the telescope will be used primarily in the city, in conditions of city light pollution and a highly unstable atmosphere (buildings radiate heat at night, warming the air, and the image begins to "float" like on a hot day over a hot road!), then an achromatic refractor (lens telescope) or a Maksutov (meniscus-reflecting) is recommended. Our primary targets will be planets and compact objects. On the other hand, under pitch-black, rural skies, it's worth using a Newtonian (mirror) telescope with the largest mirror we can afford, as we can count on a more stable and clearer atmosphere and excellent opportunities for observing nebulae.
Question : Does this telescope include a tripod/mount?
Answer: Of course YES, every telescope has a mount unless it is described as OTA ( Optical Tube Assembly).
Question : You write that the telescope comes with assembly, does that mean you will come and assemble the telescope for me?
Answer: Mounting doesn't mean mounting , but rather the system for mounting the telescope's tube. It's important to understand that we never observe with an astronomical telescope "handheld"—we must mount the telescope on a system that allows it to be precisely aligned to any region of the sky.
In an equatorial (also called equatorial or equatorial) mount , the telescope's optical tube is mounted on a tripod with a movable head with two axes: the hour axis (right ascension axis) and the declination axis, corresponding to the coordinates of objects on the celestial sphere. Don't worry—it's not difficult, although the names may seem exotic at first. An equatorial mount has one axis (right ascension axis) set so that, as the telescope rotates, it moves like the stars across the sky. At our latitudes, objects do not move in straight lines or circles (unlike at the poles, where they move in circles parallel to the horizon, or at the equator - where they rise and set always perpendicular to the horizon), but in arcs.
In practice, a properly adjusted equatorial mount allows you to follow astronomical objects by moving the telescope in only one axis, allows you to take sky images with exposure times longer than a few seconds, and allows you to install a clock drive/motor to compensate for the Earth's daily rotation. In short, an equatorial mount is a typical astronomical mount.
