* Astronomy

Celestron C6-S Schmidt-Cassegrain
Introducing the C6-S, The Newest
Member Of The Advanced Series Family.
£549.00

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How to buy a telescope
Some questions to ask before making your choice:

Whats more important, convenience or light-gathering ability? If you want something easy to haul to the backyard for a quick look at the moon and planets, you want a portable, relatively light scope, likely a refractor or small reflector. If you have visions of tracking down faint galaxies and nebulae, you must sacrifice convenience for a larger scope such as a 200- to 300-millimetre reflector. And be warned, even a smaller reflector in the 200-millimetre range, for example requires a bit of muscle to move around.

Refractor or reflector? This relates to the "bigger or easier" question above but a quick explanation of these terms might help. A refractor uses lenses for light-gathering and is usually mounted on a tripod. Reflectors use specialized mirrors to suck in the light and offer more aperture for less money than refractors do. A popular type of reflector is the Dobsonian, which is placed in a box-like base instead of on a tripod.

Am I a go-to gazer? As Ive mentioned, if youre into quick and dirty observing, this is the way to go. But be prepared to pay at least $1,000 for a larger (150-millimetre and up) go-to scope.

Will I be stargazing with my children? Make sure you get a scope small enough that a child can comfortably look into the eyepiece while sitting down. Standing up and observing for any length of time isnt much fun for any observer, young or older. Avoiding high-power viewing is particularly important with children, as the field of view is quite small. Orions SkyQuest XT4.5 reflector has drawn positive reviews as a good first scope for kids that adults can also enjoy.

Do I really need a telescope? The best first instrument for an adult is a good pair of quality binoculars. Wide-field views of star clusters, brighter nebulae and galaxies and the moon can keep you looking up for quite a while before moving up to a scope. Again, a proviso if you want to share the sky with kids: Binoculars likely will be difficult for young observers to hold and focus by themselves. A small scope with a low-power eyepiece might be a better choice.

Another tip when youre ordering online: Try to get your accessories at the same time to reduce shipping charges.

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Can anyone tell the reason why the LXD75 series is being sold again in the UK. For the past 9 months only the SCT model has only been mentioned in various online retailers. Now it appears that the whole series is available again. It has even made the pages of the current edition of Astronomy now being sold through Telescopeplanet.