Orion Sirius 80ED EQ-G GoTo Refractor Telescope

The main feature that sets the Orion Sirius 80 EQ Go To refractor telescope apart from the others is that it is ideally designed for suburb astro-photography. When taking photographs of the night time sky, it is vital to have a high quality reliable telescope to use.

The lens used on the Orion Sirius refractor telescope has a f/7.5. An advantage to the 80 mm objective lens. One of the lenses used is specially made to reduce the color infringing that occurs from chromatic aberration, causing the lines and blurring of color in the images that are taken. These have been a bane of astro-photographers for a very long time.

This telescope comes with the Sirius EQ-G Go-To mount to achieve stability while taking pictures. Both stability and control are needed when taking photographs with the Orion Sirius 80 EQ refracting telescope since it is such a powerful scope. This stability is provided by using the Crayford style focuser for both two inch and one and a quarter inch accessories while mounting your camera and imaging eyepiece.

The database has nearly forty three thousand images of the celestial objects for astronomical photographers to refer to when using the hand controller. This is used in order to zero in on the precise astronomical features desired. The mount has internal motors to stabilize the two different axis. One great feature is the periodic error correction to correct movement of the planets and stars as our earth rotates and moves through space; this stabilizing results in the wonderful photographs that are taken with this scope.

The price of the Orion Sirius 80ED refractor telescope is $1, 499.95; also payable is a shipping charge. This telescope is not intended for children to use unattended, it is intended for adult use.

The Go To hand controller requires a Windows 95 platform or later, a computer interface cable that is supplied, an RS-232 communications port on the personal computer being used, and a DC power supply that is at least 7.5V to 15V @ 100mA or greater output. It needs to have a 2.1 mm tip with a positive plug for minimal performance. It is important to make sure that the communication port on the personal computer is able to meet the high transfer rate. If it is not, the information can be uploaded at a lower rate, but the time needed will also be increased.

The tripod for the Orion Sirius 80 ED has 1.75 diameter legs made of stainless steel with a stabilizing tray that allows the telescope to be mounted easily and efficiently while in use. It requires a twelve volt DC battery or it can be adapted to use 110 volt power by using an adapter that switches from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). It has a one year limited warranty.

For the price the Orion in question is an excellent scope, geared toward the more serious amateur sky watcher.

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Universal Truths Stripped Down By The Naked Astronomers

Naked Astronomy is a new stripped down information service for amateur astronomers who want to let everyone know the bare truth about what’s happening in the universe.

Crusty scientists giving interminable lectures are given the boot and the Naked Astronomers focus on bright, breezy presentation that’s fun and informative.

The new stars of astronomy are a media-savvy group of physicians and researchers from Cambridge University who use radio, live lectures, and the Internet to strip science down to its bare essentials, and promote it to the general public.

Their award winning BBC weekly radio programme, The Naked Scientists, reaches a potential audience of 6 million listeners across the east of England, and also has an international following on the web.

Each week, listeners of all ages and backgrounds tune in on a Sunday evening to hear creator Dr Chris Smith, together with his entertaining sidekicks, interview renowned scientists and researchers from all over the world and take science questions on any subject live from the listening public.

The astronomy gig is presented by Ben Valsler together with Cambridge space scientists Carolin Crawford, Andrew Pontzen, Dominic Ford and a host of other cosmologically gifted contributors.

Now, you can download free podcasts and videos of news, views and experiments from the show from the Naked Scientists website.

In the latest editions, Ben and his team have looked at the source of the oldest light in the universe and asked if there is a planet in our solar system beyond Pluto.

The show and web site are great for astronomy enthusiasts of all ages who don’t want to listen to serious science debate but what their information in easily digestible byte-size bits.

What’s great is if you miss an episode, you can download a podcast or video cast from iTunes or the BBC iPlayer direct to your computer or portable media player and listen or watch when you have the time.

Astronomy is just one subject the Naked Scientists look at – their brief includes physics and archaeology.

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National Geographic 70mm Spotting Scope With Tripod

If you are shopping for a beginner’s telescope, the name that will keep cropping up is the National Geographic 70mm Spotting Scope with tripod.

This is a popular refractor telescope for beginners sold under the generally reliable National Geographic brand through high street stores like Argos and Homebase for about £100.

This is a very basic telescope only suitable for an absolute beginner that gives limited views of the moon and planets.

With a 70mm mirror and magnification of x140, the National Geographic comes at the bottom end of the scale for viewing interesting objects in the night sky.

With manual focus and weighing in at 2Kg, this is a lightweight scope with a tabletop mount. The stripped down weight comes from many of the parts being moulded from plastic instead of metal.

If you are buying a first telescope for a budding astronomer, then be careful that the lack of visibility of distant objects this scope gives doesn’t put the junior stargazer off their hobby.

If the telescope is an introduction or taster for a youngster who you would feel safe handing a cheaper telescope to see if they are interested in astronomy, then this basic model is probably OK.

The detail is in the name really – it’s a spotting scope to line up a larger observing telescope rather than an observing scope itself.

The National Geographic is also woefully unsuitable for astrophotography as them kit comes without a counterbalancing weight.

For more serious astronomers, read our product reviews of Celestron, Meade or Skywatcher brands for refractor telescopes with similar mirror specification that far outperform what is really a toy from National Geographic.

It seems a shame that such a recognisable brand as National Geographic has lent its name to a product that really is not good value for the price – but in the end, telescopes are the same as everything else and you get what you pay for.

The technical specs are:

* Magnification 15 to 225x.
* Optimum magnification 75x.
* Lens diameter 70mm.
* Manual focus.
* Can be used for land and sky.
* Size (H) 121cm, (W) 78cm, (D) 78cm.
* Limited lifetime guarantee.

Spending A Night With The Stars – the Ideal Christmas Gift

The ideal Christmas present for any astronomers in the family is spending a night with the stars looking through the Britain’s largest refractor telescope at the Royal Observatory.

Places are limited for this special treat observing double stars and star clusters with a professional astronomer on nine dates in December using the observatory’s 28” refractor telescope – that ranks as the seventh largest in the world.

These sky watches are only available in the lead up to the winter solstice because they are the shortest and darkest days of the year and often have clear skies due to the colder weather.

Completed in 1893, it was designed to keep the Royal Observatory at the forefront of contemporary astronomy at the start of the 20th century.

Astronomers utilised the telescope for research in to double star systems until its retirement in the late 1960s. It is now a central part of educational programmes at the Royal Observatory. A computer-aided guidance system and CCD camera have3 recently been added to the set up.

Cannonball bearings for rotating mount

Not only is the view of the night sky spectacular from the telescope, but the setting at the observatory in Greenwich, London, is also fascination as the telescope is now housed in an ‘onion dome’ resembling the Taj Mahal in India.

The dome’s shape was a solution to a design problem. The smaller predecessor to the 28-inch telescope had been housed in a flat-topped wooden ‘drum’ mounted on cannonballs which acted as ball bearings.

As the new 28-inch was eight feet longer than the previous telescope, a new dome was needed to avoid major rebuilding of the supporting brick tower. The answer was the 'onion dome', which bulges to a maximum radius of about five feet wider than the supporting tower walls. The cannonballs were also replaced with a more modern system.

Water powered drive froze in winter

The 28-inch lens weighs 200lbs and only two glassmakers in the world were capable of producing it, Commission to completion took eight years.

The telescope sits on an English Equatorial mount made for another telescope that was in use 30 years before the current refractor was built. The original drive was falling water that froze in the winter. Now the telescope is electric powered.

* Booking is required for the star nights by calling the Royal Observatory (020 8312 6608) for dates and availability. Tickets are £5 with concessions at £3.50.

The Sky-Watcher 4″ (120mm) f/5 BK1206AZ3 refractor

The Sky-Watcher 4" (120mm) f/5 telescope falls in to the category of an achromatic refractor that gives good resolution in a neat, portable package.

The telescope gives fine astronomical vistas and close focus views of stars, galaxies, clusters, nebulae, planets, and the moon. With correct projection or filtering viewing the sun is also possible.

The BK1206AZ3 is a great terrestrial telescope for alt-azimuth or tripod mounting. A competitive price with good imaging makes this a good entry-level beginner's telescope with the bonus of easy handling makes the BK1206AZ3 a good travelling companion for a seasoned sky watcher.

The BK1206AZ3 has many similarities with smaller brother, a 80mm f/5 refractor. With a larger aperture, this model has a better capacity for collecting light at the same focal ratio and gives excellent wider field views.

Weighing only 3kg (6.5lbs) and measuring about 50cm (21.7") this is a very portable telescope.

As a refractor, set up is straightforward and takes only a few minutes. Minimal maintenance is needed as the optics are enclosed and factory collimated.

Mounting the telescope on alt-azimuth or equatorial mounts is quick and simple.

This telescope also has excellent performance as a fixed aperture, 510mm lens for astrophotography. The f/5 focal length combined with a digital SLR camera on a fast setting can capture excellent astrophotography. The telescope is equally at home taking terrestrial nature images.

An unshakeable equatorial mount and guidance system are needed for astrophotography.

A T-mount thread on the eyepiece holder allows direct attachment of an SLR camera and the optional 2.5" (60mm) extension tube allows close focus standard photography options.

The Sky-Watcher 4" (120mm) f/5 is recommended for urban astronomy – with a 13.1 stellar magnitude and 240x highest practical power.

The makers also recommend as an accessory a single axis EQ5 battery motor drive with hand controller that gives tracking 2x and 8x tracking speeds.

All in all, this refractor packs a punchy performance for a relatively low outlay against other models in the same class and is a great introduction to astronomy for a new observer or a competent and robust back up for a more experienced user.