Any amateur Astronomers, stargazers or telescopes buffs on here?

[Bob T]

Following on from my recent visit to Stonehenge NZ and having been to a few lectures at the Stardome Observatory and Planetarium, I got to view through their largest telescope available for public viewing, a 50cm. Saw the 4 moons of Jupiter and lots of other constellations.   Awesome.                                                       I'm now looking at getting a small telescope of my own around 5'' -  6'' lense around $700 - $900 range, any recommendations or experiences . Thanks

[Dans 68]

I've always liked the Dobsonian scopes...I have a 12-in diameter that gathers a tremendous amount of light (and that is most important). Best value for your dollar.

A good friend has a 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain that gives good performance. They are typically motor driven to aid in photography finding and deep space objects.

Do your due diligence and enjoy the views.

Dan

[Dmichels]

Orion Dobsons best value for the buck I did some research on this and these were recomended by "experts" as the best entry level type scope. Lens type scopes did not seam to get recomended too much. As with anything do your homework. I got a 6 inch delivered for $300. I am very happy with it
Dave

[Bob T]

Thanks for the replies Guys. I had been leaning towards a Dobsonian as it was, I will do some more research on what is available locally.

Always had been keen to follow it up further but the recent catalyst was a visit to Stonehenge NZ, about a 9 hour drive away from here. Quite impressive, it was built in 2005 by volunteers from the Phoenix Astrological Society as a working open air observatory. They also have clubrooms with telescopes adajacent to the structure. The Henge also provides revenue for the Society for telescopes and maintenance.

One of the most impressive places I have been to, I did a short clip.
The upwards hole in the obelisk point towards the Southern Celestial Pole.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BJ6TlW0l3I

This is the layout of the site below, and a link to their website

http://www.astronomynz.org.nz/stonehenge/