Looking for a decent telescope...

[Smiley]

I want to find a decent telescope that won’t break the bank. I have been looking at a Celestron 6se, but willing to look at other options. I like the Schmidt-Cassegrain design for ease or storage and transport. Need enough power for good planetary views and some basic deep space images. Anyone here have any good recommendations?

 

[wsbrown]

May be too large, but the Orion XT10 is my main scope for viewing. It is great for planetary and soaks up enough light to see most deep sky objects. Keep in mind any deep sky objects are going to be faint and colorless to the human eye through a telescope, that is why I primarily do astrophotography now for deep sky and mainly use the Orion for planetary.

https://www.amazon.com/Orion-8946-SkyQuest-Dobsonian-Telescope/dp/B001DJ4FEE

 

[wsbrown]

Also, this is just me, but I dont use a go-to computer on anything I have. Get a good star map or app on your phone and manually find stuff. It makes you learn the sky.

 

[wsbrown]

This is what I started with, cheap and very portable. It will do most of what the big one will.

https://www.amazon.com/Orion-10015-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=F3GQB5D0CYDB9BE256ZM

 

[Smiley]

I am less concerned about the go-to function than I am a compact powerful scope that I can get a good look at the planets with. Being able to see a few galaxys and nebula would be cool, even if it were not super colorful.

 

[wsbrown]

This is what I use photography and is great for viewing as well. Very compact and higher quality than my other scopes.

https://williamoptics.com/zenithstar-61-apo

 

[furious]

Several years back I bought a Celestron 8" with the GPS and computer control. That season was when Jupiter was at it's closest and the moons could be seen as well. I could see the color of Jupiter, faintly see the eye/storm and a few dots/ moons. Certainly not worth the $2500 I spent. The next week I sold it for a HUGE loss.

Expectations:

Reality:

 

[Smiley]

Several years back I bought a Celestron 8" with the GPS and computer control. That season was when Jupiter was at it's closest and the moons could be seen as well. I could see the color of Jupiter, faintly see the eye/storm and a few dots/ moons. Certainly not worth the $2500 I spent. The next week I sold it for a HUGE loss.

Expectations:
View attachment 1822087

Reality:
View attachment 1822089

Lol! Wish I could have picked up yours. I’ll definitely keep an eye on the used market.

 

[renagadeinjun]

Any love for the MEAD ETX ?