Rings of Saturn, etc.

Rigjt, so I do currently have a little telescope, nothing special at all, just a little Amazon special my lovely missus bought me on a whim, cost about £50 but surprisingly crisp and clear view on it. More of a spotting scope really but good enough to see the moons of Jupiter last night, and make out the rugby ball shaped Saturn
Thing is, I really fancy being able to see the rings of Saturn, and the polarcaps of Mars.
So, my question to the telescoperists of STW is, what sort of set up is required to achieve this? Looking at probs £500 or less please.

So, my question to the telescoperists of STW is, what sort of set up is required to achieve this? Looking at probs £500 or less please.

So as you know… You realise that’s either going to be £500 quid wasted or a bit like buying £500 of meth “just to see” don’t you?

My suggestion would be borrow if you can (from someone who wasted £500?) or find a local astro society who’ll let you go along and discover if you t think it’s fun to see once but that’s enough or if you’ve just found another expensive hobby.

*Fwiw I’m very much in the wasted money category but know several addicts.

Start with rings of Uranus a cheap handheld mirror should do it.

Some things are seasonal or cyclical, so to see Saturn’s rings with an offordable telescope they need to be face on to earth, they swing round on roughly a 30yr cycle, the last maximum was in 2017 and the next minimum is in 2025. Similarly with the ice caps on Mars, plus you’ve the varying distances between Earth and the other planets – things are obviously easier when they are closer.

I’ve one of these – http://skywatcher.com/product/dob-6-traditional/ and can make out the gap between Saturn and the rings and if I’m lucky the major gaps in the rings. A quick look round shows it’s around £300, the 8″ is £100 more. They are a bit unwieldy – it stands about 1.5m tall and is fine for carrying out of the house but I wouldn’t want to pack it up to drive anywhere.

Check out your local astronomical society, they’ll have regular meets and you’ll be able to try out different models.

You don’t need to spend that much to be honest. I paid £75 for a secondhand Skywatcher 150P and about the same on a push about Alt Az mount and got stunning views of Saturn and Jupiter. mars is very small and to see the ice caps you may need something with more aperture but the views, IMO, are not really worth it. So, something like a Skywatcher 150P and an Alt Az mount and a handful of eyepieces and you’re good to go.

2 recommendations – join the stargazerslounge.com forum and ask for help there and peruse their classified ads. SGL is the STW of astronomy, UK focussed and full of friendly knowledgeable folk and secondly get a book called Turn Left at Orion and this will give you a good idea of what else to look for and how to find it in the night sky.

Of course any more questions just ask here as well. I am well down the blackhole (pun intended) of astrophotography etc which is a whole other ballgame!

I would add that through even a modest scope like this Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon are just incredible to look at. Then you can start galaxy hunting etc. Yes a larger scope gathers more light but is also more heavy and more demanding of the mount so as a cheap entry I’ve stay at around the 150mm (6″) size.

Good book if a little hard to get into at first.

Good book if a little hard to get into at first.

I’m still trying. keep picking it up, reading a couple of pages and going “nope!”.

I have seen the rings of Saturn with my telescope. Took me a few nights of walking home from the pub to work out where to look, pre internet phone days.
I was using a sky watcher Newtonian refractor (£130 in 2003) and it did enough to see the rings.
I hardly use the scope now, it’s either raining, cloudy or I’ve drunk too much 🙁
I fancy high magnification binoculars on a tripod as my next option to look at the stars.

I can see then with 80x400mm refractor with barlow and 20mm eye piece. Thats 80x magnification

The scopes are cheap and cheerful

I have a surplus telescope here – pm me if interested

OP, where are you based? Some years ago when my dad had the same wish about Saturn’s rings, we went to the observatory near Knighton (Powys) and had a very interesting evening tour of the place, followed by an hour or two with a decent telescope after dark. That assumes it’s still operational, mind, I’m just about to go out, and haven’t checked.

If you see a gigantic asteroid heading directly for us, you will let us know won’t you ?

The suggestion to look up the local astronomy club is a good one, they often have open evenings for the public to come and try various scopes although it might be a little late in the year, they are generally on summer evenings

So, some say you have to splash out, some saying not a huge amount of money will see me OK. Interesting.
As far as the different types of telescope go, what design would I be looking for? Refractor? Reflector? What are the pluses and minuses of each type and what are things to look for?
Portability not an issue at the moment, I have a lovely open view of the Southern and Western sky, with the Southern section having a nice big forested mountain blocking out the glow of the local towns, so plan on setting it up at home for now.
What sort of lenses etc might I need? Thanks for all the tips so far, btw.

Your local astronomy society will be a great help with choosing a telescope.

Turn Left at Orion has a learning curve but it’s not a steep one and truly is a wonderful book.

And lastly, no matter what telescope you buy, the main thing with astronomy is not the actual picture you see in your eyepiece (often nothing stunning) it’s opening your mind to the sheer scale and beauty and mind blowing unknowningness (is that even a word) of the universe you’re looking at.

So, something like a Skywatcher 150P and an Alt Az mount and a handful of eyepieces and you’re good to go.

Why a handful of eyepieces and not a specific one?

Why a handful of eyepieces and not a specific one?

Different magnifications give different views and for some deep so space objects you don’t need much magnification rather a wider field of view. Also, for planets sometimes seeing conditions will only support a certain magnification before any more becomes pointless or even gives worse views.

So, having a few options is useful. You quickly learn with astronomy too that a smaller but sharp view beats a highly magnified but mushy, difficult to focus view also so being able to hit the sweet spot can only be achieved by have a range of eyepieces at your disposal

So, the answer to what telescope is N+1, sounds familiar… 🤔

Thanks dannybgoode for the explanation.