I don't know anything about telescopes. Could one of you tell me what kind of a telescope (model/$$$) does it take to view stars like Aquila RA 18h52m6s D 07"2'. I hope I got it right. Also, is it possible at all to be able to view them from home or you need to get on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. :-)

 

You need a clear sky, free from most air and light pollution, a scope with a large aperture for good light gathering capability, and a tracking motor to keep the celestial object centered. A "Go To" capability allows the scope to automatically slew to an object. My personal choice is the Meade 8" LX200 GPS, which has excellent optics, compact design, a large Go To database and GPS.

 

Thanks! I'm afraid I can't afford $2k+ just to see a certain star :-( I was hoping someone would be able to tell me what's the lest $ I need to spend to see this kind of start. If the least is $2K then I have to forget about the idea.

BTW, is there any place that rents telescopes? I'm basically looking to use it for just one night - don't ask me why ;-)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by The Raptor
[B]You need a clear sky, free from most air and light pollution, a scope with a large aperture for good light gathering capability, and a tracking motor to keep the celestial object centered.

 

If you go to your local planetarium of observatory, they might have a club that you can join. You can learn lots of stuff about telescopes and they may even have a program in place where you can grind your own lens and build you own scope. We have this in Calgary.

 

Ask the observatory/planetarium staff about Astronomy clubs that have regular star parties. Amateur astronmmersa love to share their scopes.