On a Telescope none the less. I've been wanting one for almost 2 years now. Being a novice user I chose a fairly simple scope with a fair bit of power. (Celestron Nexstar 8 SE). Looking forward to it!

Anyone else here love astronomy?

*sails off to the childsplay page to send some cash*

Novice? I guess using more complex ones is beyond your scope.

What you did there, I see it... from VERRRRY far away.

Wow, so you bought one of the more expensive telescopes to pursue a hobby you are just starting out in? Do you even know anything about astronomy, or telescopes? That's just ****ing irresponsible right there...

yeah! Buying things that you don't know how to use and spending lots of money is anterrible idea!

Yes, I love astronomy. Too bad it's basically useless as anything other than a hobby.

Does the telescope you bought automatically follow the stars as they traverse the sky so you don't have to readjust?

omg someone spent their own money on something they have wanted for a couple years

ALERT THE AUTHORITIES!

I loved astronomy when I was a kid. Sometime around junior high I lost interest, until I began to take it up again in college, although I only got back into it as part of an orienteering course I went through.

Anything you buy for your "hobby" will be expensive.. That is if it's a hobby worth pursuing, and I seriously doubt $1300 is expensive for a semi decent telescope :p

Just bought $1500 camera.

I haven't made The Big Shave yet. ZOMG


This is a good purchase. Some of my best memories as a kid were trying to keep saturn in my telescope while freezing on my grandfather's farm. Should have gone more into it but my low end telescope was frustrating for a little kid.

Actually, I think I'll dig that thing out.

Astronomy is cool. I've got a Meade 8" LX200 GPS that gets used far too infrequently.
My interest in astronomy started when I was 5. We went out in the middle of the night to see Halley's Comet through some telescopes that had been set up at a school near where we lived. While I don't remember the comet so much, I do remember seeing Saturn's rings and thinking how awesome it was.

First of all, its nowhere near one of the 'more expensive' ones. Most intermediate to advanced telescopes can run $6,000 and up.

Secondly, it's a compact, with an automatic tracking system. So I barely have to know anything to look at what I want.

Finally, what is it you do that is so magically responsible with your money? Pay bills? I do that too pal, except I enjoy life at the same time. Just about any purchase can be considered a waste, so stop being an ass.

I had a passion for Astronomy when I was a kid and especially when Star wars emerged afterwards. (Funny how they combined) I achieved a merit badge in scouting with Astronomy and received for my 14th Birthday a Tasco (cheapo) Telescope. I spent many long cold nights gazing the heavens and wondered what was out there. I also checked out books about astronomy from School and studied some of the content, but I knew later that being an amateur would not start as an academic career, there was alot more than that if I wanted to be an astronomer. I miss the passion.

Looking at objects that are always there will be exciting enough, but the real excitement comes when a passer-by object comes into 'town'. Waiting for comets, or potential NEOs.

I was checking out some of those Celestron scopes online and they are pretty badass.. now I want one!

I'll be sure to post results. One of my friends who owns a nice DSLR wants to use my telescope to grab some good shots of mars and such.

Congrats on the new scope! I've been trying to buy a half-decent second-hand scope myself for the past couple of months but I keep getting outbid

I've got a ridiculously cheap £20 model from Aldi with horrendous chromatic aberration and an incredibly dim view. I use this for birding rather than astronomy. In ideal conditions it's still pretty neat, especially when out on estuarine areas watching waders. Unfortunately I live in England where ideal weather conditions are few and far between.

Well, we took it out Saturday night, and after a few minor clouds passed on, we had a great sky. The moon looked absolutely incredible through the scope. Planetary objects were limited to Jupiter (and 4 of its moons I could see), and Neptune. I was fairly impressed with the included eyepiece, but I look forward to getting some new ones. You could just barely make out the orange/brown bands on Jupiter, would like to get a bit more magnification on it.

The only downside of the night was the cold wind, which was vibrating the scope just enough to make stars hard to focus on.

Overall, great night. Looking forward to the 21st, when we have a Lunar Eclipse.

Post them here

He has yet to buy the part to attach the camera. Until then, no glorious space photos.