What kind of telescope can you recommend for urban backyard astronomy?
For economical reasons, my price limit is around $800 (US Dollars).
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I’ve done a lot of urban astronomy myself. I’d recommend a Newtonian on a Dob mount with 8″ or 10″ aperture, and a computerized object locator, as finding things is often a major challenge in the urban sky. I used an 11-inch Starmaster myself, but that’s way above your budget. An Orion SkyQuest IntelliScope, 8″ or 10″, would be good:
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=27183/~sSearchSession=9e4cb091-cb6b-4f0f-bc1a-1263a1c01ff9
http://www.telescope.com/control/telescopes/dobsonian-telescopes/orion-skyquest-xt10i-computerized-intelliscope-dobsonian-telescope
Here are a few web pages with good information on beginner’s telescopes:
http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0702_Buying_a_Telescope.pdf
http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html
http://observers.org/beginner/j.r.f.beginner.html
For more advanced information, read Phil Harrington’s Star Ware, 4th edition (Wiley).
You’ll get the greatest value for your money with a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:
http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~VIEW_INDEX=0/~VIEW_SIZE=1000000
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?class1=1&class2=106
Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, either locally or online; don’t buy from department stores, discount stores or eBay as mostly what they sell is junk. Find your local astronomy club and try out different telescopes at one of their star parties:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/organizations
I strongly recommend that beginners steer clear of astrophotography until they have learned their way around the sky. Astrophotography is by far the most expensive and difficult area of amateur astronomy.
Many people who buy telescopes have no idea how to find interesting things to observe. A good introduction to finding things is NightWatch by Terence Dickinson (Firefly). A more advanced book is Star Watch by Phil Harrington (Wiley).
By “urban” I am guessing you have to deal with light pollution.
I would steer away from anything with an f/ ratio in the 4 or 5 range. Maybe go with an f/6 or f/8.
Narrowband filters might be a good way to go too.
Outside of that, a dobsonian reflector would be my starting point. Not sure what size you can get for that price in USD.
Be sure to check out local astronomy clubs (actually go to star parties, you can look through a wide variety of telescopes, and see which one/s fit your passions). A scope that is good for planets will not necessarily be good for DSO’s.
I assume you are a beginner — and if so, welcome!
You can get a good Dobsonian mounted Newtonian reflector telescope in that price range. Today you can find them with digital encoders that can help you find your way around the sky.
I looked at (only) one site, and found this telescope which would be good for looking at things like planets, double stars, and even nebulas and galaxies. I’m not recommending this specific scope, just holding it up as an example of what you could get — you’ll want a bit of extra money for accessories like eyepieces, add-on finders, star guide books and stuff…
I do not have a relationship with this company other than as a customer.
Good seeing and clear skies — although there is a rule that when the new telescope arrives and is set up, you’ll have 30 nights of cloudy skies.
)
Light pollution is going to be your biggest problem and there isn’t really any getting away from that. Filters can help but bring issues of their own and as such I would advise against depending on them. With the light pollution you are going to suffer I would not pay too much attention to sheer aperture since you will be unable to get the benefit from it – from my back yard with around magnitude 4.0 skies on the clearest nights I find that I can see as much with a good 80mm refractor than I can with a 7.5″ Mak Newt and more than with a 10″ standard Newt. As such I would go for a refined, well corrected optical design rather than cheap and cheerful aperture that you will not see the benefit of.
A computer is a good idea though – whether that be an object locator or full goto system. Ignore anyone who advocates star hopping under suburban skies because they obviously haven’t tried it. When entire constellation disappear star hopping is effectively impossible.
For a first scope my inclination would probably for something like the Celestron Nexstar 6SE which should come in within your budget. That’s a nice, general purpose scope of moderate aperture, good optical quality and a fairly good goto system. Although it is a little small for DSOs it will be of some use if you can get away from the city lights. If it was me I would probably go for a good apo on a solid equatorial mount: that would if anything be slightly better in the city but far too small if you are able to get away from the light pollution.