Last chance to get a Galileoscope

[pokerfan]

A few months ago I wrote about the Galileoscope, a wonderful inexpensively priced telescope that is being produced as part of the International Year of Astronomy. There were some initial problems with shipping, but I have been told that ’scopes are shipping and will be in the hands of eager folks by early June or July latest! Yay!

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/05/28/get-a-galileoscope-hurry

[PM Martin]

1. A great man indeed!

[Sequoia]

2. Where do you order them? I don't see it on the website.

Do you have one?

[Ptah]

3. order here:

https://www.galileoscope.org/gs/products

[pokerfan]

4. scheduled to ship in June

Here's a post I made back in March:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=228x50171

[satya]

7. I never would have known about this if not for your post in March. Gave one/getting one. Thanks! nt

[krispos42]

5. 5th rec... okay I ordered one

I have a spotting scope I got from my (now ex-) inlaws a few years ago, but the tripod is awfully stumps and the image isn't so good. It's a cheapie one.


If I can stick this on my camera tripod I'll be a lot happier. :-)


Besides, it's going to be a long summer. Gotta have SOMETHING to do with the kid!

[Lochloosa]

6. Just ordered mine. Thanks. Looks like a fun thing to have.

[eqfan592]

8. Kicking this back to the top!

I just got my scope in the mail today, though I haven't had a chance to put it together yet. I was going to post a new thread on here about it, but I found this one and thought I'd just give it a bump. :)

Anyway, I encourage folks to go check out the site! It's a great program! I hope they are able to keep these scopes in production for a while. I picked up 2 just in case. :)

[Sancho]

9. I ordered two, but haven't seen them yet?

It's been more than a month.

;(

[eqfan592]

11. Go take a look at their website...

...they have some info on their on when you might receive your scope based on when you placed your order. I placed my order back in april and just got it today, but I wasn't upset by this because it was pretty much what I was expecting. They had a HUGE amount of pre-orders and it's taken them sometime to get through them all. Hopefully, when production catches up with demand, these long waits will be over.

But for the time being, this is one of the major draw backs to buying one of these scopes. You'll have to wait a while to get it.

[Sancho]

19. I ordered two in May...

I assume they will come in July if the website is correct.

[Dover]

10. Fantastic idea! But would love to hear about it from those who have received/used it.

I've got some pretty good binoculars (Nikon 10x42) and wonder how much more detail this scope would provide? Also would just like to hear what others think of it.

Anyway, thanks so much for posting about this. A WONDERFUL gift!

[eqfan592]

12. I'll be putting it together tomorrow night...

...and (hopefully!) using it Saturday! I'll make sure to post about it after!

In the mean time, check out this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1iByPaAG0U

I didn't realize until watching this that the scope would accept standard 1.25 inch eyepieces, which made me happy because I have several of those for my other scope. :)

[eqfan592]

14. Well, I couldn't wait...

...so I went downstairs to the workshop and put the scope together before work :D Assembly is VERY easy, and I can see that a lot of thought and care went into designing this scope so that children would not have a hard time with it. The one area where I would think they may need help is the optics themselves, as you need to be careful not to get any prints on them, but I think your average 8+ year old should be able to deal with that with an adult around no problem. :)

Anyway, the build quality is very good. The plastic has a very durable feel to it. The same can be said for the optics. I'm very impressed with their clarity! I tested it out on some neighborhood objects and it worked great. The real test, obviously, will be when I get a chance to check out the night sky. :)

The instructions are pretty well laid out, though they are not 100% perfect. The set include 2 different sized o-rings to be used, but it doesn't clearly state which is to be used for which, and in fact doesn't state what the larger set is for at all, though if you look at the assembled picture, you can spot it pretty quick. The larger o-rings are for the large scope tube itself, but they are fairly redundant given that the tube is held together at either end, so not using them is not an issue. After figuring it out, I put them on there with no problem. I recommend keeping them off if you plan on regularly taking it apart to show people/children, only because it will save you a little time, but this is your call. Some folks have a hard time with the o-rings, but they went on pretty quickly for me!

Anyway, sorry for the somewhat disjointed post. I'm getting this out quick before I eat lunch and head for work. I'll make sure to give you an update when I get a chance to use it on the night sky! :)

[Dover]

18. Wow, what a wonderful hands-on description! Thank you so much! Can't wait to hear

your thoughts on how it works tonight!

[eqfan592]

20. Thanks! :)

I'm not sure I'll be able to make use of it tonight though. I work until 10:30pm tonight, and I have to be back here by 9:00am tomorrow, and I have to get in some time at the gym as well as help with some last minute details of a wedding shower. :P It's going to be a BUSY couple of days! But I'll make sure to post how things go when I get the chance to make use of it. :)

[eqfan592]

21. Well, I tried to take a look at Jupiter tonight...

...and I had some issues, but none of them with the scope. It was with the crappy camera tripod I have! The thing works great for taking normal photos, but it wasn't cut out for this sort of work. In spite of this though, I was still able to bring Jupiter into focus, and was easily able to pick out 3 of it's moons. I checked Stellarium (free, open source night sky software) when I got in, and sure enough, only 3 of the Galilean moons were visible at the time I was observing! :D Io was either in front of or behind Jupiter.

The view was shaky because of the stupid tripod, but I could still make them out :) It's time for me in invest in a new tripod, that's for sure! I can't take a look at the Moon right now. It's too low in the sky and by the time it's up high enough, I'll be in bed, but I'll take a look at it in the next couple of days. It should be a good final test for this scope. I'll make sure to report back how that goes. Hopefully I can dig up the slightly better tripod that I have around this house somewhere!

And also, check out http://www.stellarium.org/ for the sky software I was telling you about. Great stuff!

[redqueen]

13. Aw

:(

[scubadude]

15. As an amateur astronomer who has owned numerous telescopes,

I can tell you what this guy will do.

First of all what you can do with telescopes is limited by a number of factors many of which I won't go into.

Aperture, or the size of the objective lens, is the most important factor. It determines how much light the telescope gathers. Next is power, and this is determined by the eyepiece and barlow lens. I see the power of this scope with the included lenses is 25 or 50 power. The lower the power, the brighter the image and larger the view.

At those powers with a 2 inch lens what you will be able to see is small discs for the planets. You will probably be able to tell Saturn has a disk and certainly that it has rings, but not be able to see much detail. You should be able to see the moon and it's craters very well. Look at the moon when it is not full, and notice how the shadows are enhanced. You will also be able to see the disk and moons of Jupiter, and if you draw sketches, should be able to note their movement over the course of the night and even better over several days. You will not see detail.

You may be able to see the Great Nebula in Orion, just below it's belt. This is a patchy region that many folks can see with their eyes slightly diverted in a very dark sky.

You will be able to gaze into the Milky Way, and imagine just how many stars are in it.

You should be able to see small star clusters, like the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, in the
constellation Taurus.

There are a few more great things to see, which are detailed better here: http://irwincur.tripod.com/ten_best_obj_-_small_telescope.htm

The problem you will face is how to actually get the objects into your field of view. You will need some kind of mount, camera tripod at least. Holding it by hand will be very difficult except for the moon. Galileo didn't have a mount initially, but it will be much simpler if you have one.

To find an object one way is to remove the lens and sight along the body of the scope, looking through the scope until you notice the light coming from the object. Then put in your lowest power eyepiece first, centering the object before moving to barlow and higher power, if you wish.

Do not be disappointed if you don't see a great amount of color or detail in nighttime objects. Scopes of this size cannot do that. What you will get will be a great glimpse of what Galileo saw and how his genius is still with us today.

If you plan on getting this for a child, you will have to help them find the object they are looking for, as this can be very tricky for kids.

WARNING: NEVER POINT YOUR TELESCOPE AT THE SUN! NEVER!!!

Best and enjoy,

Scuba

[pokerfan]

16. One of my biggest pet peeves

are the department store telescopes that are packaged in boxes with color pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope.

One of the things I always tell people before making a major telescope purchase is to contact their local club. The people there will be more than happy to let you look through their scopes so that the first time buyer will have an idea on what a telescope can and can not do. You might be able to score a great deal on a used telescope or maybe even learn how to make one from a piece of blank glass.

Find a local club here:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/organizations

[scubadude]

22. Good points.

We live in a strange time. It used to be that to see the stars you had to either look at a book or through a telescope. Now we have images from Hubble and others at our fingertips via the internet. That makes many people disappointed when they actually use a telescope for the first time. You must be ready for what you see, and don't see.

It is the reliving of Galileo revolutionary experience that is the fun to be had here. After all, his use of a simple telescope revolutionized scientific thought.

That being said, there are many amateurs with earth bound scopes who still make valid contributions to the field of Astronomy. I am continually amazed at the images a serious amateur can get with even home made telescopes and digital photography. Perhaps one day a youngster, encouraged by looking through one of these simple scopes, will make the next revolutionary step. Wouldn't that be cool.

Best,

Scuba

[atomic-fly]

17. Cool!

Thanks! I just ordered one! It will be great this fall when the air is less hazy (east coast).