Telescope Dobsonian

What is a Dobsonian telescope good for under $ 500?

I'm new to the hobby and am trying to avoid the typical mistakes that noobs. As I have read many of them come with a cooling fan .... Can anyone shed some light on why a light box would need a fan cooling?

This is a good price point. You have several ways to optimize, I'll explain. 1. I'm ruling out monitoring. At this price there is no alternative good for monitoring, including optics. 2. I am NOT ruling out a digital computer. It's great to have something to help you traverse the sky. 3. I'm considering that trafficking "With" things, especially the eye, are not always best. 4. I'm thinking about the new prices, but should REALLY consider buying used. Vi inch Astromart born 10 $ 300 not long ago and there is nothing better than that. In all cases I am recommending Orion compared to alternatives such as Hardin. Is recognized good name and best resale value (Astromart join, a fee of $ 12). People pay the money due in part to ebay is well known for scams and fraud: I saw an eBay tool for sale in Montreal, tried to give up and buy it and wear it, only to discover that the same exact instrument had been sold in England before, the same images, the description itself, everything. Shipping Orion (Orion directly) are quite high, so you can find a better price you get (on Orion products!) Highpoint of Science, so the first call. OK - Option 1. Throw everything you can cat a cube of light and use the coming "with" the eye until you get more cash. More people prefer the "get as much openness as possible approach." Orion XT8 classic will get you there. Option 2. Get the Orion XT6 place and make it with your computer. Option 3. Get the Orion Star Blast for $ 175 and a 24 mm eyepiece optics Pan for about $ 300. Sounds crazy spend more on the telescope eyepiece, but someday will update and you still have the eye. Pan da optics in this area (direct experience), 3.5 degree panoramic field of view that is well corrected. You will be able to get around, beautiful views that are better than most binoculars and easier certainly use (arms do not tire.) With the arrival "with" eye to achieve higher power, you get good views of the moon and "Reasonable" (Not first class) views of Jupiter and Saturn (which are only available a few months of the year in any case, Jupiter is so low for observers N hemisphere there is very little time to "optimize" for looking at this planet until two or three years from now - plenty of time to update Idem for Saturn, whose rings are moving in the edge-on). So this little room is help you learn to navigate and point of a scope under heaven. Be objected that "you can not see much" in a 4.5-inch scope. To this I respond that there are thousands of devotees who spend thousands of dollars in 80, 90 and 102 mm refractor. Personally I agree that it is best to open access, but the bottom of a small instrument are also evident: ease of installation, panoramic width fields, and in the case of the explosion the star, good quality packaging at a lower price. Try to get a new copy or used (abebooks.com), to Sue French Celestial Sampler. This book is basically designed for the opening of four inches, and there are years of observation to make on their pages. The sky known artist, Stephen O'Meara has also published the work with a four-inch telescope (His main instrument). A four-inch instrument will ALL Messiers and several thousand NGCs. As a final point, I'm not saying you should get a four-inch reach and maintain for the rest of your life and use that and only that. But in fact this is a very easy to decide if astronomy is for you. If you receive the error that will finally get something bigger (maybe keep the small, maybe not) and probably spend a regular budget to astronomy, as some people have a budget for the bowling. So there is no single configuration that you need to be bound for the rest of his life, and they all have something to show. Of course, you should also consult Sky and Telescope website for a club near you so you can see many different configurations on the job. You can see that says, "I have to have something." And I can not emphasize enough that, although many people are horrified the idea of spending $ 12 to join Astromart (a payment for life time), which could easily save $ 200 on your first purchase and if you get your feet wet you will not feel nervous about buying any particular field, because you know the place to sell if you decide to move on. Preserving the sense of flexibility is important.