Cloudy's Skywatcher Maksutov 102/1300 Avant website

by Claudio Di Veroli

Astronomy: Science and Hobby

This website is meant for the benefit of anybody going into the hobby of star-watching by using the Skywatcher Maksutov 102/1300 Avant (or similar) telescope. Throughout the website I will mostly refer to it using the maker's own abbreviation: SkyMax-102 AV. I wish to express my gratitude to Dave Barrows, Loren Ball and a few other distinguished members of the Facebook's Amateur Astronomy group, who have helped me with useful personal suggestions to get started with this hobby. This website has no pretention to be a tutorial in the related science and technology: I just tell personal ideas and experience, hoping that somebody may find them useful, and apologising for any errors.

Before we proceed any further, a few clarifications are in order. I am a trained scientist and a retired IT technologist, but in the field of Astronomy and Telescopes I am an amateur, and a recent one at that. Further, in spite of having worked most of my life in English, this is my third language, so I apologise for this as well. More importantly, I have no commercial deals with any of the software and hardware makers and resellers of any of the products mentioned in this website: I am just a buyer of their products. Finally, amateur astronomy is the least risky of hobbies, but anyway for legal reasons here goes my disclaimer. I hereby declare that (1) all the suggestions in this website have been fully tested, (2) I decline any responsibility for any harm that they may cause and (3) the reader is using this website at her/his own risk.

Let us begin by briefly clarifying one of the concepts this hobby is based upon: the science of Astronomy. You do not need to be a scientist for this hobby: you will just need a few basic concepts of secondary school maths (elementary trigonometry) and then to learn the basics of Astronomy. For this today we can benefit from PC programs that combine observation and simulation of the night skies with full tutorials from the ground up. There is more than one alternative, and after going through some reviews I went for Starry Night 7 Enthusiast (see screenshot below and also our Software & FOV webpage): I am very happy with it, have learnt a lot with it and still have a lot to learn.

    

Once you become acquainted with the basics of Astronomy using a computer program or a book, perhaps you decide that this is enough and the telescope hobby is not for you. After all, you will never with an amateur telescope see anything like the details a PC software will provide you. And the hobby of amateur telescopes is not for the fainthearted: you need a minimum of familiarity with technology and hand tools. If however you feel that you wish to tackle the amateur telescope as a hobby, and watch (however reduced in size and detail) the real-life sky objects in real time, and are ready to endure the inevitable hurdles and frustrations, then you have “caught the bug” and are welcome to proceed with our Telescope Technology webpage.

PS: Do you have a personal question about this website? Or wish to suggest an improvement or to correct an error? Please feel free to email me at    j c l a u d i v  [ a t ]  g m a i l . com   . Thank you!