Aperture

[Astromaster130]

What is the lowest size aperture that will give viewing of all round astronomy?

I was thinking of going for a skywatcher 200p but have seen for another £100 i could get the 300p! Would the 200p be good enough all round? ⭐️

[jambouk]

It's not just size that matters. You have yo thhink about portability, east of transport andd set up, ease of collimatiion, speed of the optics, field of view, light pollution where you plan to observe from, cool down times, flex vs rigid tube, storage... But on the whole, a 200mm newtonian is a pretty good all rounder.

[estwing]

i "made do" with 63mm for 20yrs!

[estwing]

there's a 12" dob on ABS...for £250 its worth a punt

[John]

We did a survey on here a year or two ago trying to find out what folks felt the "ideal" aperture was. I seem to recall that 10" came out ahead as a great mix of viewing potential, affordability and portability. I'm talking of newtonians / dobsonians here. 8" and 12" were not miles behind though.

[damnut]

The best telescope you have is the one you use the most. An 8" scope is a relatively easy move, 10" a bit more difficult, 12" needs some consideration.

@estwing, 63mm for 20 years, then aperture must have fevered all at once, that's a great scope you have there.

[Astromaster130]

there's a 12" dob on ABS...for £250 its worth a punt

They do look great but Im going to be taking photos and using a webcam for videos.

Am i right in thinking the dobsonian is more of an observing telescope? ⭐️

[Astromaster130]

We did a survey on here a year or two ago trying to find out what folks felt the "ideal" aperture was. I seem to recall that 10" came out ahead as a great mix of viewing potential, affordability and portability. I'm talking of newtonians / dobsonians here. 8" and 12" were not miles behind though.

Oh good to know, Im upgrading and just want to make sure I get the right scope for me this time! Im upgrading from a 130mm reflector.⭐️

[Astromaster130]

It's not just size that matters. You have yo thhink about portability, east of transport andd set up, ease of collimatiion, speed of the optics, field of view, light pollution where you plan to observe from, cool down times, flex vs rigid tube, storage... But on the whole, a 200mm newtonian is a pretty good all rounder.

Size is not too much of an issue as I use the field by my house which is roughly 20mtrs from my door. Im trying to make sure I upgrade enough to see a difference.⭐️

[Astromaster130]

I have been looking at some computerised and goto telescopes like the skywatcher skymax 127 supatrak auto telescope but have been put off by the 127mm aperture.

Will this see less than my old 130mm newtonian though?⭐️

[recceranger]

8" SCT

[estwing]

  i took this photo of jupiter by just holding my iphone against my ep....i shudder to think how much this image cost me!! so no...Dobs are not the way to do AP!!

[Luke]

For me under my okay skies about 8 inches of aperture is a pretty good allrounder. A 10 inch is plenty enough for me and above that I feel really spoilt, but the scopes get heavy and large fast! :-o

[Cath]

If size matters, you'll never be happy

[ollypenrice]

Don't buy anything for photography until you know more about it! You can, with some difficulty, do planetary fast frame AP with a Dob. You cannot do long exposure deep sky that way.

For visual, different apertures and focal lengths have different charms. Unfortunately visual and photographic astronomy have almost diametrically opposed priorities. WHat are your priorities?

Olly

[Astromaster130]

If size matters, you'll never be happy

Yeah true, thats why Im trying to get a scope that is not just a big one! I think im gunna go for the 200p

[Astromaster130]

image.jpg i took this photo of jupiter by just holding my iphone against my ep....i shudder to think how much this image cost me!! so no...Dobs are not the way to do AP!!

I will get a dob one day just for observing and enjoying the sky, the pic looks nice though

[LukeSkywatcher]

For me personally (being in a wheelchair), i decided that the Celestron 8SE offered me the largest aperture within my budget and was the lightest most portable scope. For me, i cant argue with the views. It does a bit of everything. 

For me, an equal balance of portability,aperture and budget are the main factors. The 8SE delivers all of those to me in equal measure, so its the right scope for me.

[Roy Challen]

The best telescope you have is the one you use the most.

Exactly, no point having a 12" dob if I can't (be bothered to) use it!

For 10 years, all I had was my Meade ETX70 which was such a good little scope I never even thought about its limitations. Same with the 100mm Tal I have now - I use that

even more than the ETX although I now have a garden rather than having to travel anywhere.

Don't buy anything for photography until you know more about it! You can, with some difficulty, do planetary fast frame AP with a Dob. You cannot do long exposure deep sky that way.

For visual, different apertures and focal lengths have different charms. Unfortunately visual and photographic astronomy have almost diametrically opposed priorities. WHat are your priorities?

Olly

Agreed Olly, especially with the first and last sentences!

[estwing]

The best telescope you have is the one you use the most. An 8" scope is a relatively easy move, 10" a bit more difficult, 12" needs some consideration.

@estwing, 63mm for 20 years, then aperture must have fevered all at once, that's a great scope you have there.

i'm really sorry but I don't agree with this statement at all. If I had a 28" or a 36" Webster that would become my best scope even if I only used it say 5 times a year,it just would...not having a go,just my thoughts.

[Scott]

The best scope is the one you didn't pay for....thats why star parties are so good .

[recceranger]

Chris,

Roger and I'm brushing up on maths alright. Skill fade to say the least!

I'm doing course with University Of Lancaster

[Gazabone]

I don't have any problem carting my 10" dob around but I prefer using my cats as finding faint stuff is easier with setting circles or goto (but that's just my opinion). The biggest down side I find with my dob is having to constantly "nudge" to keep track of targets; obviously the more magnification you use, the more frequent (and accurate!) the nudges have to be.

[faulksy]

I don't have any problem carting my 10" dob around but I prefer using my cats as finding faint stuff is easier with setting circles or goto (but that's just my opinion). The biggest down side I find with my dob is having to constantly "nudge" to keep track of targets; obviously the more magnification you use, the more frequent (and accurate!) the nudges have to be.

but if you use a ethos then you dont have to nudge for hours

[niallk]

I recently upgraded from 10" to 15". The biggest impact from a usability perspective is the amount of cool down time required - up by a factor of say ~3x for planetary.

The larger aperture scope structure is very well made, and really moves beautifully - so much easier to use and an order of magnitude easier to track with - even with the larger image scale with same EPs

I like to look at a bit of everything - but can see noticeably more, and so am even more motivated to get the scope out.

Setup is ~3mins longer than the 10" - so no big issue.

I dream of some day having a 22+" - even if it only got relatively few uses per year: I still remember the standout amazing nights with my 10" from a few years ago - its the experience and what you take from it that counts for me.

I need to go to a few star parties!!