So, I reckon this might be my first post on here in 10 years or more. I’m a lapsed visual astronomer, but I want to get back into it. I sold my scopes (ed80 and 8” dob) a few years ago, but I still have some accessories (eps, rdf, diagonals, etc).
Later this year, we have the chance to visit my wife’s family on St Helena in the mid Atlantic. I’ve never been before, but I’ve read it has Bortle 2 skies and is 16 degrees south, so I’ll have the chance to see things like omega centauri and the lmc/smc, plus all the other things I’d never normally get to see (I know basically nothing about the southern sky, but 2 minutes in stellarium shows me Sagittarius is going to be high, and that’s enough for me).
Anyway, what would people recommend for a scope that I can fly with? We have a toddler, so a good chunk of our luggage is going to be taken up with his stuff. I’m thinking one of the SkyWatcher or ursa major tabletop dobs? Can anyone who has one talk about how flyable they are? How big are the OTAs? Would they fit in hand luggage? If not, would you risk the OTA of a heritage 150 in checked baggage? Do the bases come apart?
Or maybe a short refractor like the skywatcher or Bresser ones is a better idea? I realise then I’ll need a small alt az mount.
I dunno. Sorry for the rambling, incoherent question. Cheers.
Stephen.