New Scope Suggestions Needed

[John]

10" will noticeably outdo 8" on deep sky objects. The newtonian can show a wider field of view than the SCT.

[Eskimo Spy]

Okay, let's try a re-rack here.

Between the two scopes:

Celestron 8 SE

Orion XT10i

And I want the best all-around scope, which one?

[rowan46]

Visually the best all rounder has to be the dob, The sct is a better planetary scope the dob is the better deep space scope The wider fov for deep space and bigger apparture hence brighter images just shades it for me. Both scopes can be used for webcamming planets although the tracking makes the sct a lot easier neither is suitable for imaging dso's

[CGolder]

A reflector is no better or worse for deep sky or planets than a sct, all that matters is the size of the scope and the focal length, a sct and reflector with the same focal length will have the same mag and fov, but the relector would be very long, a long focal length will restrict your field of veiw no matter the bread of scope. Long focal lengths mean you can get more mag without using short focal length eyepieces which at the cheaper end tend to be less comfortanble to use

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[CGolder]

All rounder a sct is considered good. Its small, light, versatile and a decent performer

A reflector is larger and harder to mount except on a dob but costs a fair bit less than any other type so you get more for your money

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[dweller25]

Okay, let's try a re-rack here.

Between the two scopes:

Celestron 8 SE

Orion XT10i

And I want the best all-around scope, which one?

Straight question - straight answer .....

The Orion XT10E will outperform the 8" SCT on the planets and deep sky.

[rowan46]

Of course if an lx10 was too much to lug around. I am not sure you will like a 10 inch dob anymore It may not be as heavy as the meade including mount but it's quite a bit bigger

[Eskimo Spy]

Here's a question regarding resolution...

Let's look at the Celestron 8 SE and the Orion XT10i.

The resolution for the Orion is 0.46 Arc Seconds

The resolution for the Celestron is .68 Arc Seconds

Is the higher or lower number better, and why?

Thanks!

[Eskimo Spy]

From my research, here's what I have found, in order of importance, tell me if I've got this right now:

Aperture

• The bigger the aperture, the sharper and brighter the image will be, and the higher magnification you can use.

• You can get anywhere from from 20x to 50x per inch of aperture

Focal Length

• The longer it is, the better it is for high magnification

• You calculate the f/ratio -- focal length/aperture

• Fast objective - Shorter focal length (~f/5), better for deep space objects, as it gives you a larger field of view

• slow objective - Longer focal length (f/8 and above), better for high power objects like the moon and planets, but has a smaller field of view

Magnification

• You can calculate this: focal length/eyepiece focal length

• Use this with the calculation above for aperture to determine whether the mag you're trying to use exceeds the maximum useable magnification

Resolution

This can get confusing and seems to be somewhat theoretical and dependent on collimation and eyepieces used, but the lower number in arc-seconds is better.

[Eskimo Spy]

I've narrowed it down to these two scopes:

Celestron 8" SE SCT

Amazon.com: Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope:...

or the

Apertura AD12" Dobsonian Reflector

Apertura AD12 Dobsonian Reflector Telescope - Telescopes at Opticsmart.com

The dob with the tweaker's package delivered from opticsmart is $780. The 8 SE delivered from Amazon is $900 (I have a $100 Amazon giftcard I would apply to this purchase, hence the $100 off the listed price).

Would you folks say that now we're talking about a big enough difference in aperture/contrast/misc to tip the scales in any direction?

[ismangil]

One more factor: Size and weight.

In your original post you said you once had LX10 and we're tired of lugging it around. It would be the same of a 12" Dobsonian, it is a big scope.

[dweller25]

Eskimo - your research is good and your conclusions are good.

This may help, Roland knows his stuff ......

What is the Best Planetary Telescope - How To

[Eskimo Spy]

Thanks!

[Eskimo Spy]

I bought the Celestron 8 SE. It will be here on Wednesday, I had a $100 gift card to Amazon, and since I'm a prime member, one day shipping was $4. So, I got the 8 SE for $900!

Ultimately, I decided I wanted the GOTO.

So, since it only comes with a 25mm eyepiece, what do you guys recommend for someone who's primarily interested (at least inititally) in planetary viewing? And should I also invest in a barlow?

[dweller25]

For Jupiter - x170 to x200 as it's low contrast.

For Saturn - x200 to x240

For Mars - x240 to x300 as it's small but high contrast.

So in terms of eyepieces .....

Baader 8-24mm Zoom plus Barlow to give x85 to x508