Buying a new scope

[cgonzale]

Hello! I am new to SGL. I have been looking to buy a telescope for some time now and have done a lot of research on aperture, focal length, etc,. Stargazing is just going to be a hobby for me but I would like to be able to view such things as nebula and some of the bigger planets. I would just like to know what the minimal stats of a telescope that I would need to be able to view these objects. Right now I have a 60mm(aperture) and 400mm(focal length) refractor with 4mm and 20mm eyepieces given to me as a gift. I just want a scope that I can use to enjoy other objects than just the moon. Any advice would be much appreciated. Right now I am interested in the Orion Spaceprobe 130ST.

[umadog]

If you spent a little more you could get yourself an 200 mm Dobsonian, which would provide significantly more light grasp than the 130 mm you mention. Both scopes require manual tracking although, obviously, this will be a little easier with the Orion as that is equatorially mounted. That said, alt/az tracking isn't hard if the mount has good bearings. A lot of mass-produced scopes are sent out with poor bearings, but this can be remedied rather easily.

[cgonzale]

I have looked into the dobsonians and honestly there are a lot of different scopes that I'm still doing research on. Would I be able to see some of the most common nebula with the Orion or are you implying that the 200mm is necessary? And thanks for your help!

[umadog]

You can see all the Messier objects with your current 60 mm, however you'll see more detail with a larger scope. For example, globular clusters will look like fuzzy patches in your current scope but you will resolve the outer stars (away from the core) in an 8".

Unless you have a specific reason for buying a more expensive equatorially mounted scope, you may well be better off channelling you funds into a Dobsonian. This way more of your money goes into the optics and less goes into the mount.