IS APERTURE EVERYTHING

[redfox1972]

HI

BEEN LOOKING TO GET MY FIRST SCOPE AND THINK IV DECIDED ( 6 SE ) BUT ALSO QUITE FANCY A REFRACTOR , IV READ LOADS OF REVIEWS ON SCOPES LATELY AND THE CHOICE IS BEWILDERING .

I WAS READING ONE THAT WAS MATCHING 6 INCH SCT's TO 4 INCH REFRACTORS IN IMAGE QUALITY FOR DSO's ,DO THEY COMPARE IN ANY WAY AS I UNDERSTAND APERTURE IS EVERYTHING ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT AS IM LIKE A YOUNG SPANIEL ON HOT COALS AND CARNT WAIT MUCH LONGER ))

[ronin]

If you get something too big that is a bit troublesome to haul out and use then you will not use it much.

There have been may cases of this.

Next comes what will the bigg aperture actually enable you to see, things like the galaxies in the Virgo cluster may be more apparent but they will not suddenly appear in utter magnificance in front of your eyes. They will still be little blobs. Rather like doubling the horse power on a car does not give double the speed.

I was out a few nights back looking at Jupiter and the trapesium in Orion through a 70mm refractor at 70x-80x.

It is like everything a case of compromise, have a look at the people fed up with no observing, getting the biggest thing you can pick up and take outside looks good but wait for it to cool down while watching the sky cloud over isn't much use.

If this is a first scope get something that you will use easily and often.

P.S. Knock the caps lock off.

[Bendeavour]

Are you asking what scope to get because if you are then you should go for a big aperture (and preferably a dobsonian) if you want to see dso's because a smaller aperture simply doesn't collect enough light to see any detail.

[Pig]

Hiya - Its difficult to choose, I went for an all rounder in the end,

My summary: Nextstar 6SE

Pros:

Brilliant optics with excellent views of all planets, moon & craters, some brighter DSO, great Nebula views with narrowband UHC filter, great goto tracker, 5 mins to be up and running (after cooling down the scope), portable and light, doesent take up much room & it looks good.

Cons:

Eats batteries thus require good powerpack - a dew sheild is a must, not so good for photography (due to speed ƒ10) fine with CCD.

Love the scope wouldnt ever swap

[redfox1972]

hi pig we meet again

the more i look and ask about scopes and look at the pros n cons (and iv spent weeks looking ) i think 6se is the one .

carnt wait im like a big kid

hopefully this week i'll have a scope

[Pig]

Bonjour again

I know its like going to Cadbury world and saying you want a bar of chocolate

And they ask which one would you like

[sparkyjon]

welcome redfox i know what you mean i was exactly the same this is why i at the moment have a 8" reflector on an eq5 mount and an 8" sct cassiegrain , although the reflector is actually up for sale as it's a little bit much for me to handle with a broken ankle at present , i really love the compactness (is that a word) of the cassiegrains for their focal length.. so much so that as soon as i sell the 200p reflector and pay my mother back for the celestron c8 sct lol. i'll have enough left to buy one of the little heritage 90 mak , with the little table top tracking mount, for really quick breaks in the clouds or my wife or nieces and nephews or foster children that want a go..

the 6se will give you a good all round viewing and it's a bit easier to handle than a long reflector.. i know if i had spare cash i'd probably buy something like the 4se as quick up scope..

[rory]

so im told, a dark sky is as important if not more important than aperture. id be happier with a 5" scope in rural scotland than my 8" dob here in the west midlands.

then again id be happy with anything that could pierce clouds too !

[redfox1972]

can you go too big with aperture ? ., obviously i dont mean in detail/view quality.

i mean by that can it causes problems i would not think of.

[Naemeth]

can you go too big with aperture ? ., obviously i dont mean in detail/view quality.

i mean by that can it causes problems i would not think of.

Yes, a 8" is pretty portable. A 16" is a struggle for some, and something like a 50" probably needs it's own observatory housing. Forget lifting it when it's that big!

[RikM]

Larger scopes take longer to cool down and give good views. They are also heavier and usually cost more.

[Luke]

No, aperture is not everything. But it does help if you want the most impressive views of DSO's possible!

There's a nice example on the Obsession website simulating how the globular cluster M13 looks through various scopes from 8 inches to 25 inches:

http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/m13/index.php

re: 4 inch refractor vs. 6 inch SCT, I have one of each of these and the 6 inch SCT gives more impressive views of DSO's in general, but the refractor gives a sharper view.

Although there is the saying, "aperture is king", there's also the saying, "the best scope is the scope you use the most." The best scope for you does depend on what you want to look at, whether you want goto, how portable you want the scope to be, etc.

[mert]

I have my scope in an makeshift obs, otherwise it would be a nightmare to use, having to build it up etc, I think the whole scope and mirror weighs about 80-90 kilos, cool down times are nil thankfully, I put Foot Master leveling castors on the base today that can hold 500k, overkill but now I can move the scope easily to it's position.

[SnakeyJ]

Its not all good with larger aperture - apart from price, weight and cooling times many say the bigger buckets are more affected by poor seeing.

Still I do fancy that 25" Obsession - aptly named isn't it and a snip at USD 13500 + tax and shipping!

[astrofox]

Is aperture everything..... No. We are limited by many things, sometimes money sometimes physical ability. The main thing is we adapt to circumstances and realise what a wonderful hobby this is.

[nephilim]

Its not all good with larger aperture - apart from price, weight and cooling times many say the bigger buckets are more affected by poor seeing.

Still I do fancy that 25" Obsession - aptly named isn't it and a snip at USD 13500 + tax and shipping!

And once it gets past the legal theives of this country that $13500 will be £13500

[Bart]

I'd say dark skies are the king, but aperture is a high ranking prince.

[cotterless45]

Transportability is king if you're going to travel to a dark site. I think the optimum Dob size between cost and weightlifting is 14".

I've had a look through a few refractors and been underwhelmed by aperture increase over 102 mm. There is nothing which will do everything, it really depends what you're going to spend the most time viewing and how much good seeing you expect.

Given the last month of weather not much !

nick.

[steve_bham]

Size of the scope is 2nd most important to me. Transportability is my first factor.

If its a chore to more it you won't use it. A smaller scope that is used more will be of great benefit!

[andrew63]

I think you would be happy with either of them - they will get used - which is more important then aperture and dark skies! It can be a bit depressing reading some of the threads on here with people with nice telescopes gathering dust! I have a small telescope with simple setup and despite the poor weather it gets a lot of use! Good luck with what ever you choose.

andrew

[JG777]

Seems to me the choice and size of scope must factor in your personal needs and circumstances, but agree with Nick that transportability is right at the top of the list. I chose a frac as I travel to dark sites, and as time is at a premuim so waiting for scopes to cool down is of little use to me. Always a compromise but not a hassle to get out there and observe.

[Lenny147]

I would buy the biggest scope you can afford. Dont get me wrong portability is an issue for sure but once you look through a small scope then a bigger scope there is only one winner.

Plus you will save money in the long run because you will want to upgrade not so long after. Just my opinion

[John]

While I don't travel much to observe, I do keep my scopes in the house and need to move them out and then around the garden occasionally during observing sessions so some degree of portability is important. I like low tech scopes with minimal set up / knock down needs too.

From trying many scopes I've found that the largest aperture scope that works for me is a 12" dobsonian. Having looked through larger apertures I can certainly appreciate the draw and I would own a larger one if I could keep it more or less set up outside and had less in the way of lighting and surrounding trees to contend with.

It's deep sky objects that really seem to "come alive" with aperture. Globular clusters, for example, look "nice" with my 4" and 4.7" refractors with the edges of the brighter ones being resolved into stars. The same objects with a 10" or 12" scopes take on a stunning appearance for me with M13, M92 etc being resolved across their cores and really looking like their photos when viewed with a fine eyepiece at 100x or more

I have viewed M13 and the spiral galaxy M51 with a 20" scope a couple of years ago and the memories of this are still strong in my mind. I do know though that, even though I could probably afford one now, such a scope would just not be a practical proposition in my current circumstances

So you have to stay within whats practical for you though and it is miserable to own a scope which just does not get used much because it is awkward to move or too time consuming to set up (given the unpredictability of the UK weather !).

But it is worth getting as much aperture as you can practically manage

[Moonshane]

basically what John said. for visual astronomy the factors affecting the views of DSOs (and I presume we are talking about all but double stars) are to me at least:

seeing conditions (if it's cloudy......)

then

dark skies

then

aperture

then (in some cases)

filtration

then

observer experience

then

collimation and cooling

then

optical quality of mirror and eyepieces

personally, I have a range of scopes (all dobs) from a 6" f11 to a 12" f4 to a 16" f4 and these meet all the needs of convenience and aperture for me. I think that one scope to meet all requirements is hard to find but an 8-10" dob would for me be the best all rounder.

[Mike73]

I think you have to think alot about your own lifestyle and how you intend to observe before buying a scope.

If you have to observe from home, have little free time because of work and have back problems then a small scope on a Alt/Azi mount would be a wise move.

But going for larger aperture will always give you better views, being able to store it close to ambient tempature will also mean very little cool down time ( I start observing straight away with my 16" at low powers) and if you are of average fitness then moving a larger aperture scope really isnt that hard, its not like you are doing a 100m sprint with it really is it?