Looking at a new optical tube

[Ozone]

I've been shopping around for a new tube. I currently have a 6" newtonian and a 6" RC. I had seen orion has a 10" newtonian for sale listed here: https://www.telescope.com/mobileProduct/Telescopes/Telescope-Optical-Tube-Assemblies/Orion-254mm-f47-Reflector-Telescope-Optical-Tube-Assembly/pc/1/c/18/9959.uts

I was curious about opinions and suggestions. Would there be a wow factor from going to this 10" from my 6"? Would the planets etc. Be much larger in photos? Thanks.

[fwm891]

Yes and no. Everything will be much brighter. Extra focal length will give a larger image scale but I'm guessing the 10 inch will have a very similar focal length to the RC. You will have enough extra light to handle a barlow to help with image scales.

You will also be able to go 'deeper' and see fainter fuzzies and more detail in the fuzzies you can already see. You'll need sun glasses for the moon!

[rwilkey]

An Orion 10" scope is a big step up from a 6", and you will certainly see more, but not much bigger, planets will always look like a pea through any amateur telescope, but you will be able to see a lot more detail, particularly in Jupiter's cloud belts, for example.  Taking Saturn for example, not only will you see Titan, it's largest moon, but several others besides, such as Rhea, Tethys, Enceledus, Iapetus, Hyperian, Mimas and Dione, so that's the difference in the level of detail.  You will not see NASA or HST images such as colour or anything but you will be able to see a lot further into the cosmos and many fainter objects, stuff like the Leo Triplet and others will stand out dramatically.  So if you consider the moons of Saturn and an easy Leo Triplet to be 'wow' factors then you will like a 10" scope. 

[Ozone]

Basically I was looking to see more detail. I like taking video of the planets and stacking them. Should I look for a different tube design as I already have an RC for deep sky? Like I said, I'm really interested in lunar and planetary right now,  as I have a new asi224mc camera. Also trying to stay in budget around $500. The 6" newt has been a good all around scope.

[Cosmic Geoff]

What are you going to mount the 10" Newt on? If you intend to do planetary astrophotography with it, you will need a SERIOUS mount for it. If your prime aim is astrophotography, an 11" SCT on an equatorial or fork mount might prove smaller, lighter and easier to manage, and possibly even cheaper given that the  load will be less.  If you look in the Planetary Imaging section of this forum, you will see that many planetary imagers use SCTs, which work well in this role.  The depth of focus of a SCT makes it easy to attach cameras and other accessories such as ADC, flip mirror, filter wheel. 

[CraigT82]

16 hours ago, Ozone said:

Like I said, I'm really interested in lunar and planetary right now,  as I have a new asi224mc camera. Also trying to stay in budget around $500

I think the 10" newt may not be the best tool for this job, it's F4.7 which is going to require some pretty accurate collimation if you want to get the best image detail out of it. Also will have a fairly large central obstruction.  A good deep sky tool but not so good for lunar/planetary. 

An 8" F6 newt would be better and can be had cheaply. 

I'd also consider a 6" mak cass which should be available for 500 bucks. You may even find a 7" one within budget, not sure how the US market is for these scopes used?  I personally love the 6" mak cass, a lot of performance in a little package for not much money

Here are a couple of images I've taken using a 6" mak cass in the UK (Jupiter was at around 32 degrees altitude in this image) 

 

 

[rwilkey]

Hi Craig, your pictures are unbelievable, I love the picture of the Clavius in particular, this is the most superb image I have ever seen of it, well done!

[CraigT82]

Thanks! That's very kind of you to say. I'm beginning to regret selling that mak! 

[Ozone]

I have an Orion atlas mount. As far as telescopes I have the 6" newt and the 6" RC. Also had been told I wouldn't see much difference in a mak cass and the RC photos.

[CraigT82]

17 minutes ago, Ozone said:

I have an Orion atlas mount. As far as telescopes I have the 6" newt and the 6" RC. Also had been told I wouldn't see much difference in a mak cass and the RC photos.

What planetary/lunar images have you got so far with your current setups, can you post them? 

 

[Ozone]

Some images...most if not all are dslr. The ones I have taken with the asi224mc have been horrible up to this point. Still honing my skills and weather has been terrible. I am just out of reach quality wise that I want.

[CraigT82]

Those images show good potential I think, to be honest I feel that rather than upgrading your OTA, you'd be able to get better images with lots of practice and spemding time learning to use your 224mc.  Also some practice with processing will reap benefits. 

[Ozone]

Ive been looking at the mak or sct due to collimation issues after transport to the asteonomy club, as its supposed to hold it better. I have also been imaging with a dslr since about 2011 using registax deep sky stacker photoshop etc. and things arent quite as sharp as I would like. I think it has to do with the weight hanging off of the focuser as far as I know the DSLR is for deep sky in the ASI is for planetary so I will still be using the DSLR. I also think I'm just trying to talk myself into getting another telescope? and correct me if I'm wrong with this would be a cheap way to try my hand at using a Mak or an SCT as this scope is only a little over $500. I greatly appreciate the replies.