Mak or Dob?

[xvariablestarx]

I recently moved back home to Ireland, but unfortunately the area I live in is highly light polluted. I am primarily interested in visual astronomy, and I like looking at the Moon and planets more than hunting for DSOs, so I was wondering, about my next telescope, and if an 8 inch Dobsonian was again in my future or a 127mm or 150mm Maksutov, I know that the bigger scope would mean a brighter, clearer image but it would also bring more light pollution photons to my eye, so I wondered if the Mak might be better. I will probably be using the scope in my backyard and can't see myself going to a darker site very often.

[Whistlin Bob]

I've an 8 inch dob and a slightly smaller Mak than the ones you're looking at. I think the short answer to your question is that either would do just fine. For those targets I wouldn't worry too much about light pollution as both the moon and planets are pretty bright. For my money the dob will give slightly better views and would also allow you to start going after DSOs more successfully if your interests move onto these later, so that's the direction I'd take. However- a dob has the downsides of being larger (for storage) and also needing collimation more frequently (a Mak very rarely needs collimation). To repeat- either of the choices you mention would give fine views of the moon and planets  .

[Cosmic Geoff]

The size of telescope is not the issue. Light pollution makes it harder to see objects that are very faint (stars) or of low surface brightmess (galaxies).  Planets are of high surface brightness and it is possible to see some of them in daylight if you aim your telescope in the right place - and you can't get more light polluted than daylight.

If you are looking at stars, higher magnification will dim the light-polluted sky background while the brightness of the star remains essentially the same.  It does not matter whether you choose a Mak or a Newtonian, or what the aperture is. 

  I assume your deliberation between a Dobsonian-mounted Newtonian and a smaller Mak is on the basis of total cost.  Either is suitable for viewing planets, but the Mak has a long focal ratio making it particularly suitable and usually never needs any collimation adjustment.

[Louis D]

The Mak will need a mount and tripod, so you'll need to budget for that.  The mount is built into the Dob.  I find Dobs easier to track with than alt-az mounts on tripods and are better at resisting diving when changing out heavy eyepieces.