advice

[kahuna]

looking to buy a new scope, I,m using a 60 x 900 refractor, been looking at a celestron astromaster 130eq and a skywatcher skymax 80eq1, i,m not to clued on cassegrian scopes. which scope type will be best for me .???

i'm worried about the small size of lens and scope of the cassegrain compaired with a 5" reflector, which is going to give me the best results ???

[John]

While the Skymax 80 will be a bit of an improvement over your current scope, it's not a big step up by any means wheras the 130mm will deliver noticably better views, especially of deep sky objects.

[kahuna]

thank you, another question if i may, i live in north cheshire, the skys are average would it make much differance if i pushed my limit and went for a 6" in stead of a 5" or am i just splitting hairs and would it not make much differance??

[John]

Extra aperture is always a good thing whatever the skies are like. When you do get a good night you will appreciate it. Whichever you go for, you can expect a big performance jump over your 60mm.

[ollypenrice]

Light grasp goes up as the square of the aperture. A 'small' increase between 5 and 6 inches is maybe not all that small...

Olly

[brantuk]

I'd suggest having a look through some bigger scopes to get an idea of what can be achieved and what you'd like to get. Maybe join an astro soc and try the club scopes?

[kahuna]

thanks for all the advice, i,ve just ordered a 5" , so happy nights a head. cheers

[Jdavies]

good decision, the one i would of bought in your postion