Is an upgrade worth it...

[Merry]

Hi all,

First post on here after roughly a year in the hobby, so hello.

I started out with a pair of 10x50 binos, then a Skywatcher 130pm and I've since bought a couple of Meade eyepieces to add to the cheapies that came bundled.

I live on the edge of a village overlooking fields, a few miles outside of a town and I think the light pollution is reasonably low, although I'm certainly not in 'dark skies'.

I also have two teenagers, a new baby and a lot of work commitments. My sessions are therefore short and few and far between. Getting mobile to get somewhere dark has so far proven impossible. I've only ever viewed on my own from my back garden. I'm still very much a beginner!

I've seen the small dot of Mars, Saturn and a bigger image of Jupiter & moons (which I love), have seen some whispy bits of the Orion nebula and managed to track a few others as well as things like Pleiades and so on.

Without wanting to resume the Aperture vs. Light pollution debate and seeing as I have got some spare cash to spend on me for once, I have three questions:

1) Can anyone give some ideas of what you should be able to see from bad, average, and low light polluted skies (perhaps some targets to try out?) so I can get a feel for how bad my area is?

2) Would I benefit from an upgrade to a larger aperture to see more/enjoy it more, bearing in mind viewing conditions?

3) I'd been looking at the Skyliner Flextube dobs and could probably afford the 8", 10" or possibly 12". Is this a sensible upgrade? Is there something better? Is the GOTO worth the cash and can you still use it entirely manually (If you can't I wouldn't want it)?

Sorry if this is a little long. Any help or advice much appreciated.

Nick

[rowan46]

welcome to sgl. If you don't have stellarium, download it there is a function on there which will show you what you can see under different quality skies Stellarium as to the flexitubes . I have never used them, but it strikes me if you are observing from your backgarden. you are paying for a portability that you will never use or need. I would get the Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX Dobsonian and spend anything I had left over on eyepieces or the new baby. just my tuppence worth on the scope but certainly stellarium will show you the effects of light pollution on your viewing. Hope that helps

[JamesM]

Can you see all the stars in Ursa Minor? (little bear) which is the plough like star constellation that ends in Polaris (I hope you can see Polaris otherwise I would change your interests! ) If you can see them all naked eye, then your sky is fairly good.

James

[Merry]

Thanks both, I do have stellarium, but haven't played with it much as I have various apps on my phone. Will give it a try thanks.

Regarding Ursa Minor, I can certainly see it and I believe I can see all of it, but will take a look tonight (if it stays clear) and report back, thanks.

As a general principle though, if I'm in an okay area, would a larger aperture improve things or is it irrelevant unless I can get mobile to go somewhere dark?

[Merry]

Hi again James, I notice you're in Bristol, I'm south of Bath. Can you recommend any good local spots?

[rowan46]

A larger apparture will get deeper into space dso's will be brighter and more resolved, certainly a 8, 10, or 12inch will be a big improvement on the 5 inch you have now. (not a disparagement of the 130p just that the others are better)