Had to choose between a 6 inch and 8 inch Dobsonian for deep sky viewing

I went with the 8 inch because a guy at the Bryce Canyon star party told me bigger aperture makes a real difference on faint galaxies, and now I can pick out details in M51 that were just a blur before.

3 comments

3 Comments

nora_webb5116d ago

Yeah but did you notice a big difference in how steady the views are with the 8 inch vs the 6? Like on nights with average seeing, I feel like my friend's 6 inch Dob just holds together better on planets because the smaller aperture doesn't magnify the atmosphere's wiggles as much. I'm always torn between grabbing more light for faint stuff and losing sharpness on the bright stuff when conditions aren't perfect. How are you managing that tradeoff with the bigger scope? Because I keep hearing people say aperture is king but then they get frustrated on anything but a perfect night.

mason.drew16d ago

You mentioned "average seeing" and honestly that's the whole battle right there lol. On those nights with my 8 inch I just drop the magnification down a lot and focus on the brighter deep sky stuff instead of planets. @ross.kim probably knows what I mean about picking your battles on a night that's not perfect.

ross.kim16d ago

Funny you mention that, I actually dropped my 8 inch on my foot once and limped for a week. Made me realize no amount of aperture is worth a broken toe on a mediocre night.