[NickontheCoast]

Seems my astronomy habit is influenced by those significant birthdays! 2008 was the 8" Skywatcher Dob which has seen great service, albeit too many nights inside.

For 2018 I have been looking at adding a goto, which is an expensive proposition - cheaper to buy a new goto dob (kinda).

Now I am looking at the Celestron NexStar 8SE Telescope for portability and of course goto etc. Without access to a range of these my real query is, is it worthwhile to go to the 8" (pricey) or will the 5/6" (maybe not so pricey) be ok and not a disappointment after the aperture of the current dob?

Viewing is usually (I get a fairly good western sky) planets, nebulae and other DSOs. While I try and plan a night viewing, sometimes the seeing is great and I'd like to just pick up and go.

Open to any advice and thoughts.