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Originally Posted by Crushellon
So after discussions with my wife, we decided to go with a Goto... Lol. She wants her and the kids to be able to view things as well and I think they might have trouble with tracking as they are very young. Might have to keep my eye out for a second hand one I think.
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Hi Tim, and welcome! Lots of good advice here already, and a 10" dob is a really nice scope to see all sorts of objects. A 12" isn't that much of a jump in terms of what you can see- so when you develop aperture fever you will probably want to go to 16" or above to make a real difference!
Just a couple of comments: I show children the sky all the time, and you are right, a stable tracking scope is a great idea, especially if your wife is on board with it! Very young children have a lot of trouble looking through an eyepiece, so don't expect too much if they are under about 6.
With regard to filters: I support "Mental" in his comment about colour filters for planets. I have tried several, and very rarely use them.
I do find that a "deep sky" broadband filter is great in the city for emission nebulae in particular, and even helps a bit with galaxies as it gets rid of some of the light pollution, darkens the background sky and doesn't remove the stars in the same way a narrowband filter does. If you want to go down the filter route, make sure you look through a range of them first- perhaps with your local astronomy club.
All the best with your search for a scope.
- Dean