[fbk (Fraser)]

Hi all, first post here..

I'm currently enjoying a 130mm Celestron with goto I bought not too long ago.. I generally know my way around the sky and this little telescope with Skyportal app is great. But as I'm sure many of you can attest to, aperture fever is real, and I have it. I believe something in the region of 6x my current light gathering power shall suffice as a cure initially so have my sights set on getting a 12" Dob.

Problem is, I've never looked through a bigger scope so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. I wouldn't think I have unrealistic expectations - but I'd really like to see more detail in some DSO when I have the opportunity to take it out to a dark site. Which from where I am in Perth means an hour or two drive away from the city.

I wrote to a local astronomy club assuming they would welcome potential new members and hoping for the opportunity to see some bigger scopes for myself, but I never got a reply.

So before I bite the bullet, for someone with some so far beginner experience with a 5" goto telescope, what am I likely to think when I first look through something that's 12". Will my jaw drop looking at globs and galaxies? Will I see more detail and/or colour in nebulae? I'm really only interested in the deeper/fainter stuff with this scope and will keep my 5" goto for the back yard, quick looks at the moon and planets, etc.

No need to take into account any size and storage/transportation issues as I have them covered. I'm also happy to have to star-hop and manually move this thing around the sky - I'm really only interested in what to expect visually when looking through something so much bigger than what I have, and whether you think I'll be blown away by the better views, or underwhelmed by how similar things still look. Any and all opinions welcomed. Thanks!