|
A mate of mine, and fellow IISer, Hickny, had an 8" f/6 dob until recently. We spent many hours using and comparing objects with his scope and my f/4.5 17.5" dob. Saturn amoungst them.
As a visual experience, I actually prefer the image provided by his 8" dob. The clarity of detail provided by the slightly slower scope outperformed the overly glary image in my big dob.
Sure, the big dob did show fainter moons, but not by much. On one occassion, where my scope revealed 6 moons, his showed 5. Most impressive.
Titan, Saturn's biggest moon, is the easiest one to spot, especially now that the rings are still quite shallow in inclination. Make a couple of little drawings of what you see with your two eyepieces, noting all the stars in line with the ring system. Then come back to Saturn after 4 or 5 hours and compare your drawings to the new view. Even the next night is OK as the Planet will not have moved too much compared to the background stars. More experience will begin to reveal more.
My first view of Saturn was by chance while tracking Mars some 27 years ago. I think the echo of my 'WOOHOO' can still be heard! This was using my 50mm Tasco refractor at 30X! Absolutely unmistakable. You will surly have no problem with your 8" dob.
|