Thread: True or False
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Old 03-01-2006, 10:46 PM
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janoskiss (Steve H)
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False.

Because if any part of a statement is false the the statement itself is false. Here is the deal (provided both hypothetical scopes are of good quality, and for simplicity let us assume that the refractor is an apochromat so false colour is not an issue):

The smaller refractor will show you less detail (4 times less in fact) than the reflector with twice the aperture. The image you see through the eyepiece is effectively blurred by diffraction effects on true angular scales that are proportional to the inverse of the aperture. The view may be more pleasing in the refractor at lower magnifications, but when conditions allow powers over about 100-150x (for your 4" vs 8" scenario), the increased detail (resolution) of the reflector's image will become apparent. In the refractor you will not be able to distinguish surface features much smaller than about 1.5 arcseconds in size, even under ideal conditions (piggybacking Hubble say). In the reflector you'll still make out details half that size. For this reason, at moderate to high magnification the larger reflector will also produce sharper images.
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