[Noidea]

Hi Everyone

I'm super new to this, I got my first scope one week ago. I mistakenly bought it on eBay because it looked like what I thought a serious scope should look like. I discovered one minute after opening the box that I had purchased a toy (Made of plastic & tin & shakes a lot). Even though it's a toy, I have enjoyed looking at the moon in between the cloudy nights over the past week. Now I would like to upgrade to a real scope. Thanks to a great deal of useful advice on this site I think I am now on the right track.

I have learnt from reading on this site that it's not magnification which makes great viewing, but rather the amount of light reflected from the primary mirror. So from what I understand so far, the larger this mirror the more light collected, correct? What I am wondering is, what would be the minimum size required to view some of our nearest planets like Venus, Mars and Saturn and actually see a planet & not a star (I mean in terms of the size of viewed planet in eye piece).

My current scope Focal Length 700mm Diameter 76mm, with 20, 12.5 & 4mm eye pieces & 2 x Barlow. Would this be capable of seeing anything more than a dot of bright light if I attempted to view a planet? I have seen the photos of planets on this site. I am surprised of how much detail can be seen. I am totally inspired to see it for myself.

Paul