Friday night veiwing.

[StarTrucker (Ian)]

Hello all !....Ive just come in from the front paddock after having a bit of a look about. Sadly, the moon was not kind and obviously there was quite a bit of light pollution. But nevertheless, I had a good time. First I started with the Great Orion Nebula, then hopped across to Crux and checked out the Jewell Box, then up to the nebulae just above and slightly North of the Cross. I found the globular cluster that lays North of Crux. Unfortunatly, I wasnt able to resolve the image to my satisfaction. I am presently using..( dont laugh ) a Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ-MD. I have a variety of good quality eyepieces that include, 6mm,9mm,10mm erecting, 20mm and my favorite...a Bintel 15mm supa-view and a 2 x Barlow. This is my first "real" scope. I have managed to sweet talk my lovely wife into letting me buy another scope. I was considering a 10' Dobsonian...maybe even a 10' Meade Lightbridge. Or..would a larger Newtonian be a better choice ? I would appreciate any advice about what would be a suitable " good " scope....(no B.S please !)

Ian.

[asimov (John)]

Well, this would easy enough to answer if we knew you budget Ian. Ordinarily, most would suggest a dob of some description. I'd probably suggest the same thing, only I'll go one up & maybe suggest a dob with GOTO & tracking. I know personally, I don't want to be nudging the scope on 2 axis repeatably. Some can do this, but I can't.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Hey Ian
Well done on getting out there. Imagine Moree would have sopme nice skies even when the Moon is about.
One small point to clarify. A dob is a newtonian. The Newtonian is a type of scope (paraboloic primary mirror with a flat angled secondary) while the dob refers to the type of mount. While there are some example of scopes other than Newts being mounted on a dob mount, thes are very rare and all commercial dobs are newts!
Good to know you are getting use out of your scope but if you go to a 10" or 12" you will really notice the difference.
If you are looking at a dob, apeture is the big thing. IMHO there is not much difference optically to choose between the major brands of dobs (GSO, Skywatcher, Saxon and Meade Lightbridge) The differences are in price and accessories. Obviously if you want to go for tracking or a full Go To that will set you back more and you may have to sacrifice aperture for that convenience.

Malcolm

[StarTrucker (Ian)]

Thanks for your replies guy's. My budget is around $1,000. A Go-To would be the go I recon !...perhaps I'll save a little more and get one. Yes Malcom, the skies are great out here for observing. If I drive about 10 mins West of my house ( which is 15 k's out of town)..I will be smack-bang in the middle of a cotton field with no tree's and 180* horizon to horizon unobstructed views in all directions !! I truly am lucky in that respect.

Thanks again. Cheers !