New scope advice requested

[Rich]

Looking for some practical advice given the average sky around here-

To see anything meaningful (or satisfying) of the Messier’s, Calwells, NGC, etc. , what is a practical aperture to be looking for in a new scope? My current ‘big’ scope is a 4-inch refractor. Keep in mind I have to travel to a viewing site every time I want to do some stargazing. The sky meter reading at my house is 17.2 .

- I’m guessing Mak’s are out due to f-ratio, long focal length, long cool down time, and narrow FOV

- I’m guessing a dob in the 8-10 inch range could work. Would I really gain anything by going larger?

- Maybe an 8-inch SCT? I’m thinking the traditional black Celestron XLT or the new Edge. Anything 9.25 or larger is out because I would have to buy a new mount as well. My current mount would handle an 8 easily. I confess to preferring a tracking mount over pushing a dob around, but would tolerate it (a dob) if the view is worth it. 

Thanks in advance for any insight you have to offer. 

-Rich

[David Stein]

Rich,

My probably unsatisfying answer is that it very much depends on what you consider satisfying and what Maryland skies you're talking about.  From Alpha Ridge, we're under Bortle 7 skies.  With that much light pollution, only the very brightest deep sky objects will show much detail through a 8" - 10" telescope without technological enhancement. This will be the case regardless of whether you're using an SCT or a Dob.  On the other hand, there are sites in western Maryland that are much darker where a patient observer with good eyes can see very significant detail through a scope of this size. The bottom line is that the darkness of the sky will make far more difference than the size of the telescope in the size ranges that you're considering. Many do still get satisfaction from observing deep sky objects at Alpha Ridge even if many of them look like faint blobs of light. But the bad news is that they won't look dramatically different in an 8" or 10" scope than they do in your 4" refractor.  You'll see more from a darker site with your 4" refractor than you will see from Alpha Ridge with a 10" Dobsonian.

Regarding technological enhancement, the TeleVue/TNVC night vision system is a total game-changer: https://televue.com/engine/TV3b_page.asp?id=36 . It's quite expensive (at least by my standards) but it will show you a lot of detail through a small telescope, or even just holding it up to the sky.  Phil Whitebloom has brought his to some of our star parties and it's jaw-dropping amazing.  We were fortunate to have Al Nagler himself come speak to us in September, 2022 and you can see his talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85YjwWtUdzc where he discusses the device.

If you're willing to abandon the visual experience even further, one of the smart telescopes such as the Seestar S50 will show you a lot of detail on many deep-sky objects from Alpha Ridge in a very portable package at a much more reasonable price, but it will be as a picture on your phone and not a view through a telescope.  That's the trade-off I've made and I'm very happy with it, but that's a very personal decision.

Clear skies,

David

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[Rich]

David,

Thanks for the detailed answer. You pretty much confirmed what I suspect is the case. 

I should have mentioned I am looking for something for visual use only as I have an S50 for photographic purposes. I guess I am old school in that I prefer the photons to hit my eye directly, not interpreted by an external sensor. I love the images I get with my S50, but I much prefer to see the same target directly with my eyes.

A couple weekends ago I was at Tuckahoe State Park with no moon. I have a Unihedron SQM and got a reading of 20.48 at 9:30pm. The sky there was definitely better than Alpha Ridge despite a persistent low level sky glow to the NNW. For those inclined to check it out, you have to call the ranger station ahead of time to get a night sky viewing permit. The rangers are very accommodating and helpful.

Summarizing your comments, it appears a larger scope will not help me visually at Alpha Ridge, but would benefit me at notably darker skies.

-Rich

On Oct 27, 2025, at 9:08 AM, David Stein <david....@gmail.com> wrote:



[Jason Brookbank]

Hi Rich,

My family has been incredibly happy with our SkyWatcher Heritage 150, Heritage 150 Tabletop Dobsonian — Sky-Watcher USA. (I think the tariffs have really jumped the price up since I bought mine for about $250 a few years ago.  They also have a go-to variant Virtuoso GTi 150P — Sky-Watcher USA.

We take it camping out of state and to view around Maryland.  I just have to remember to toss it in the car trunk a few hours before viewing for sufficient temperature stabilization.

The view is great.  No batteries or internet required.  The scope is durable and it packs up relatively small.

I will likely be set up at the November 1st  public star party.  Typically on the ground in the parking lot with it if you want to check it out.

Jason

[David Stein]

Rich,

Yes, the way that I would put it is that, for deep sky objects, you will see more with an 8" at Tuckahoe than you will with a 4" at Tuckahoe, but you will see more with a 4" at Tuckahoe than you will see with an 8" at Alpha Ridge.

David

[Victor Sanchez]

Rich,

 Come out to our Public star party this weekend.  There will be a variety of scopes set up, and you can look through them and draw some conclusions for yourself.  Cheers,

Victor

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From: howar...@googlegroups.com <howar...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Rich <jpms...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2025 7:03 AM
To: david....@gmail.com <david....@gmail.com>
Cc: Howard Astronomical League <howar...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [howardastro] New scope advice requested

 

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