I spoke of the practicality of Dobs earlier, and if I were to make another scope that would still be my chosen type. That said, I must admit that there is something beautiful about a refractor. The first time I ever saw Jupiter's moons as disks instad of points, it was with a refractor make by Alvin Clark (?Clarke?) in the 1800s. That view of Jupiter was over 20 years ago, and it remains a treasured memory. And the first telescopes accurate enough to measure the distances to stars with the parallax method were refractors made by Joseph Fraunhofer. Although my Schmidt-Cassegrain had no historical connection to him, I've nonetheless named it Fraunhofer out of awe for his genius.

--Dan Johnson, proud owner of a 10-inch SCT, 12.5 inch Dob, a couple of small Maks, AND a Megrez 80 refractor. (My old, small Newts have found their way to others.)