Right now I live in a larger city, and don't have much opportunity to get out of town to a dark site, so I am seriously considering just going with a refractor and doing some planetary viewing in town. At least for now. Someday maybe I can invest in, or even build, a larger Dob for looking at the deep sky stuff when I have more time to do it.

One thing though. When compared to a 5 or 6" refractor, does the large aperture of a Dob make much of a difference in how bright the planets appear? Since the planets are close and are pretty bright already, would they still be about as bright and detailed with a 5" refractor at 300X as they would be with a 12.5"-16" aperture dob at 300X? If that's true, would there also really be little or no difference in planetary images between the 5" and 6" refractor?

Thanks again for your help, I am close to taking the plunge and getting my first scope. :->

Scott

• Brightness: Big Dob v. Little Refractors - filipowski - June 15, 2003 - 19:04 UTC
  • The 6" Refractor it is!!! - louieia - June 16, 2003 - 23:56 UTC
    • 6" Meade Refractor - hecbom - November 27, 2003 - 06:01 UTC
  • Dobs vs Refractors - danieldgj - June 19, 2003 - 00:35 UTC
    • Re: Dob v. Refractor - filipowski - June 20, 2003 - 14:54 UTC
      • Well, yes and no - danieldgj - June 20, 2003 - 23:35 UTC
        • Well, yes, no, and money! - filipowski - June 21, 2003 - 15:25 UTC
      • Refractors, Dobs, etc. - louieia - June 21, 2003 - 15:28 UTC
      • Star Diagonals, Arizona mountains, etc. - louieia - June 21, 2003 - 15:41 UTC
        • Re: Star Diagonals & Leviathans - filipowski - June 21, 2003 - 19:16 UTC
          • Agreement--at least on diagonals. - danieldgj - June 22, 2003 - 14:13 UTC
    • How about a planetary dob? - astrowizz - April 28, 2008 - 04:40 UTC