Dob vs Refractor

I'm not sure if I should have put this on the same thread as my star atlas...?

I'm looking around at the moment for a scope and a little confused as I have never used a dob before. Are they useful for planetary obervation? I understand the wider field of view is an issue, but will a 10" dob show the same detail as a 6" refractor for example, or does it all depend on the eyepieces?

Hi,
Unless you get an absolutely top notch refractor (and at that size you're talking thousands of euros)you will get colour fringes around bright objects like the moon/planets and stars, a dob wont have this problem.
A 10" dob gathers about 3 times the light a 6" refractor will, so objects will be brighter in the 10".
Under good seeing conditions and with equal quality scopes then the 10" wins as a better all round scope, deepsky objects will be more visible and star clusters better resolved.
As for planets, only if the seeing is bad could a 6" refractor possibly beat the 10" for planets, assuming scopes of similar quality, but under most conditions the 10" would be the better scope.
The real drawbacks with the 10" are transportability and collimation, it would a much heaftier and bigger scope to move around. Optical collimation is very important. If it's not done right or is out then your image quality will suffer badly.

If you're in a position to be able to move a big scope around and learn about collimation, then a 10" is the answer for you.

As for eyepieces, most modern eyepeices would be ok for planetary viewing and I wouldnt go to the expense of specialist eyepieces, all the same, bad quality eyepeices will cripple any telescope.

Thanks for the info - I may compromise and go with an 8 inch reflector, as portability is definately an issue!

I'd agree 100 % with Dave there, BUT.
In this hobby,
I've found that if it aint easy to transport and set up,
you will quickly loose interest.

Better to compromise as you say and at least
get some astronomy done rather than get frustrated
and walk away from it.

Another compromise would be to go for a lightweight SCT, something like a Celestron Nexstar 6se.

I'm afraid that may be a little beyond my reach...

I was looking into this one also (sorry, thanks so much for all the help, I'm conflicted

www.opticalvision.co.uk/astronomical_tel...ins/skymax-127_eq3-2