Ah, it's the old "which is the best telescope" game! Let's play. What's best, a refractor or a reflector. Answer: yes. What's best, a short focus eyepiece or a longer focus plus a barlow lens? Answer: Yes. What's best, Seestar, or the zoo or other smart telescopes? Answer: YES! Next question? When I'm on an observing field, I don't just pick my preferred telescope. I try to look through all of them, because each scope, large, small, catadioptric, newtonian, refractor or other, shows a different version of the object. Only by seeing them all and the unique strengths of each telescope on the field, can you say you've seen the object and appreciated every possible aspect of it. Sometimes you can be surprised. A friend and I were at the Winter Star Party with his homebuilt equatorial 20" Newtonian. For a joke he had made a full aperture solar filter. When others pulled their out and began attracting a crowd, we set up. Even at the Winter Star Party, where people can be expected to know better, everyone lined up to see the Sun through the 20". But because of the way thermals work, through the 20" you were getting distortions from multiple bubbles of warmer air at a time and the image was smeared all the way to Jacksonville. With an 8" scope or smaller, you're looking through a single column of air bubbles and getting a much superior view to that 20" full aperture filter. We checked it out. The view through a 6" scope was much better than ours.
Thank you for sharing your insights! You raise an important point about experiencing different telescopes in real-world conditions. Each type offers a unique perspective, and your Winter Star Party story highlights how sometimes smaller scopes can outperform larger ones due to thermal effects. It’s a great reminder that exploring various instruments enriches our understanding of the space. Thanks again for your valuable input.
Ah, it's the old "which is the best telescope" game! Let's play. What's best, a refractor or a reflector. Answer: yes. What's best, a short focus eyepiece or a longer focus plus a barlow lens? Answer: Yes. What's best, Seestar, or the zoo or other smart telescopes? Answer: YES! Next question?
When I'm on an observing field, I don't just pick my preferred telescope. I try to look through all of them, because each scope, large, small, catadioptric, newtonian, refractor or other, shows a different version of the object. Only by seeing them all and the unique strengths of each telescope on the field, can you say you've seen the object and appreciated every possible aspect of it.
Sometimes you can be surprised. A friend and I were at the Winter Star Party with his homebuilt equatorial 20" Newtonian. For a joke he had made a full aperture solar filter. When others pulled their out and began attracting a crowd, we set up. Even at the Winter Star Party, where people can be expected to know better, everyone lined up to see the Sun through the 20". But because of the way thermals work, through the 20" you were getting distortions from multiple bubbles of warmer air at a time and the image was smeared all the way to Jacksonville. With an 8" scope or smaller, you're looking through a single column of air bubbles and getting a much superior view to that 20" full aperture filter. We checked it out. The view through a 6" scope was much better than ours.
Thank you for sharing your insights! You raise an important point about experiencing different telescopes in real-world conditions. Each type offers a unique perspective, and your Winter Star Party story highlights how sometimes smaller scopes can outperform larger ones due to thermal effects. It’s a great reminder that exploring various instruments enriches our understanding of the space. Thanks again for your valuable input.
I want the Dwarf 3. Thanks. ❤
Nice. Seestar is way better. 😊