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It's a matter of cost. Plus is better; a dual-speed focuser and secondary focuser knobs are enjoyable upgrades.

@@jeffmartin-g8r Thank you so much for responding .

yes, it's an actual physical connection to you eyeball. I like pushing a scope by hand because it reinforces the "feel" of the visual connection.

yep, and it's the emotional moments that inspire. Also those photons are physical connections from the source to your eyeball. real connections!

I'm fine with the artists. Ticketmaster and the ticket resellers are ones making huge profits while providing little value.

Yes. having seen them before but from very far away, this kind of "completed" the U2 journey.

absolutely! To me that's the draw of the hobby: those moments when you feel connection to this grand humbling universe. Even though most observing sessions don't reach that level of inspiration, a dark sky calms and resets me (the beach does too). And, note, I've had these moments with $100 telescopes (dark sky and a good target).

it's an actual physical connection. Granted, it's one-way, but still... It came all that way just for me to appreciated it.

yep. 8" dob is a sweetspot. I have three 10" right now and a 16" GoTo in the garage. I'll keep the most portable of 10-inchers. The bigger scopes are capable but there is a huge downside: their hugeness. An 8-inch is capable of being a grab-and-go. The best scope is the one you use the most and an 8-inch dob has the most use cases.

Hi Ed! Congratulations on your purchase! Step 1 is to buy a scope, Step 2 is to sit with it waiting for the cloud cover your purchase caused. :) Yeah, it's tough to plop down $200 for a chair (I think I paid $150 decades ago), but being comfortable at the eyepiece is probably the #1 catalyst to observing longer. You can probably get comfortable at certain angles with a fixed chair or two for a while, but ultimately, if you get into the hobby, the one irreplaceable accessory is an observing chair. I've been wanting to make a video with a good friend of mine (a renowned contributor at cloudynights.com), the first one he wants to do is about an observing chair. He's weird, but he's right.

that's legit. My next videos will be about those 1st Telescopes - one's that are essentially throwaways - you'll either find out you aren't into the hobby or you'll be ready to get a decent one

Power has it's place; but the marketing focus on high power eclipses the value of low power (wide field). Especially when the 60mm scope is marketed as 500x and more. It's deceptive and inevitably leads to disappointment.

I have a website oriented towards new observers: gooutlookup.net . It answers some of your questions. Skysafari is your lifelong friend. If you have a dark sky at your house, then more aperture makes a big difference, so an 8" or 10" dobsonian is good idea. If you need to break it down into smaller parts for transport, there are a couple options. Sky-Watcher "Flextube" dobs collapse (but are still pretty big). Explore Scientific has some dobs that break down very small. The Starsense Explorer 10" dob by celestron is very capable and extremely easy to find targets - but it's BIG.

explorescientificusa.com/collections/dobsonians/products/explore-scientific-10-inch-hybrid-truss-tube-dobsonian-telescope-dob1045c

@@jeffmartin-g8r Thank you for your help! I found your link some where in the comments, and I read through everything. That is an extremely helpful website that broke down a lot of stuff for me. Thank you! I think I am leaning towards a more portable 10" dob based off my area and needs. Thank you so much for the video, website, and response. I really appreciate it!

@@davishall29 Thanks for the kind words. I do this sporadically, haphazardly; hopefully, I'll get to a point where I can do it more consistently and cohesively - but in the meantime, it's important to get something done when inspiration pops up. People who like things strongly really enjoy helping others enjoy it as well. While I can't help anyone love the genius of Kate Bush, showing them Saturn through a scope is almost a 100% thrill rate. There's a bit of threshold going from No Scope to Being Happy With a Scope; having good guidance can increase that success rate. One of the best resources in joining a local astronomy group. If one isn't around, cloudynights.com has amazing forums - it's where I go for advice. "Space Groomers" all of us. Good luck; I hope you get to fully enjoy your dark skies!

@@jeffmartin-g8r I'll start searching for a group! Thank you again for all of your help. It has cleared up a lot of confusion and replaced it with even more excitement!

absolutely correct, but my target audience is beginners. collimation (yes, my primary caveat when recommending to beginners), central obstruction (not an issue, because you can get a whole lot more aperture with reflectors per $$$ (so inch per inch isn't a good metric)), coma (for beginners, meh; for serious, correctable), daytime (absolutely!), size (weight concerns me more). What do you recommend to beginners? Obviously cost is an issue. If an 8" or 10" dob is too big, an 8" NexStar SCT is probably my recommendation. And everyone should have a 4" achromatic.

A continuous photon train is a direct connection from the celestial body. Photos are amazing - and "amateurs" can produce amazing wondrous images - but those photons come from a nearby screen or paper. I may someday delve into astrophotography, but it's really a separate hobby.

he's almost completely awesome, but he's mean to our other cat (that's why he's in the garage at night)

Hobbes really likes people. Our other cat, Hazel, is far more skittish. Except the rare time she sits on my lap when watching TV, I really don't know how to pet her.

Generally, he's okay being put behind the door at night; only sometimes does he object. But he's always ready to greet the morning. Time to get him out now, in fact.

yes. A form of meditation and a quiet connection (cats, anyway. dogs can be a little less quiet.

yes. and fortunately, there are a lot of little things to draw upon.

Hi Tia, Nangyuan Island off of Koh Tao, Thailand

Hi Roy, RobertGraham.us is the designer. "Planets" is the name of that shirt. I probably got it used from ebay.

Thank you for the reply. I’ll do some searching for what he might have in production. Good seeing

yep. I used to buy scopes from guys "who are getting to old to pick up" their scopes. Now I'm that guy getting too old to handle the big ones.

I absolutely totally agree!

8" and a dark sky are amazingly capable. Keep an eye out on craigslist; an 8" dob will often come up for sale for rather cheap.

I put it on a table for the video. For observing it's tall enough to set on the ground. One of the best accessories for observing is an "observer's chair". They have a a wide range of height adjustments so that you are comfortable at the eyepiece. Comfort = extended observing.

Auggiedogg46: put some clothes on. I'll show off the 8-inchers around here, thank you very much. But, yes, if you know where to point it, 8" goes a long way. Sure to please.

The only correct answer is: Get BOTH. :) The next question is which do you get FIRST? The 8" dob might be a better start than an inexpensive refractor (more capable). A five-inch refractor is pretty good aperture. A bright sky will generally wash out the dim fun stuff (galaxies, nebula) which leaves you with the bright stuff: the moon, planets, double stars, star clusters. Those bright objects tend to like high magnification. If your 127mm is an achromatic doublet, your max magnification will be lower than a refractor with better glass or a reflector. A "fringe killer" filter can mitigate some color fringing (chromatic aberration). If you're only observing from home, the difference in aperture may not be much of a factor. In a dark sky, aperture rules. In an urban area, maybe you want a refractor for looking at terrestrial targets. A 5-inch scope with good glass (you'll know by the price) is a solid capable scope. I would venture that most serious visual observers have an 8" or larger reflector and a good 4" or larger refractor. Happy shopping!

@@jeffmartin-g8r thank you very much ….. This clear a lot of things for me

I'm for that. It seems easy enough... 😆

@@jeffmartin-g8r If I lived there I'd save up for one of those dobnoculars.

I'm in.

Yes. An adjustment ch as ur can be used to keep your eye at the eyepiece. You can use a table if it doesn’t wobble.

my refractor there is a Sky-Watcher Quantum 120. It's a Esprit in carbon fiber. It's also the biggest refractor I can leave set up inside the house (it's short enough that it doesn't get in the way too much). I also about as big as I can carry outside mounted without injuring myself.

True 👍👍

Mazin, looks like you've got a great setup. Well done! Glad you're enjoying it. One of the best accessories is an observer's chair: the seat is infinitely adjustable (within a range, of course (it's not a space elevator)) so that you're comfortable observing. That allows you observe longer. Mine is visible in the video.

Thanks Jeff! Much appreciated 😊

Hi Steve. Thanks for sharing your history. I got a 60mm refractor when I was 8 years old. It was my only scope for thirty years. I could only see the moon, Jupiter and its Galilean moons, Saturn (it's rings are awesome -always!), and the Orion Nebula. I saw the fuzzy blob of Halley's Comet with it. I saw Hale-Bopp with it - comet of a lifetime. I just didn't know where to point it. A Meade ETX60 introduced me to GoTo. I think I saw more in one night than the previous 30 years. A phone app is a must (SkySafari); an Astronomy Club is a great resource. And of course the internet. The great thing about even small reflectors is that you can get reasonably high magnification with them. 4.5" is nothing to sneeze at, especially in a dark sky (I tend not to recommend small refractors because the mirrors may need aligning, but they are inch/inch more capable than cheap glass refractors. "8-inches is the biggest of the small scopes and the smallest of the big scope." You will love that 8" dobsonian (keep an eye out for used ones (craigslist local, or cloudynights.com)).

Congrats on the scope! It's completely capable. Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are in excellent positions for viewing (from anywhere). "Faint fuzzies" will be dependent on your viewing site, not the scope. Are you in an urban area or a place with dark skies? Is there a local astronomy club? If so, they will turbocharge your initial experiences. Good luck!

also, thanks for subscribing, the "Jeff Martin" channel is mostly my cat and son. This video is stuck here, but astronomy-only content is over at Go Out Look Up.

@@golookup thank you so much Jeff. I’ve subscribed to your astronomy channel now. I’m in an urban area, but often visit places like the Rockies of Colorado and will be in the northern part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at Christmas time. Hoping to see the aurora borealis up there. Having this scope in places like that will be phenomenal. Finding an astronomy club is a great idea! I will look for one. Thank you again! I’ll keep you updated. May need a tip or two at times if that’s ok. Take care and stay safe

Analogy: hang gliding is my absolute favorite to experience mountain ridges. Hiking is nowhere near as thrilling, but it's still good for my soul.

I've done astrophotography. It's a different animal. The end results are amazing, but there is a LOT of tech between the sky and your eyeball. I like the source's photons exciting my retina.

Did you go through a period of enjoying visual before going AP? There is definitely a "ceiling" to what visual can show you; I get that.