quick question... GoTo vs Aperture

[Minet]

How important do the more experienced members here think GoTo or computerization is?

I'm looking into a first scope, I am currently taking Astronomy classes at my university and am doing very well. I have been out nightly with Binos and have a firm grasp of my local sky. so how important would GoTo be?

Im looking into a larger Dob 10"-12" but will downsize it if I opt for GoTo.

[Minet]

PS Budget is 1000$

[jenniferchristine]

Light gathering is more important than goto if you know the sky.

Having said that, I like to be able to look in my EP and see what I was looking at ten minutes previously - Dobs don't track !

However you can get the best of both worlds, by getting a tracking Dob - Orion make a good one as do Skywatcher.

I have an 8" SCT so I have perhaps the best of both worlds, but they're not cheap.

[GriffinBF]

One opinion.. it depends on what your interests are. If you want to go for the finest NGC's then opt for the aperture. Otherwise, since you obviously have a solid background.. I'd say save yourself the potential upgrade and get a GoTo scope in the 8" range. Then again, I'm not a believer of collecting scopes so I would tend to favour an all purpose decision.

[Minet]

One opinion.. it depends on what your interests are. If you want to go for the finest NGC's then opt for the aperture. Otherwise, since you obviously have a solid background.. I'd say save yourself the potential upgrade and get a GoTo scope in the 8" range. Then again, I'm not a believer of collecting scopes so I would tend to favour an all purpose decision.

Yes mostly faint NGC and Messier. I'm out of the city in dark sky farm territory so I get minimal pollutants. really leaning z12 or orion classic 10" just not sure if I'll be cursing myself for not getting the Goto..... AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGG

[Carlos_dfc]

If you're looking to view faint NGCs, then aperture is King.

If you know the sky, then a decent book of charts will be enough, or some good planetarium software for a laptop. ('Cartes du Ciel', or 'Stellarium' are both free downloads)


My own personal opinion as a purely visual observer:
I enjoy the hunt for a 'new' object, and it's not too difficult when you get a bit of star-hopping experience, doesn't take long to get to the point where it's only the scope's capability that is the limit as to whether you'll find an object, or not.
And you can't beat the satisfaction of tracking down that elusive 'faint fuzzy' by yourself.
Unless you can afford a large Goto scope, then go for aperture.
It may be great having electronics that can point accurately at 50,000 deep sky objects, but can be a bit of a let-down when you realise that the optics are only capable of letting you actually see maybe 10% of them.

[mplanet62]

Some really good advice above.
If GOTO was that important to me (it's not, I prefer to learn the sky), and I was into NGCs, I would start with a very good mount, like EQ6 PRO (EQ5 PRO will be close to your budget).
TELESCOPE SUPPLIERS - SKY-WATCHER TELESCOPE and put on it whatever I had money left for. This would allow me to learn the mount use and get the grasp with practical observation. Then I would upgrade the OTA to something like this TELESCOPE SUPPLIERS - SKY-WATCHER TELESCOPE (just OTA).
What would be the benefit of it? First - you get a solid base for everything that you may wish for in the future. Then you get the full thing when you are ready to use it. And best of all - this is all reversible at any stage would you wish to do so.
Buying a 14" DOB outright may be tempting, but it would be the end of the road - it's not upgradeable and not too easy to handle. Get to some star party to try it first if the temptation is too great.
Clear skies,
Michael

[Bob327]

I'm old fashioned and learned to star hop 40-50 years ago But today I normally use one of my GoTo scopes and just go out and look...

Todays sky is NOWHERE as dark as it was years ago when I started and a good number of my old friends I could see as I hopped around the sky are today just visible which makes star hopping a little harder and much more time consuming....

Major advantage of GoTo is that like a hand held calculator it is a tool to get your answer (the Messier object you are hunting) in the FOV of the telescope quickly saving you the work...

Star Hopping is fun....and I still do it when I am in the mood but GoTo just makes things much easier....and I get to see more ...

Bob G.
a 10 inch Dob is a great scope and I would lean towards one of them BEFORE I'd recommend a 12 inch IF I were recommending a scope to someone new in the hobby... not any big difference in aperture but noticeably easier to transport.

Bob G

[astronut]

Im with Carlos IF your skys are dark & you know the sky. Go for aperture IF you can handle the equipment. Go-to is sweet but can fail & you can almost count on it failing unless its top ofthe line go-to equipment.......& even then no guarantee it won't break down someplace a cord, hand controller, or the hobby grade electronics. These scopes are not manufactured with military grade electronics.
Dave

[DrNature]

The other trade-off in the aperture department is portability. As has been mentioned, light pollution is an issue and it isn't getting any better! Bigger glass may be helpful when viewing in these conditions, but not if you can't find what you want to look at. If you have to move it several miles, you need to factor that in!

Bottom line is that there are a lot of variables - and only you know what your needs/wants/dreams are.

My dream: a 16" SCT on a heavy-duty go-to mount and sturdy tripod with a total weight of no more than 15 lbs that I can set up by myself and transport in a Prius along with my favorite stargazing partner. Dreaming on...