I saw Saturn at an observatory long before I had my own telescope, but that heart-skip-a-beat moment the first time you see Saturn with your own telescope is like nothing else.

[–] ch00f@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I remembering bringing my 5" dobson to a work retreat camping trip. Everyone was pretty boozed up to the point where they were struggling to keep their eyes steady in the eyepiece.

When one of my coworkers finally got everything lined up he just blurted out "HOLY FUCKING SHIT THAT'S SATURN!"

It was great.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Oh man, I always wanted a dobs. They were significantly more expensive than Newtonians when I was shopping around (not sure if that's still true, this was the 90s), so I ended up with a Newtonian.

[–] ch00f@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I think you're mixing up names. Dobson is the name of the mount, and since they're most commonly used on Newtonians, it's kind of become shorthand. My 5" and 12" are both Newtonian reflectors on Dobson mounts.

Maybe you're thinking of a Schmidt Cassegrain?

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I honestly don't remember, it's been so long since I've been into telescopes. But you obviously know your stuff, so you're right.