So after the success of acquiring my Meade 90 ETX, I got a bad case of aperture fever and started looking. As some of you may already know, aperture fever is when you’ve had a taste of astronomy and suddenly want a bigger scope! The ETX is great for the Moon and planets, and some of the brighter deep sky objects, and easily my grab-and-go telescope (especially with a new tripod I got for my birthday), but a larger mirror will take in more light and will thus help me to see more objects in the sky. After some research, I decided on Explore Scientific’s 10″ Hybrid Truss Dobsonian. Not only does it give excellent views with a 10″ main mirror, but it also collapses down to fit in the trunk of my compact car.

I also found out that due to its large mirror, I can see greater details on the Moon and planets, as well! (Many years ago I had a Meade 8″ Newtonian and could see all kinds of stuff, even the dark smudges on the face of Jupiter when the Shoemaker-Levy comet smashed into it!) It will not replace my ETX, but will compliment it. Moon photos will follow soon!

The black patch on the upper tube assembly is where I attach my phone when I’m using the AstroHopper app to observe hard to find objects such as Uranus, Neptune, Dumbbell Nebula, and much more! My first upgrade was this 9×50 finder scope with an illuminated reticle by Astromania. Now it’s a real DSO hunter!

Novels by James Crawford –

Mariner Valley – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0141N9UXO

Seed of Aldebaran – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SHXTRMP

AlCent Sagas Book One: Formation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ5C3TQT A Noble Paradise – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QG6LZ10