Will larger apertures produce brighter visuals?

cloud_cover · Post by **cloud_cover** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:09 pm

I know this is a silly question, but will a bigger scope produce a brighter visual picture at the same magnification? (e.g. 8" vs 3"), all else being equal?

tungkian · Post by **tungkian** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:13 pm

yes. confirm. tried and tested.

tungkian · Post by **tungkian** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:15 pm

80mm scope for waning crescent moon is OK

6inch is way too bright for my eye

8 inch is omg bright can cast a dark shadow of my head on the roof behind me without the EP in the diagonal

16 inch is 'better not try'

this is what i've observed

rlow · Post by **rlow** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:48 pm

Not a silly question

Yes, bigger aperture will give brighter images and make faint DSOs become more visible. Not only that, bigger aperture will also give better resolution (show more details), better color saturation (especially planets) and allow you to use higher magnification (when seeing is good).

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:51 pm

Bigger is always better! :-)

Except when you have to haul it out.

Sometimes I get tempted by those 16" to 18" Hubbleoptics mirrors.. you can see color in DSO's when you get to that size.

But then I remember that I gave up on my 10", what more a bigger one..

The Litescope 12" self-assembly kit at $1270 USD looks tempting though.. (although you can go hog-wild and get a Uti or Portaball for $5K)

timatworksg · Post by **timatworksg** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:21 pm

The more light you can pull in the clearer and better the resolution will be for our eyes to see! Stars will be brighter, more stars can bee seen in clusters cos more is revealed!

On a 5" Omega Centauri looks like a soft cotton ball...on an 8" you can see it's core and the cluster of small tiny stars. Bigger....you definately see the cluster in it's glory! Can't say much for Nebulas though...not here in Singapore...but Star Clusters are beautiful in our skies!! In fact the bigger the scope, light cloudiness isn't so much a bummer! I used to take out my 8" SCT and view on light cloudy days....showed me more than a 5" on a similar night! More I can pull in more I can see!

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:26 pm

Looks like it won't take another year for aperture fever to strike again.

rlow · Post by **rlow** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:42 pm

orly_andico wrote:Sometimes I get tempted by those 16" to 18" Hubbleoptics mirrors.. you can see color in DSO's when you get to that size.

Did you really see color in DSOs using 16"-18" scopes?

Different shades of color will be more evident on Jupiter, Saturn etc.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:50 pm

richard, that's what i've "read" -- colors in 18"-class scopes.

of course M42 is easy, the green is readily apparent.

Gary... at some point there will be a limiting factor. I think that practically, 12" is the maximum you can have unless you have an SUV or something. 8" to 12" is a decent jump, but 10" to 12" is not.

Gary · Post by **Gary** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:57 pm

@orly: I was poking fun at cloud_cover.

I am very happy and contented with my C8.