On 26 Aug 2004 08:00:10 -0700, (Dave Mitsky) wrote:

I'd like to hear your opinions on whether a 127mm Orion
Maksutov-Cassegrain is a better deep-sky telescope than a 10" Orion or
Hardin Dob that is now on sale for about the same price. Don't laugh I
have a very good reason for collecting this information.

For deep-sky, there is a very significant difference between a 5" and a 10"
aperture. If you are speaking only in terms of the optics, I don't see how you
could ever find the smaller scope a better choice for DSOs.

Of course, there may be other factors to consider. Certainly, the ease with
which the smaller scope can be used on an equatorial mount could be strongly in
its favor.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com