What Scope to Get

Equipment
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George Smith avatar
George Smith avatar

I am currently in the process of building an observatory in my back garden. Will be putting a Sywatcher EQ8r mount for the telescope. I have Bortle 7 skies, so I understand this would limit the scope's size. Will mainly be viewing and imaging the planets, however, I will also be doing deep-sky. I will be mainly viewing and imaging the planets, however, I will also be doing deep sky imaging. I have a budget of £8000 for the scope, looking at the Askar 203 APO 203mm f/7 Triplet ED Refractor, the Celestron C11 edge or a 12-16" Orion Optics CT Ultra Newton. Just looking for opinions on what scope would be best for my sky conditions. I like the idea of the refractor having very little maintenance compared to the Newton or SCT needing ollimation on a regular basis.

Thanks
George

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Tony Gondola avatar
Tony Gondola avatar

George Smith · May 2, 2026, 10:07 PM

Bortle 7 skies, so I understand this would limit the scope's size

It’s not the B number that limits your telescope size, it’s the seeing. Typically you want really large apertures for the planets but there’s really no point of your seeing is bad all the time. That’s really what you want to look at.

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