Compared a cheap $60 telescope to my friend's $400 one and the difference was wild

That direct comparison really opened my eyes to what I was missing with my cheap refractor. My $60 scope from Walmart has a 60mm aperture and it came with these plastic eyepieces that are basically toys. His XT8 has a 200mm mirror so it collects way more light and that is what makes the difference on deep sky stuff. We looked at the Andromeda Galaxy too and in his scope it was this bright oblong patch while in mine it was barely visible. I knew bigger aperture mattered in theory but seeing it side by side made me realize I had been missing so much detail. Now I am saving up for a used Dobsonian because I want to see what else I have been missing. Has anyone else had that moment where they compared scopes and realized their setup was holding them back?

2 comments

2 Comments

cole_davis471mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, did the Andromeda difference blow your mind the most?

aaron_ellis421mo ago

Wait, I always thought the Triangulum Galaxy's details were way more surprising honestly.