Chose the wide field telescope over the zoom one, now I kind of regret it

Last month I finally had enough saved to get my first real scope. I was torn between a 70mm wide field refractor and a 90mm Mak with more zoom. I picked the wide field because everyone kept saying it's better for beginners and easy to find stuff. Now I've spent 3 nights trying to see Saturn's rings and it's just this tiny bright dot, no detail at all. The Andromeda galaxy looks great though, so I guess I got what I asked for. Has anyone else dealt with buyer's remorse on aperture vs. field of view?

2 comments

2 Comments

mary_west1mo ago

Yeah, I traded aperture for portability once and spent weeks squinting at a gray smudge on Mars. At least your tiny Saturn dot is honest about being tiny, mine was pretending to be a potato.

wood.faith1mo ago

3-inch scope and a decent Barlow got me a sharp little ring shape last month. The dot might be small, but it's still a real dot, not a fuzzy guess. Honestly, I'd rather see a clear tiny Saturn than a blown-out potato that makes you wonder if your focus is off. Portability has its price, but that gray smudge at least proved you were looking at the right thing.