Hello Friend,

One thing many of us who have been in the hobby of amateur astronomy for a while realize is,
that sometimes, bigger is better.

And no where is that more pronounced than on deep sky objects.

I first learn't this many moons ago, when I got my first look through the ugliest looking
12.5" dobsonian telescope I'd ever seen up to that point.

I was at the STARFEST Star party, held annually near Mount Forest, Ontario, Canada.

When my pal, Louie invited me to look through this telescope, and told me that it was commercially
made by a company called  Coulter Optical , who were relatively new at the time.

  I just could not believe it.

It was painted in the ugliest pale blue colour I'd ever seen (that paint colour  must have been on sale that week
they made it), and the focuser was a cardboard tube that you slid up and down.

It looked like crap, Friend.

Anyway, I thought it won't kill me to take a look through it, to humour Louie, and frankly I was not expecting much.

Louie scanned it over to the Veil Nebulae, towards the south end of the sky.

He had also put in a Lumicon Oxygen III filter, which enhances details on faint emission nebuala, such as the veil.

I cannot recall which eyepiece he used, but suffice to say, it was medium power.

The view was impressive!  I can still remember it.

Louie told me that it was hit and miss with Coulter Optical. You could get a good or bad mirror.

It was hit and miss.

Now that was many years ago, and I am pleased to say that due to high standards which most reputable
manufacturers today, optical quality is at the top of the list.

Why?

Well first of all, mirrors today are ground on precision CNC machines.

Back in the day, they were subject to humans doing the manual labour in mirror grinding.

And if some guys wife had burnt his toast that particular morning, well woe betide you
if you were  the unlucky recipient of that particular mirror.

Anyway, our friends at Skywatcher have just announced a huge kickass dobsonian
with a truss trube.

18" of aperture!

You can see it here:  (http://www.khanscope.com/productdetails.cfm?productID=5633)

And a few things you can be sure of: It's going to be high quality throughout!

Now at this pricetag, it's obviously not for everybody, but if you want to invest in
a good quality, large aperture, truss tube Dobsonian (with optional "goto"), then
this one is worth a consider.

Clear Skies,

Ray Khan

PS Remember Louie? Well, he was a relatively short guy, and I was always impressed
by the fact, that he had such a big telescope.  And, I still see him now and again at
Starfest after all these years.