Looking for my first telescope; here is my situation:
1. I've already done a lot of research and understand the pros and cons of each type of telescope.
2. I live outside of DC; I'm not sure what the light pollution situation is. It's definitely not the darkest sky Ive ever seen. I can easily find Orion and the Big Dipper. My neighborhood has a bunch of houses whose owners have decided to light up like daytime, but on the patio behind the house I am relatively shielded from this, at the cost of having a limited field of view (the 180 degrees behind the house, which faces east).
3. I've been on the relevant reddits and universally the advice has been buy an 8"
4. Not sure if I will ever take pictures, but I don't want to exclude the possibility. I have been told on the reddits most people have separate setups for viewing and photography.
5. I called High Point Scientific and the guy with whom I spoke recommended one of the Celestron SCTs.
6. I'd be interested in viewing
7. I'd be willing to spend $1-2k for the right setup, but am worried about the light situation as I'm not going to travel frequently for this (small kids at home). Biggest fear is I by a kick-ass setup but the light pollution kills my ability to get the most out of it.
8. I looked into local astronomy clubs, but the only stuff I found online don't have any events until March.
So I'm a bit stuck in analysis paralysis. The
Some of the awesome photos I see are taken with apochromatic refractors; not sure if those would be better for viewing.
So I'm looking for more advice here. Thanks in advance.