[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I took a ride to a place with good southern exposure to get a look at Mars. Guys you have got to see it.

I've seen Mars before when you could see the dark areas and I once saw a polar ice cap on Mars. I wasn't able to see its moons though. I've seen Saturn and its rings and Galilean moons and Jupiter and it's moons and the big red spot. Those two and the moon are some of the most spectacular things in the sky. But I've also marveled at clusters and asterisms and nebulaea and galaxies. Honestly, most of my view has been done under fairly light polluted skies. I did some viewing under moderately dark skies once and was able to see more stuff, more easily with a really cheap pair of Bushnell 10x50 binocs than I was able to see at home with my 8" telescope.

In astronomy, the bigger your instrument the better, but what REALLY matters is how dark your skies are. The way they say "there is no substitute for cubic inches" for motors to make power, for astronomy, "there is no substitute for dark skies." A giant instrument comes a close second.