Here Be Monsters

Abstract

Words like these, penned by Belgian amateur Robert Houdart – who ­regularly looks through a 42-inch Dob – can never do justice to the unbridled beauty of the deep sky and the endless treasures it presents to the curious mind. Once an amateur astronomer gets a look at Omega Centauri or the Orion Nebula (M42) through a 16-inch Dobsonian, chances are he or she will be pining for more aperture. You see, there’s really no substitute for it. More light means more photons bathing the human retina and with it, the promise of seeing ever greater detail. Unfortunately, few make the transition to larger apertures, but when they do, few ever look back. This chapter is devoted to the monsters of the Dobsonian world and the observers lucky enough to own and use them.