Expect typical seeing of 2-4 seconds of arc at the Student Observatory. Below is an enlarged image of the bright star Betelgeuse seen though a large telescope. It is a large blob, broken up into smaller near point-like units. Galileo's of this type. McCormick 26-in of this type.
All large telescopes are reflectors.
Meade 8-in scopes are of this type. Harder to support heavy lens mechanically at top end of tube than mirror at bottom end. More discussion Click here for background information on refraction, reflection, and why most research telescopes are reflectors. For optical telescopes, this is 10 -5 cm. In the Cassegrain design, a hole is actually made in the primary iteself.