nebulas and deep sky

[andrewmelon55]

how come i cannot see nebulas or galaxies. i am 100% sure i am aligned. could it be because i live in a light polluted place like toronto?

[andrewmelon55]

by the way i use a 6 inch celestron se

[faulksy]

As you say probably light pollution, or your just in the wrong area. Your sct is fine but quiet a long f/l what eps are you using. You need something around 30mm to scan also a uhc filter might help a lot.

Can you drive to a darker site?

[brantuk]

Yup - dso's are harder to see during the summer and LP or moon won't help either. As Mike suggests - a low power eyepiece is a better proposition and the 6" Sct is more than capable of taking in dso's - but darkness is your friend. Also knowledge of what you want to look at and how bright it is will give you a much better chance.

Try a book like Turn Left at Orion - this will give you a diagram of what to expect to see for each object and instructions on how to find it, as well as all sorts of extra info. Aim for the brighter dso's initially and try to find a dark site - it'll make all the difference. Learning how to look through a scope and judging the right conditions for the right objects is a learned skill that takes a little time. Hth

[LukeSkywatcher]

The 6SE is a fine scope(I have an 8SE). You really should be able to see Nebs and galaxies with this scope. Light pollution is not your friend. To make the most of your location when trying to observe nebulae.......a UHC filter comes in very handy. Its not a miracle cure though. If you can escape the bright lights then you will have more luck. DSO's are harder to spot during summer also, without having to do it from a heavily light polluted area.

I agree that for your scope you should have a 30mm eyepiece that will allow you to scan the skies and detect DSO's and then increase the magnification as you see fit to do so.

My workhorse eyepiece for my 8SE is a 30mm Vixen NPL eyepiece. Its brilliant on sharpness and contrast.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-npl-eyepieces.html

[andrewmelon55]

ok thatnks everybody. i really apreciate ur support!

[pevsfreedom]

May be a dumb question but do you 'know' how to use the scope, or are you just pointing randomly at space? They're pretty tricky to find if you don't know how to find them. I live in Los Angeles and can find any DSO I look for, so light pollution is just a nuisance really. I've never, ever found one without looking though. You gotta know where they are to find them if that makes sense.  

[brantuk]

"You gotta know where they are to find them..."

Pevs makes a great point here - just randomly searching can have you at the scope all night and not find a single thing. Make sure your finder is accurately aligned with the main tube in daylight. Get it as close as possible to dead center in the finder and  the eyepiece.

I use a zoom lens in my sct and I start centering on 24mm. But soon as I change it to 20mm or 16mm it's always obviously off center. So I recenter then take it down to 12mm and then 8mm and again it's still off and I have to recenter. Once you have it centered under 10mm it's usually enough to find most objects in the finder and then in the eyepiece. The fov narrows as you use higher powers.

If you don't have a zoom - start with a low power eyepiece (eg 25mm) and center the view. Then redo using progressively higher power eyepieces until at or under 10mm. Hth