domstar

Great report and some great targets on your list. There's a nice double right near the Crab Nebula. I can get them both in the field at 45x. The Hamburger  galaxy gave me no end of problems. Hope you get it this season.

Hi, I'm guessing that the Jellyfish Nebula is incredibly faint and more of a target for photographers- I couldn't find a magnitude for it. In the same area is M35, which should be easy to see. I recommend starting on open clusters like that one and M37 in Auriga. If you want a supernova remnant, then M1 in Taurus is near a naked eye star and should be bright enough to see (I can with a 4 inch in Bortle 4). If you want to try galaxies, the Leo Triplet are fairly easy to find. It might take you a while to get your eye in. The faint stuff like galaxies are pretty faint. It still takes me a while to get my galaxy eyes in. A lot of the time I'm looking for a patch of sky that isn't quite as dark as the rest. I wouldn't notice it if I didn't spend time at the eyepiece waiting for it to come.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

@NGC 1502 Thanks- it's the 100ED with a Lunt Herschel wedge. Yes avoiding it is the best thing although strange bright lights intruding when solar observing was concerning for me. 

Hi,

I tried some white light solar for the first time this year. I brought the sun to focus and if I angle my eye incorrectly to the eyepiece, I can see a small bright dot shining- a bit like a bright Venus with CA. It's never happened before and is concerning, of course. It's the same if I change eyepieces. Does anyone know what might be causing this? and what to do about it?

Thanks

Dominic

I've just had a fantastic night looking for doubles in Taurus. It was great having some direction and focus on a largely unfamiliar part of the sky. I found the first double double at the second attempt and it took me a long time to find the other pair- in fact I only found one double and missed the other. I need to go back soon. I also found a couple near Aldebaran. Thanks a lot for enthusing me. 

One other double worth mentioning is HD 37013- beautiful and just about splittable at 45x in the same field of view as the Crab Nebula. 

I found it a lot harder than I expected. It took me a few times before I managed it and, unusually, after seeing it a couple of times, I couldn't find it again. As said above, it's in a star-rich area and I find Cassiopeia and Cygnus difficult constellations to find stuff in. When I saw it, though, I was really chuffed. It was very delicate and beautiful but subtler than had expected. 

Very nice. It was my 50th at the weekend and one of my friends (who is into woodworking) rocked up with this as a present that he'd made himself. I was so thrilled and surprised. It's not suitable for the balcony so I will have to wait until curfew ends here. I can't wait.

I imagine a lot of dsos will be difficult in London. The moon and planets will still be OK, though as well as a lot of double stars. Therefore maybe a 127mm Mak might be the best bet. It would be portable, have a long focal length and gather more light than a 80mm. I have a 100/900 frac. It's OK in its flight case and a tripod and a rucksack (you still could do with somewhere to sit). A mak would be easier to walk with and be good at high mag. Star hopping would be more difficult but I don't know how much dim stuff you would manage to see in London.@Tiny Clanger would you rather have your Mak on the moon, planets and doubles? 

Another option is to get an ST80 for a year and see how you get on. You will find out what you want to do next. Everyone who gets into the hobby upgrades. I think it's a good idea to start with a decent but cheap scope and then you will know what you want. Does the CA annoy you? Do you want to use higher mag? Do you need more aperture? Do you need it to be more portable? etc.

Good luck with your choice. None of your options here will be a disaster- it's just some will be slightly more suitable than others.

A very good read. I find it a shock looking at the moon again after a few sessions of faint stuff. It just seems like a different hobby- so bright and crisp.

@SAMFS I have a 100ED. 900mm focal length and it's a bit of a squeeze. A lot of people here recommend the scopes they own themselves, which stands to reason and also means that most people are happy with the choices they have made. I just wanted to raise the point about balconies, but tiny clanger has explained that it might not be a problem. There's a lot of love for the Heritage on here so it could be good if you can imagine having it on a table on the balcony. It wouldn't work well on mine.  To find the best advice find somebody who had a bad experience and avoid that. Yes refractors don't need collimation (and look great) but there are so many Newtonian owners here and they can't all be genius' so collimation must be doable. The only thing I'm sure about it- don't get a manual EQ mount for visual (and a few people disagree with that too).

Good luck. I'm sure you'll get something great.

@Tiny Clanger Yes, I shouldn't assume everybody has the same balcony as me. On my balcony I push the scope as far forward as I can because the side walls and roof extend as far as the balcony itself and the further forward the scope is, the more sky I can see.  Now you've explained it, I can see how it could work on a large balcony.

@SAMFS Just check the size of your balcony. The Heritage dobs will be on a table and you will be observing from the front of the scope-not behind it.  Is your balcony big enough to push a table to the front edge and move behind it. Do you have railings significantly higher than the table? the dob would need to lean over the railings and you would lean over too in order to view. It might be possible but I very much doubt it would be convenient and I can't see how sitting at the eyepiece could be done.

That's the reason I got a refractor although it's a bit of a squeeze on my little balcony.

I used to carry my 100ED refractor in its flight case in one hand, an aluminium AZ4 resting on my other shoulder and a rucksack with accessories for 5 minutes. It was OK but cumbersome. I still needed a chair. Now I don't walk because I don't have access to that site. 

Is there anybody here with experience of a long focal-length scope (like a Mak) on a non-goto mount as a first scope? I'm concerned that the narrow field of view would make star-hopping quite a challenge.

That was a great read and I can't wait to give it another try.

Thanks everyone. I had a really good crack at it tonight. Half the time I thought I had an edge or found a lighter patch but nothing that I could swear to. I think I was nearly there- then I moved up to the Christmas Tree Cluster and noticed that the conditions were less than perfect. I hope I get a night of transparency when the moon is waning in March. I feel I could be on the verge of getting it.  Anyway, I really enjoyed the challenge tonight even though it was just out of reach.

@SiriusB Good idea with M33. That one took me a few goes and now I often see it in my finder. I should have another go at it. It was another one when I felt like there was more to see if could just manage to observe a bit better/ get a darker sky/ buy a bigger scope.

Thanks for the help, Gerry. It seems that at the very best I might get a very dim view of the edge. I can't wait to get into it. 

@Owmuchonomy Thanks. Hearing positive outcomes is very useful.  There's nothing worse for my determination than not knowing if I'm in the right place, or not knowing if I have a chance of success. Now I have the confidence to keep at it- I suppose this is the part of observing that I enjoy the most.

Thanks for the info. I have an Explore Scientific UHC. I can see the Veil a lot more easily with it but the improvement on other objects is subtle at best. I imagine it works better with larger apertures and more discerning observers. 40mm is interesting. I've been moving away from my 30mm because of the lightness of the background. I have a 32mm Baader plossl. That would be the best bet with the UHC? (for tonight)

@jetstream Hi, I have a 100ED refractor. During the winter I'm on the balcony- 20.55 SQM (from light pollution map) It's not dark but when it's cold (now) the transparency can be wonderful. The Virgo Messier objects are visible from the balcony. Last night Hubble's Variable Nebula was visible through the eyepiece and the Crab Nebula was visible but a little tricky. I know the Rosette is much bigger and I'm not experienced at such large objects but would like to rectify that. 

I know your advice on upping the magnification on galaxies really helped last year. What would you suggest for this? I have a 2 inch Aero 30mm (30x), a 25mm Starguider, a 20mm and 3 BCOs 18 10 and 6mm. I'm guessing the 25mm.

Anyway, just knowing it's doable gives me the determination to give it more of a try. Thanks.

What a great session. The views have been great here with it being -12 degrees but, wow, your temperatures seem painful. How do you screw filters at that temperature? I have running gloves and then mittens and I am reluctant to change eyepieces too often. I was looking at a few of the same things last night. It was one of my best sessions for quite a while.

Hi everyone,

I've been looking at the Rosette over the last couple of days of wonderful but cold conditions and I would like to ask for your help. I can see the cluster in the middle and I wondered about the surrounding Nebula. Is is possible to see through the eyepiece, and how difficult is it? I can see a sort of doughnut of emptiness around the cluster. Would that be it or is it just an area with fewer stars? I tried with a UHC filter but that didn't seem to help. I would love to hear about others' experiences with this and any pointers. Even a 'give up now' would be useful. I only have a 100mm frac and I know it isn't the ideal instrument for this sort of thing.

Thanks

Dominic

@Andy350 To focus on a star, make it as small as possible. When it starts getting bigger again, you've gone too far. A small dot is what you are looking for. I choose a bright star but maybe not Sirius or Rigel, which are too bright and low for me to focus easily. 

Yes, I always focus on a star before I look at a planet. I'm never sure if I'm properly focused on Mars.

The free program stellarium is very useful. It'll tell you where the planets are (and everything else). The book 'Turn Left at Orion' also helped me a lot. When I started I looked at the moon, Jupiter and Saturn then I didn't know what to look for.