messier objects with 90mak

[rory]

as my scope is a 90mm refractor ,ive found this a helpfull thread. cheers chaps.

i used a 32mm meade e/p to find my first 30 or so messiers. the low mag wide field is most suited imo for most objects. im adding higher e/ps to the collection,but mainly for planets and globular clusters.

looking foward to viewing a few more messiers over next few months.

cant decide wich will be of most use to me as next e/p. the 18mm (x55) or a 25mm(x40) i think the 25mm might be to simular to the 32mm, but not sure.

[Double Kick Drum]

as my scope is a 90mm refractor ,ive found this a helpfull thread. cheers chaps.

i used a 32mm meade e/p to find my first 30 or so messiers. the low mag wide field is most suited imo for most objects. im adding higher e/ps to the collection,but mainly for planets and globular clusters.

looking foward to viewing a few more messiers over next few months.

cant decide wich will be of most use to me as next e/p. the 18mm (x55) or a 25mm(x40) i think the 25mm might be to simular to the 32mm, but not sure.

Personally, i'd go for 18mm or 20mm. I agree that a 25mm will be similar to your 32mm eyepiece.

A little extra magnification comes in useful for Planetary nebulae too.

[rory]

yeah, youve confirmed my inclination dkd. i think the 18mm will serve me well.

might keep an eye for second hand 20-22mm too. cheers...

[Ags]

I have seen about 40 messiers under bad light pollution with a 100mm mak. M1 has eluded me thus far - perhaps I have seen it once with averted vision... M78 was also hard, but an easy spot under dark skies.

[rory]

ags ,im under moderate town light pollution. took me alot of attempts to find the crab. but like many objects,once seen they seem to be easier to go back and visit. i can find m1 nearly every time i try now, but it is very faint without a good sky. averted vision helps and spend 20 minutes or so letting your eyes wonder around those familiar star patterns.

the only messier so far i cant go back and find is m33 ,she's a elusive one !

[Ags]

M33 I have seen!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Good one. Difficult object in LP. My best view of that one was from the mountains in France with my 80mm and 22mm Nagler (22x, 3.76 deg FOV). Spiral arms were clear. From my back garden I can occasionally see it as a smudge.

[Terrynak]

Hi, am thinking of taking on the Messier objects but what does anybody think the chances of that happening with my 90mm mak? Am not expecting glossy magazine images but just to be able to detect them.

Cheers:)

Congrats on taking on the Messiers with your 90mm Mak. Earlier today I had a Celestron C90 Mak delivered to my door! Hope you've made great progress since starting out last month - has the weather cooperated?

Using a small 100mm F/5 fast Newtonian scope (Orion Skyscanner) and detailed star charts, I was able to detect the more difficult Messiers in an orange zone site with little difficulty (e.g. M74, M76, M109, M108, M33, all 16 Messier Virgo galaxies). In your case, I would think the most difficult Messiers would be the ones more southerly placed (e.g. M83 in Hydra, M55 in Sagittarius). I observe from further south (34°N in Los Angeles), so I have less difficulty in this respect.

Although I don't think I've observed all 110 Messiers, after tackling the most difficult and interesting ones on the list, I've moved on to non-Messier DSO's, mainly galaxies and nebulae. I use the DeepSkyPedia website as my main resource to plan observing sessions - I pick constellations that are in season, sort objects (mainly galaxies) by visual magnitude, and then choose those objects that are within the aperture capabilities of my scope, also taking into account surface brightness of each object (similar to what Double Kick Drum does).

Last night I had two fast scopes out at my urban light-polluted front yard – my 80mm F/5 achromatic refractor and the 100mm F/5 Newtonian I usually use at my orange-zone site. Using the same eyepiece at 32X, I was able to detect M1 with the Newtonian but not with the refractor. However, double stars looked sharper and more cleanly split with the refractor scope. Looking forward to seeing how the 90mm Mak performs on planets, double stars and DSO’s compared to my other two scopes.

Attached is a pic of the Orion Skyscanner - my portable deep sky scope - along with the Adidas backpack it's housed in.

[Terrynak]

My apologies - the Orion Skyscanner is an F/4, not an F/5 scope.

[The Flinty Fox]

The weather hasn't been that great here but have made a bit more progress.

had a look at m103 but wasn't as good as some of the other star clusters.

M81/82 were quite easy and managed to get them in the same fov. Same with M66/65, but not as bright.

I like my mak, really good on planets and Moon, it likes them, but i feel it does struggle on dso's. Its focal length means i can only go down as low as 39x, plus small fov. Think i will try out a fast refractor and see how i get on with it, if only just to see some of the larger objects such as M31, M45 etc in their entirety which would be nice.

Not sure if i can even see Sagittarius.

It's interesting that you can see M1 in the 100mm but not the 80mm but i think i agree that star are nicer in refractors.

Cheers:)

[Terrynak]

Just tested my new Celestron C90 Mak last night and Jupiter looked super with the additional magnifying power (better than my other two fast scopes) - could see a hint of additional bands besides the two main ones. Also pointed the scope at Castor in Gemini and the twin components looked sharp at 96X. Have not tried it on DSO's yet, but looking forward to doing so (and comparing the views with my short focus refractor and reflector scopes).

M103 looks like an arrowhead, but if you view it at a darker site you can see more stars glistening within the triangle shape.

Looking forward to seeing M81 & M82 at high power with this Mak. There's also a third galaxy next to M65 and M66 that's a bit fainter called NGC 3628 (the three galaxies together are called the "Leo Trio"). Have you tried spotting it? May need darker skies, but should be doable with the 90 Mak.

Sagittarius is pretty low at your location, which is a shame, because there are so many awesome DSOs there. May want to make a trip to the Canary Islands - you'll be able to catch some of the southern constellations as well as get good views of Sag and Scorpio.

You might consider getting a fast reflector such as the Skywatcher Heritage 130p collapsible Dob. It's an F/5 scope that's very portable at only 13.5 lbs. and capable of relatively wide field views (a 32 mm eyepiece will give you 20X mag.), as well as having serious enough aperture (5.1 inches) to chase down a wealth of faint fuzzies.

[cotterless45]

Three favourites are high and bright enough in Auriga M38, M36 and M37. You can easily locate imagine Auriga is kite shaped, half way along the longest line, you'll spot M38 and the cluster NGC1907, just pan down and you'll see the others.

These were the first Messiers that I saw in my first scope the Heritage 130.

They're wow clusters, especially against a very dark sky, enjoy, very clear skies, Nick.

[Walky]

I would like to follow this thread because i too own a mak c90. I was thinking about this mount, for the same reason you say, how do I know for sure what I am looking at? I don't I tend to buy a bulky, more expensive scope than this ever. I don't have the room for storage and being 65 I can't move a bigger scope from o e place o the other. Cloudy nights are abundant in Florida, so, this going to be my scope forever. Check this and let me know if this is a good idea: this item was at $229 a few days ago... Waiting for it to come down again!

Amazon.com: Orion TeleTrack GoTo Altazimuth Telescope Mount: Camera & Photo

The thread is enlightening and positive about what We could achieve with so little, which makes it a good intellectual challenge.

[Ags]

I had a look at the celestron equivalent of the TeleTrack in a shop. The mount is small but I don't think it is very steady. If you spend a bit more you could get the lighter of the two Celestron SE mounts which would be a fair bit more stable, I think.

[Walky]

The focal length of my scope is 1250mm and i have 32, 25, 20 and 10mm eyepieces, I mainly use the 32mm for the Messier's, sometimes the 20mm. The 32mm is enough for the smaller Ms but not for the larger one's, M45 is a bit of a squeeze.

But your right 90mm is enough to see lots of things, the star clusters in Auriga were a bit of a surprise wasn't quite expecting so much detail/brightness as was M35. Havn't had a chance to look at M44 through scope but through bins it looked like an xmas tree!

List is small only about 10 or so. Have you seen all 110? If so which were the difficult ones?

Will give M1 another bash now that i have stellarium at my disposal.

Cheers:)

May I ask, or send me PM, Which eyepieces were used fore each M?

I have the 32mm, 25mm, 9 mm.

This is looking promising, I am glad I found this thread, really excited about what I can try tonight, and probably take photos of with my. Dslr.

[Ags]

Walky, I have a 102mm mak, so quite similar. The 32mm is a good finder EP because it has a wide field of view and low magnification. It would also be good for looking at the moon. The 25mm will give a bit more magnification but will still show the whole moon. The 9mm gives lots of magnification so use it to look at parts of the moon, as well as looking at Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

[Walky]

Well, thanks for the info, I don't feel that bad now for having a spotting scope. I think with careful selection of targets I will enjoy it. I will come back to this thread often, already copied the M's you guys say can be observed.

Loving it!

[Walky]

I had a look at the celestron equivalent of the TeleTrack in a shop. The mount is small but I don't think it is very steady. If you spend a bit more you could get the lighter of the two Celestron SE mounts which would be a fair bit more stable, I think.

Which would be those? I want the GoTo function. Thanks

[Ags]

Yes the SE mounts have goto, but they have a solid tripod. To be honest my SE mount is still a bit wobbly for my tastes. But more solidity would require more weight.

[Walky]

I found this "astronomically" expensive for my use MOUNT ?

It's a:

NexStar 6 SE and 8 SE Computerized Mount found here, priced @ $519

Then there are the more economical:

1) NexStar SLT Computerized Mount, found here @ $319

And the...

2) Sky-Watcher AllView Mount, found here @ $399

Which seems I could use with the scope and my DSLR (not a bad deal)

I am liking the look of this one very much but don't know if it is sturdy enough or what you were thinking of.

3) Still more, in Amazon I found this

Celestron NexStar 4 SE and 5 SE Computerized Mount found Here at $469, and I think it is discontinued by Celestron (not sure).

What do you think?

Remember that i wiil not put a bigger/heavier scope on it. Most I would go is a 127mm or something around that.

I AWAIT YOUR INPUTS WITH GREAT ANTICIPATION.

[Ags]

Its a tough choice... It seems cheaper to buy e.g. The skywatcher 127 mak on a goto mount - not sure about US prices though.

[Walky]

Just tested my new Celestron C90 Mak last night and Jupiter looked super with the additional magnifying power (better than my other two fast scopes) - could see a hint of additional bands besides the two main ones. Also pointed the scope at Castor in Gemini and the twin components looked sharp at 96X. Have not tried it on DSO's yet, but looking forward to doing so (and comparing the views with my short focus refractor and reflector scopes).

M103 looks like an arrowhead, but if you view it at a darker site you can see more stars glistening within the triangle shape.

Looking forward to seeing M81 & M82 at high power with this Mak. There's also a third galaxy next to M65 and M66 that's a bit fainter called NGC 3628 (the three galaxies together are called the "Leo Trio"). Have you tried spotting it? May need darker skies, but should be doable with the 90 Mak.

Sagittarius is pretty low at your location, which is a shame, because there are so many awesome DSOs there. May want to make a trip to the Canary Islands - you'll be able to catch some of the southern constellations as well as get good views of Sag and Scorpio.

You might consider getting a fast reflector such as the Skywatcher Heritage 130p collapsible Dob. It's an F/5 scope that's very portable at only 13.5 lbs. and capable of relatively wide field views (a 32 mm eyepiece will give you 20X mag.), as well as having serious enough aperture (5.1 inches) to chase down a wealth of faint fuzzies.

Please tell me How you can see the bands of Jupiter with the c90 mak, what eyepiece, etc... I can't.

[Walky]

Its a tough choice... It seems cheaper to buy e.g. The skywatcher 127 mak on a goto mount - not sure about US prices though.

I made a bad choice. I should have gone with the 127 MAK (your suggestion) with mount altogether. Now It will be more expensive and I have less of a scope at hand. Terrible! I am using a camera tripod with detachable head, but the scope tends to move down - does not stay fixed on the position - when I point it upwards because of the weight. Didn't know better, there are so many choices! I thought a small cheap scope would take curiosity out of the way, but it didn't.

[Macavity]

I have fond memories of a MAK90... Bigger MAKs - The 127, the 150, never quite gave the "sharpness" of the modest 90mm? But, at some point (I'd push it to 200x on doubles and the Moon!) it simply "ran out of light"?

With advancing technology, maybe the MAK 90 gives *something* of the flavour of Sir Patrick's (40" focal length, achromatic?) "Three Inch Refractor" - Of Observer's Book etc. fame. I sense the contrast would be less, but...

I have no aversion to (accurate!) GoTo - An apparent blank field can sometimes eventually reveal the object of one's desire via averted vision... The key is [iMO] accuracy tho' - A good setup, hard-standing for tripods etc.

"Wicked" aside: Couple it to a VIDEO astronomy setup? External galaxies might be within real-time range...

[Terrynak]

I made a bad choice. I should have gone with the 127 MAK (your suggestion) with mount altogether. Now It will be more expensive and I have less of a scope at hand. Terrible! I am using a camera tripod with detachable head, but the scope tends to move down - does not stay fixed on the position - when I point it upwards because of the weight. Didn't know better, there are so many choices! I thought a small cheap scope would take curiosity out of the way, but it didn't.

Don't give up on your scope! Many people complain about their 90mm Maks because they have it mounted on a cheap camera/video tripod which can't provide the stability that these high magnfiication scopes require. A mount/tripod with a dovetail socket specifically made to support telescopes would be best. Take a look at something like this:

Orion VersaGo II Altazimuth Telescope Mount | Orion Telescopes

It's kinda heavy at 13 lbs., but it's 15 lbs. load capacity will give you the stability this scope needs (and more).

Also, you may find the small 21mm stock finderscope problematic in targeting objects in the sky. May want to get a bigger one (30, 40, or even 50mm).

Regarding Jupiter, even with the supplied low power 32mm eyepiece (39X), I can see a hint of the two cloud bands - but the seeing has to be good and the higher the planet is above the horizon, the better. I noticed that the detail on the planet is not as good at 45 degrees above the horizon than it was a month ago when it was at the zenith (directly overhead).