Faint Orion Nebula... what am I doing wrong?

[AstroJOE]

Hi there, I've had my new scope, a Sky Watcher Skymax 127 Mak about 6 weeks now. First thing I observed was the Moon....that was very impressive. Then I moved on to Jupiter, then Mars, then Saturn.... all of which were equally great! (although struggled to get a crisp focus on Mars)

Last night I had a go at the Orion Nebula....found it straight away but the Nebula was very faint....just looked like a light grey smokey patch in the eyepiece with 4 bright stars at the centre. No colour and not much definition...

Am I being over-optimistic with this scope? I realise a telescope with a bigger lens would be better suited for DSO's but I was expecting a bit more.... I was using a 10mm and 12mm eyepiece

Also will these images appear clearer if I do some imaging with a web cam?

Sorry if these are silly questions but like I said I'm relatively new this! All advice welcome...

JOE

[Cornelius Varley]

A grey smokey patch with 4 bright stars sounds about right. Visually the Orion Nebula does appear like a faint grey/green smokey patch, the colours you see in photographs are too faint for the human eye to see. A standard webcam isn't suitable for DSO imaging, you require a require a camera that can do long exposures.

Peter

[John]

Sounds like you are using too much magnification and seeing only the central portion of the nebula. Use you lowest power eyepiece (highest number in mm) and you will see the whole thing. Avoid looking for it when there is moonlight or light pollution in the sky as it washes it out.

I get great views of M42 with my 102mm refractor - your scope has more aperture than that.

[Graham Darke]

Hi Joe,

Welcome to deep sky observing! Colours are very difficult to see as our eyes are not sensitive to colour at low light levels. You may perceive the Orion Nebula as having a very pale greenish glow but that is all. This is even the case through very large telescopes. If you have a longer focal length eyepiece try that, maybe a 20mm if you have one.this will lower the magnification and make the object a bit brighter. Also, if you observe from a light polluted area, you will get a much better view if you take your scope to a darker site or you could try a light pollution filter.

You will certainly get better results with a camera but a webcam is not really suitable for deep sky imaging unless it has been modified to permit long exposures.

Hope this helps

[hemihaggis]

get out of the city .... dark skies .

[Double Kick Drum]

Joe

Deep sky objects tend to have little or no colour. Orion can appear a subtle greeny grey and there are a few planetary nebulae with hints of colour but most things will appear hazy grey.

There is more colour in stars and planets but even these will not be as colourful as photographs.

The reason is that the eye does not see colour so well in dark conditions. Think of how you would see a red car under the moonlight and no street lamps. It would not appear bright red.

[AstroJOE]

Thanks all great advice. What advice could you give me on the type of camera I'd need for this scope that would be good for both planets and DSO's?

[rowan46]

Thanks all great advice. What advice could you give me on the type of camera I'd need for this scope that would be good for both planets and DSO's?

this scope isn't well suited for deep space imaging it has too long a focal length and the mount isn't up to long exposure imaging. For planets and moon use a webcam as this scope is a great performer on planets and moon.

[BazMark]

I have the same scope as you though I only use it for visual astronomy.

When viewing M42 I start with my 40mm EP with which I get my brightest and clearest view. After a spell of viewing with that one I switch to my 25mm EP and begin looking for a little more detail. I've never pushed it past a 16.8mm though as it loses clarity.

Though small, I can see the ring nebula clearly with lower power EPs. However, if I push the mag up beyond about 80x it's bigger but I can barely see it due to light pollution and not enough light gathering power from the 5" mirror.

[Brumtaffy]

There are some great sites that allow you to put in your scope, EP and get a field of view image for different targets. I did just what you did with my 127Mak! I'm afraid one scope cannot do it all

Have a look at CCDCalc and Field of view Calculator<script src="title2.js"></script>

This for M42 with 127 Mak and SPC900

[Catweazel]

Sadly DSO's never look like they do in pictures I always console myself by thinking about how far away they are, and how incredible it is that I can see them at all. Having said that, there are plenty of other wonderful things to look at

[perrin6]

Were you fully dark adapted, ie at least 30 minutes away from bright light ?