Does anyone "Go Deep" with their Mak?

[Jarvo]

First off - I love my Skywatcher 150mm Mak. Its great on Clusters, double stars and the planets are a given.

I bought the 'scope as I didn't plan on looking at Galaxies - planets being the main attraction plus there a giant street lamp that washes out the sky in my back yard.

Last couple of times out with the scope though I've been tempted to try for some Galaxies.

Last week I located the Spindle Galaxy with the help of the Sky at Night magazine. It was very faint but the shape could be made out.

Pumped full of new found Galactic invincibility I was feeling pretty confident so with Leo crossing the Meridian, i decided to go for the Leo Triplet. After the relative faintness of the Spindle M65 & M66 were readily visable though the third galaxy could not be seen.

Granted there was no detail to discern in either of the Galaxies other than the general shape but it was encouraging to see any of these items at all considering I am a Galactic Newby.

Two other Galaxies I would recommend - the Needle Galaxy in Coma Berenices and M81 and M82 in Ursa Major. The needle does look like an- errrr needle -at high power though the Bulge in the centre isn't visable and M81 and M82 do show some mottling.

Every year I get reminded that April is "Galaxy Season" by the Astro Mags. Previous years I've shrugged my shoulders and gone straight to the Planet section of the Magazines. This year my prime target is M104 - the Sombrero Galaxy. Not expecting a Hubble image before my eyes but I'm going to go for it (And its directly facing the street lamp.)

Handy tools to have in your Astro Arsenal if you are pursuaded to "Go Deep":

Good sized aperture finder (8x50mm);

Good Sky Atlas for Star Hopping (For all you non-Goto; traditionalists) - I use Sky and Telescopes Pocket Sky Altas;

Red light;

Large Conifer strategically placed to block the streetlamp.

In conclusion, whilst the Mak is geared towards brighter objects do not despair. If someone with a Streeplamp shining in their backyard and dodgy eyes can discern these objects anyone can .

Regards

p.s. well aware at this point that readers of this post who possess a 14" plus "Lightbucket" will be rolling around on the floor in mirth at this moment at the concept of a magnitude 7.5 Galaxy as "Going Deep"

Jarvo

[Double Kick Drum]

Sorry I don't have a mak but....

As long as your Southern horizon is decent, M104 the Sombrero galaxy will not disappoint and will give away its unmistakable shape. I would say it is definitely well inside the top ten to view (well it is with a 5 inch refractor).

I also agree about NGC 4565, the Needle galaxy. Edge on galaxies always seem to show more visually, especially with smaller apertures. In my opinion, M82 is better than M81 for example.

Another good edge on galaxy is NGC 4631, the Whale galaxy.

Roll on next weekend. Let's hope for two weeks of clear skies either side of the new Moon. I have a few more galaxies to seek out.

Happy hunting!

[swamp thing]

Nobody worth their salt is going to laugh at anyone enjoying Galaxy observing.

Good on ya. You keep pushing that scope for all it's worth.

Enjoy

Regards Steve

[rory]

although i dont own a mak. i made the error of buying a telescope without researching enough. i didnt even know you could see other galaxies with (normal scopes). so i bought a 90mm refractor thinking "id like to see saturn ,jupiter and the moon. of course since owning this telescope ive learnt of things called "globular clusters,planatary nebula " and suddenly dawned on me ive made a mistake !

however with patience and abit of practice ive managed to see a few bits and bobs i thought i had no chance of viewing.

i even managed albeit vaugely, m33 galaxy from the back yard.

downside is total lack of detail with 90mm, so eventually i would like to join the dobsonian crowd and get myself a 8"-10" reflector, and im sure i'll appreciate the views when comparing back to the 90mm notes.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Visually, all that counts is aperture (unlike imaging, where focal ratio is important). If you look at galaxies with a 6" scope at a given magnification, the view will be essentially the same, regardless of the optical design (though central obstruction plays a small role). I have spotted over 200 galaxies with my 8" SCT, which is also often labelled as poor on DSOs. Photographically at F/10 this may be true, but visually it is a great scope for DSOs. The only drawback is the limit on the largest possible field of view. This is not a problem for the vast majority of galaxies.

[swamp thing]

Visually, all that counts is aperture (unlike imaging, where focal ratio is important). If you look at galaxies with a 6" scope at a given magnification, the view will be essentially the same, regardless of the optical design (though central obstruction plays a small role). I have spotted over 200 galaxies with my 8" SCT, which is also often labelled as poor on DSOs. Photographically at F/10 this may be true, but visually it is a great scope for DSOs. The only drawback is the limit on the largest possible field of view. This is not a problem for the vast majority of galaxies.

Totally agree Michael. I've often wondered myself where this CAT,s don't do DSO,s comes from. Every one ive ever looked through performed very well.

As you said the only draw back is the FOV but this starts to become the case with all large scopes regardless how fast they are.

Regards Steve

[kenmyers]

I have never viewed through a Mak so have no idea what troubles/or not that you may have but I was amazed to see the triplet myself through my newt.

Your first galaxy is always the most exciting and warming, if not the best looking.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Years back (we are talking 1980), I got M81, M82 and NGC 3077 in one field of view of my 6" F/8 Newtonian (with 25mm Circle-V Orthoscopic 0.965" EP, 45 deg FOV). That was an unforgettable view which I promptly sketched. With a 32mm EP (1.25", 50 deg FOV), a 6" F/12 mak should show these quite easily.