Should i be able to see M13

[mrnumpty]

I am a total beginner at this astronomy stuff but when i found M13 i was really excited. It was just a smudge of light in the eye piece, i tried to focus, change up to a Barlow lens, increase the power of the eye piece but it was still just a smudge.

I have a sky watcher 130. It was second hand but has recently been collimanised. I live in Worcester an have a limited view from my back garden, is it the street lights that are stopping me from seeing this.

Ever since i had a problem with the spider (the screws had been rounded off) i have been worried that there i something else wrong.

Advice please

Cheers MRnumpty

[carlc]

I think (but may be wrong) that in a 130mm scope M13 is always going to be a smudge but certainly light pollution is not going to help.

Well done for finding it anyway - a lot of people would probably have missed it completely as it is just a smudge.

[acey]

With DSOs everything depends on the darkness of the sky - if the sky is dark enough then M13 is easily visible in 50mm binoculars or a finder, but it will be a smudge. Resolving it into individual stars requires aperture. The brightest stars in M13 are around magnitude 12 and they're obviously very close, so there needs to be sufficient resolving power in the scope (which comes with aperture). I should think 6" (150mm) is probably a realistic minimum for resolving a good number of stars in M13 though I wouldn't be surprised if keen-eyed observers have done it with less. With an 8" it's easy.

[Moonshane]

the skies are very light too currently so this is also effectively light pollution making matters even worse.

[Ifmfo]

I also have a SW 130 and found M13 for the first time last night, as far as I am aware (and based on the diagrams in Turn Left at Orion) it is supposed to appear as a smudge (certainly did for me).

Have you tried looking at something closer like Saturn to test that you can focus sharply etc if you're still concerned there's something wrong? I'm sure if you were able to find M13 though and see it as its supposed to look that your setup is fine, mind you I am much the beginner also!!!

Helen

[mrnumpty]

i have seen Saturn, it was beautiful. but what sort of deep sky objects would i be seeing in my telescope (SW130).

[carlc]

You have 'seen' M13 - it's just to resolve it to any greater degree would require a bigger scope.

I have printed this off for ideas (I have a 4" refractor) http://stargazerslou...ng-summer-plan/

Someone else has noted M27 and M57 should be good to see.

I haven't read this yet but it may be worth having a read yourself http://www.cloudynig...uments/lyra.pdf

Hope that's useful.

ETA: Have look in the sketching forum for Qualia's sketches - he uses a 4" refractor and the sketches give you an idea of what you would see of a given object. Remember the photographs on here (and elsewhere) are the result of many images (often of prolonged duration) being stacked and processed - something your eye can't do.

[swamp thing]

From a dark sky I have observed M13 through the following smallish scopes. A 4.5" newt this couldn't resolve much except a fuzzy ball. Although the eyepieces were extremely poor 0.965" Huygenian ones. This might have been why.

A 4" ED frac this managed to pull out a few Individual stars in the outer regions, and a 5"ED frac this showed it very nicely indeed with the outer regions resolved nicely.

just recently I tried my new 4.5" RFT newt this couldnt quite pull imdividual stars out although it did appear mottled. This was with a good quality eyepiece, but not a great dark sky. I believe it may be able to resolve some individual stars from a decent dark sky. We shall see.

[bish]

I think the best you will get from a dark site is some 'granulation' rather than pinpoint resolved stars. That was how it looked through my 150 from a dark site. Better than a smudge but not a ball of stars.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I found my old 6" F/8 (1/10th lambda) Newtonian with Circle-T Ortho 25mm could not really resolve the stars in M13. In averted vision I did get the "diamond dust" twinkle on good dark nights, but it was borderline. In my 8" SCT seeing the stars is easy. In fact, M13 was the first object I viewed in my 8" SCT over 15 years ago. My jaw just dropped.

[Moonshane]

I'm sure I can resolve stars in M13 with my 6" f11 dob. I'll check again next time out. with my 16" it's resolved to the core like virtually every Messier Glob.

[cotterless45]

Looking at M13 early this morning on the South coast facing the Channel.It was quite dark at midnight,then just got better and better with 15x70 bins.

All the Cygnus rifts and nebulae were lovely and clear.The MIlky Way was bright running right up to Cassiopeia.

Nick.

[Black Knight]

I saw M13 last night in my 10x50 bins. Couldn't resolve any stars, just a smallish greyish smudge!

[Capricorn]

M13 is 1/3 degree across, using a plossl that means 150x magnification. So a decent 5mm eyepiece would give 130x and just enough around it to get it all in, although M13 would disappear out of view quick.

Would have thought that 100x would have shown M13 pretty good and that gives a 1/2 degree view.

Check the collimation and consider a 7mm eyepiece to give 92x, maybe 8mm to give 81x.

I have assumed a 130P and so 650mm focal length.

[mrnumpty]

I believe it is a 130p, i was brought second hand off ebay.

[mrnumpty]

sorry it is a 130M

[beamer3.6m]

Most DSO's, in my opinion, appear as little more than a grey smudge even in my 200p.

This is the reason why I dont really take part in visual astronomy and stick to the imaging side.

[assasincz]

Now I am a bit surprised by all of you who report to just see a fuzzy blob. With my 4.5" newtonian, i am able to resolve the grainy structure within it, after a moment of patient observation and with proper dark adaptation of my eyes. That said, I managed to resolve individual statrs within M13 with my 4.5" under fairly light polluted sky. Really, to all of you with scopes to 4" an bigger - just try it one more time and stare at it patiently for a while. I am sure that the structure will pop out eventually.

[swamp thing]

Most DSO's, in my opinion, appear as little more than a grey smudge even in my 200p.

This is the reason why I dont really take part in visual astronomy and stick to the imaging side.

You must have extremely poor skies then, as in an 8" scope M13 is deffinitily not a grey smudge, and neither are a lot of others.

[Wobbly Bob]

I have observed M13 through many scopes as it is one of the first objects I go for this time of year, my take on this is, yes the more light the scope can collect the better, but a dark clear sky is issental.

[icrusoe]

I've been able to resolve most of the stars with a Sykwatcher 8" dob. Stellarium is a must - I have it setup right beside my scope. It's weird though, some nights I can't find any DSO's at all. Probably from fatigue; hunching over the scope for an hour does a number on your back and neck!

[Moonshane]

although my 6" is a little bigger and a different focal ratio, I thought you might find this useful. in particular, note my comment about being a good thing to stare at faint objects (in fact any objects) intensively for a while and you'll find that details starts to emerge

[bassplayer142]

I just first lighted an orion st120 refractor and M13 was one of my targets. I was pleasantly surprised that I could resolve stars in the cluster. This was done in my red skies backyard near zenith with an 11mm Nag giving ~54x. This was also when the moon was around a waxing crescent.

Astronomy is a patient hobby. Keep looking, keep rechecking your focus, and in time you can see more and more.

[nytecam]

I have observed M13 through many scopes as it is one of the first objects I go for this time of year, my take on this is, yes the more light the scope can collect the better, but a dark clear sky is issental.

I've observed M13 many times down the years but the most impressive was a couple of years back through a 16" Dob when close to the zenith from Headley Heath - a stunning ball of innumerable stars seemingly completely resolved and photographic in appearance!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

It is a stunner. My best view was with Olly's 20" Dob, the sky was a bit brighter than I would have liked, what with encroaching moonlight, but it was still awesome.