shamE Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Ok, I've been pretty new to astronomy for a little while but I'm pretty good at navigating the sky in my back yard and was getting use to the normal dim views and hard to make out grey smudges. So Last night I went to my first dark sky site to finally see what my telescope could do. Absolutely no light pollution, milky way clearly visible and beautiful (first time seeing it), and I'm confused because the views of the objects I could find at this dark sky spot where worse than from my light polluted backyard.The objects I managed to find were M4, M51, and M31. My telescope is a zhumell z8 dob with the stock eyepieces. I wasn't expecting views and detail from the hubble but I mean I couldn't make out anything, the 3 objects I listed were nearly indistinguishable from each other and were nothing more than grey blobs that I could barley see. When I saw some of the astrophotography pictures taken from telescopes smaller then mine and getting amazing detail with color I kinda figured thats what I would see if I went to a place with no light pollution. My question is, could there have been something I was doing wrong or is that really how things are seen even through a 8' dob like mine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sailor Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Well shamE, you get the same as me, looking through eyepieces I just see blobs and no colour, it is only when you take long exposure photographs what you will see colour, I hope I am right in this if not there will be someone along shortly who will give you a more deeper answer. Oh, nice to see you and welcome .Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Nothing wrong with the scope - thats what deep sky objects generally look like, unless it's a really larger one, say 16" aperture or more. Even then the views captured by imagers can't generally be rivaled when we view with our eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sailor Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 shamE, if you look through the forum there is a part for deep sky photos, take a look at some of the threads and you will get an idea of what can be achieved with long exposures, how it is done and what equipment is used. I have a couple of colour photos in my link if you wil find it easier.Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamE Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 shamE, if you look through the forum there is a part for deep sky photos, take a look at some of the threads and you will get an idea of what can be achieved with long exposures, how it is done and what equipment is used. I have a couple of colour photos in my link if you wil find it easier.JimYes I saw those, thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjedi Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 The reason you can't see colour is because you are human. The pics are long exposure multi layered images taken with equipment that has far more sensitivity than any human eye. No matter how large your scope or how dark the sky there is not enough light entering your eye to excite the cone cells in your retina which is unfortunate as these are the cells that detect colour. Luckily the rod cells in your retina are far more sensitive. The rod cells detect light and shade variance which is why everything looks black and white to our eyes through the lens of a telescope. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjedi Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Hope I've not bored you all with biology :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Q Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Like the other posters said, photos of long exposures will be the only way to see any color in any deep space object. Visually, almost all objects (except the planets) will be of various shades of gray. From what you described, there may have been a dewing problem with the scope (mirror or eyepieces), which would ruin any views of the objects you mentioned. All the objects you mentioned should have been much brighter with some added details and contrast with the sky background at the dark sky site compared to the light polluted site. In short, there must have been something wrong with the scope to give you worse views at the dark sky site than at the light polluted site and a dew formation on the scope's optics would be the most probable cause. Second most probable is that the scope was knocked way out of collimation when transported and a star test at the link below will tell you if this is so.COLLIMATION/STAR TEST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjedi Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Agree with Mr Q you won't have seen colour but a dark sky should give you some nice detail on some of your faint fuzzies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtr42 Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 i like the photo's but i prefer teasing out the grey fuzzies with my scope ,for example ,orion nebula in black and grey is simply amazing, as i am seeing it with my own eye's and not on some laptop screen in colour . half the fun is finding the different grey's [again just my opinion ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shamE Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Thanks for this, I did collimate before viewing so I don't think it was anything there. I guess I was expecting the the astrophotography images through my eyepiece haha. Now I know and knowing is half the battle. And dtr42 you're right, even though its just black and white its better seeing it with your own eyes through the eyepiece then it is on a pc screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjedi Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 i always find myself spellbound whenever I hunt down and glimpse a faint fuzzy. Even the ones I've seen many times still amaze me cuz I'm seeing it myself and I found it myself (no fancy goto mount for me (yet))Even if you have seen a DSO many times before you never know if the seeing will be better or the LP lower and you just may see a little more detail than before.It's all good fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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