Am I expecting too much??

[stevetynant]

In my admittedly less experienced opinion there are very few objects in the night sky that have a real wow factor and even less that have even hints of colour. Unless you are going to get into AP which definitely increases this factor the enjoyment is in exploration and finding things and the realisation of the distances and time factors you are experiencing. 

I think starting from scratch there is way too much expectation from most new starters to the hobby myself included - perhaps a sticky in the beginners section might not be such a bad idea, this does seem to be a thread that appears fairly frequently probably with good reason.

[RikM]

Generally when this sort of thread pops up we point people towards the sketching section for a more realistic idea of what you can actually see through a telescope.

[RikM]

And as if by magic.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/194464-m27-from-los-angeles/

[ollypenrice]

I suppose you do have to blame a lot of advertising showing scopes with a long guided processed exposure behind them. Yes it may have been taken with the scope but with an extra £1000 of extras.

Hey, tell me where I can buy a CCD imaging rig and autoguider for £1000!!!     

Of course, your point is a good one though.

Olly

[8kids]

Turn Left At Orion gives very realistic images of what you see through an eyepiece.

[simon-ow]

When I first saw Andromeda through a telescope, I was in awe. It was just a hazy smudge, but I was blown away that I could see another galaxy. If that's not enough for you, you might be disappointed. I agree with the suggestion to study Turn Left At Orion - it should help to set some realistic expectations.

[NIGHTBOY]

Yes I'm not expecting swirling galaxies, I live just on the edge of a town and still haven't been over to my dark site so I'll see how it goes

[Rustysplit]

At a dark site you will probably see colour in the Ring, a nice pale blue tint. The 200p is a great scope, as others have said, alot of things are grey in even the largest scopes. Take your time and keep returning to objects over many nights. The details become more apparent with familiarity, and more fascinating!

A UHC filter may well help if your skies are light polluted. Also do not underestimate the effect of slight haze/poor seeing. This can reaaly kill the detail in feint fuzzies.

[Special K]

All I could add is you get used to being limited in what you can see normally, and then something amazing comes along and blows you away!  Viewing is very subjective I think:  on another occasion the Dumbell could blow your socks off! 

+1 for the UHC filter for this particular planetary.  It's one of the few so far that I can say has an improved image with that pricey little item. 

Did you use more mag than the 25mm EP?  Pile it on next time you've got a transparent sky!   It's a nice scope for sure. 

[orion69]

To answer OP question:  yes, you do. That's why I choose AP.   

Who needs colour? Most of the colour that you see in photos is false anyway - the Hubble palette and all that.

There is no true color. Actually, there is, but you can't see it.

[bingevader]

Has anyone mentioned patience yet too?! 

She's a big girl now.

Give it a few (a lot!) more goes yet. 1 session of 30mins may seem a reasonable amount of time, but there're so many variables to consider when viewing (or attempting to view) DSOs that it may just not have been your night.

Some nights I can stick with an object, or keep coming back to it over the course of the night and it just won't get any better.

Other nights it may take a lot of perseverance or several attempts before all of a sudden you think, hmmm lovely!

And again, on other nights it's just spectacular.

Having said that, we're still looking for some very faint fuzzy clouds! The sketches are about right in my 8" although I don't tend to be able to achieve enough magnification to make them that big and still worth viewing.

A little mix of expectation, patience and perseverance and you should be pleasantly pleased if not amazed.

Cheers