What Can I Expect to See....?

[sHiMoZu]

This is an excellent guide to what can actually be seen rather than what you think you will see when you buy a telescope. I have yet to look through a telescope and this article has certainly given me a realistic impression of what I might see through it when I get one. Hubble quality views? one can still dream eh?

[Sky Daddy]

Thanks Qualia,This Is Very Helpful,Since I'm A True Rookie I Try To Stick To Solar System Objects,Once I Grow And Gain Experience Then I'll Branch Out To DSO's.....

[bomberbaz]

Thanks Qualia,This Is Very Helpful,Since I'm A True Rookie I Try To Stick To Solar System Objects,Once I Grow And Gain Experience Then I'll Branch Out To DSO's.....

DSO's are easier than you might think Sky Daddy. Arm yourself with the right tools, these can mostly be obtained FOC and finding them is easier than at first it may seem.

Steve

[Thales]

I count myself very lucky as I had a small scope when I was 12 and that was before there were any magazines I think! Patrick Moore's books in those days had photos and drawings made by amateurs a lot of the time. I did see Saturn through my scope and it was very similar to what Qualia has drawn - but I thought even that view was amazing when I got to see an actual planet.  I am glad I'd read some astronomy before ever looking through a scope as any view I got was basically going to be awesome.  I haven't had a scope for years now, well, except in frustration in 2012 while in Toys R Us buying pressies  I grabbed a little National Geographic 50mm!! It has 2 EPs and believe it or not I've had really good views of the moon and also Jupiter (with 2 bands!) and 3 of the 4 moons. I was ecstatic! (very easy to please!!) As others have rightly said a lot of patience is involved.  And I think there is something generally  mind-blowing about seeing a small planet's disc just hanging there in space....

[Thales]

ooooh - just remembered, I was impressed with the views of Jupiter but when I called others to have a look they said they 'couldn't see any moons' it took me some tiime to explain the tiny dots lined up  at the equator were actually moons - it was only after this that people could begin to see them.  That was an interesting lesson.  I saw them straight away because I was half expecting to...

[Stub Mandrel]

True confession, I had a 2" reflector. Managed to find the moon and either Jupiter or Mars and got very frustrated at how fast they disappeared.

Saw PM on telly saying don't bother with anything less than 3", so I didn't, I just used to see if I could make out cars across the Bristol channel on Weston seafront and even use it as a 'bazooka' from time to time.

Will have to see if it is still in my dad's loft...

[dmk]

All graphic solar system images printed on telescope packaging should be banned under the Trade Discription Act.(if it still exists )

[Stub Mandrel]

I think both Skywatcher and Bresser give fair impressions of what you might see in their manuals.

[Tim99]

This is why a good friend of mine says, "You don't need any eyepieces ... just some way to connect your camera."  

[ngwillym]

Excellent post.

And - if anyone ever found a copy - there was a book published - I think in the early 2000's called "Telescope Guidebook Vol1: What Can You See" by Roger Blake of Taurus Technologies - very useful as it gave impressions of what can be seen through a variety of scopes at various magnifications - its a little confusing to understand the layout at first, but worth persevering.

Interestingly - I've never been able to find Vols 2 and beyond

Neil

[bomberbaz]

Hi Neil, try this link.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Telescope-Guidebook-What-Can-You/dp/0971092400

These are in the USA http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0971092400/ref=dp_olp_used_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=used

I just bought one for £55 delivered from here http://www.amazon.de//gp/offer-listing/0971092400/sr=/qid=/?condition=used&tag=bkfndr84-b-1-21

Steve

Edited September 7, 2015 by bomberbaz

[ngwillym]

Hi Neil, try this link.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Telescope-Guidebook-What-Can-You/dp/0971092400

These are in the USA http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0971092400/ref=dp_olp_used_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=used

I just bought one for £55 delivered from here http://www.amazon.de//gp/offer-listing/0971092400/sr=/qid=/?condition=used&tag=bkfndr84-b-1-21

Steve

£160 !!!!!!!!!!My sainted aunt. I've still got my original copy - spiral bound,  in almost mint condition

[bomberbaz]

£160 !!!!!!!!!!My sainted aunt. I've still got my original copy - spiral bound,  in almost mint condition

Yes it appears they are both rare and expensive, haha

[PapaEmeritusIII]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this, great work. Definitely helped me in the right direction already. Thanks dude!

[Tinker1947]

If you want to see what you are missing you should  buy that 24" reflector, install SkySafari 4 Pro, it comes up quite often with half price offers £15, you get to install on any thing registered to your e-mail address for the one price , in my case 2 tablets and a mobile phone all Android it showM,NGC,UGC and  PGC dso's down to Mag 23'ish,and the NGC list around half way into the screen zoom, better than any book my 7" tablet fits in my coat pocket it also has the stay on option, night vision plus a lot more

[bluenotetim]

Thanks for this post, very informative.

Tim.

[Skywise]

This is a brilliant post   I never expected to see the Hubble type images through my little telescope but it's nice to know that what I *am* seeing is what I'm supposed to be seeing, if that makes sense.

[Interstellarshaw88]

Just to reflect and echo what every body else as said really appreciate your post, To some people even my wife genuinely thought she would be able to look through my scope( when I get it) and see it in such detail as you see on the tele...

In a way I'm glad there not, makes you research things more if you glimpse something that you never seen before gives you the rush and buzz and makes your more inquisitive about the object.

I truly believe it makes it more part of the fun and with the astrophotography it's not just a simple click and shoot you actually have to put time and effort in to create a piece of art.

[Dazzyt66]

I would just add that the sketches are absolutely spot on. I saw M42 for the first time last night through my 150p and it was almost identical to the sketch at the start of this thread.

I was no way disappointed with that view - every night I view something new I am in awe of just how beautiful the sights can be even with a simple setup such as mine. [emoji3]

[Jambonature]

that's brilliant, thanks for sharing...

[BeerMe]

Very interesting post and it has definitely opened my eyes somewhat.

How accurate is Stellarium in showing the relative brightness of objects in the sky?  I was messing around with the Ocular view on it last night while M31 was directly in the Western sky, and it needed only x37.5 mag on the Ocular view to clearly make out the shape of the galaxy and x75 showed a fair amount of detail, which got me quite excited.  I realise now that this is not the case, so should Stellarium only be used as a guide to the positions of objects in the sky?  Or was I somehow reading the Ocular view wrongly?

[BeerMe]

This is how it shows at the moment using 12.5x on the Ocular view.  Clearly I am using the software wrong or reading something wrong as that is clearly visible.

What settings would I need to use to give me a true representation of what would be seen in a clear sky?

[Mrbloke]

Thats really going to depend on your level of light pollution and the quality of the sky at the time.  If you find out what you can see in a portion of sky at your location, then adjust the light pollution level in the sky and viewing options menu to match it, this will help.

[rockystar]

Make you have the light pollution levels set to near what you can see. It still seems to show a little bit more that I can actually see, but it's not far off

[Mrbloke]

If you refer to the sketch of M31 in post 1 of this thread, this is extremely accurate as to what to expect.  Don't hope for too much in the way of colour, that's pretty much just for the astrophotographers out there!

Edited December 28, 2015 by Mrbloke