nebulae in 5 inch telescope

[joehay_yorkshire]

Hi all, I'm just wondering - what are the best nebulae through a 5 inch telescope? 

[nmoushon]

The most obvious one is M42. Other than that maybe M45. It really depends on how much LP you have.

[John]

Here are some ideas:

M42 (Great Orion Nebula), M27 (Dumbell Nebula), M57 (Ring Nebula), M78 (in Orion), M8 (Lagoon Nebula), M20 (The Triffid Nebula), NGC 2244 and the Rosette Nebula, and NGC 2392 (Eskimo Nebula).

If you can get hold of a UHC filter:

M97 (The Owl Nebula)

NGC 6960 and NGC 6992-5 (The Veil Nebula)

NGC 7000 (The North American Nebula)

[brantuk]

Hi all, I'm just wondering - what are the best nebulae through a 5 inch telescope? 

It's a bit like asking which is the best woman to choose for a wife from females under 5ft high really - it all depends what you like lol.

The objects suggested above are all good ones - what I would also suggest is that you look up pictures of each one on google images and imagine how they would look in black and white and different shades of grey. If you look for "Ha" (hydrogen alpha) pictures you'll get a rough idea of what you'll see in the eyepiece. Also look for sketches of objects - again sketches offer a good representation of what you'll see.

[John]

Just for the sake of expectations, M45 (the Pleiades) is the famous star cluster. It does have some wisps of nebulosity around a few of it's stars but that is pretty hard to see. M32 is a small eliptical galaxy (rather than a nebula) right next to the much larger and more obvious M31, the Andromeda Galaxy.

One nebula that has not been mentioned so far is M1, the famous Crab Nebula. It's a quite faint and indistinct but should be detectable with your scope if there is no light pollution or moonlight around. It's another one that a UHC filter will make a little easier to pick up.

[AndyWB]

John's list is excellent, but I would add M17 (Omega, or Swan, nebula) and M16 (Eagle Nebula). M8, M20, M17 and M16 are all quite close together in the sky, but are low down in the summer skies. I found M16 needed dark skies and a few attempts with my 5" scope. The Omega nebula is fairly bright, though.

[Paul M]

Once you have nailed the big "easy" stuff I'd recommend tracking down M81 and M82. A pair of galaxies in Ursa Major of which "The Plough" is the better known part. Not only are they a cute pairing but also have some wow factor when you contemplate just what you are looking at!

These two can be seen in the same low power view and are easy to find by extending a line from Phad (the bottom left star of the bowl of the plough) through Dubhe (top right star of the plough) for about the same distance. This area of sky rides high over head in the winter.

I was pleased to see M1, the Crab Nebula recommended earlier on. It's a nice target but I'd say that M81 in particular is easier to see. M82 is the fainter and smaller of the pairir. You need M81 as a reference to help locate M82 really.

These two are easy on a dark night with my 6" newtonian. I guess a 5" won't struggle either.

[Peter Drew]

I believe that all the Messier objects were discovered with less than 5" aperture. 

[John]

Once you have nailed the big "easy" stuff I'd recommend tracking down M81 and M82. A pair of galaxies in Ursa Major of which "The Plough" is the better known part. Not only are they a cute pairing but also have some wow factor when you contemplate just what you are looking at!

These two can be seen in the same low power view and are easy to find by extending a line from Phad (the bottom left star of the bowl of the plough) through Dubhe (top right star of the plough) for about the same distance. This area of sky rides high over head in the winter.

I was pleased to see M1, the Crab Nebula recommended earlier on. It's a nice target but I'd say that M81 in particular is easier to see. M82 is the fainter and smaller of the pairir. You need M81 as a reference to help locate M82 really.

These two are easy on a dark night with my 6" newtonian. I guess a 5" won't struggle either.

Great targets but I'd put them on the "easy list", as well I think. M81 and M82 were the first galaxies I ever saw through a scope and I found them with a 60mm refractor without too much difficulty. Two for the price of one with a low power eyepiece as well !

I agree that this pair is much easier in smaller scopes than M1 but initially I was sticking to nebulae.

[acey]

The important thing isn't aperture, it's the darkness of the sky. All the suggested nebulae (and galaxies) are visible in a 5" (and smaller) if the sky is dark enough. If the sky is light polluted then it may be hard to see any of them, even with a filter for the emission nebulae. M42 is certainly the easiest of the lot, M57 is also very easy (though small). M1 is at the harder end of Messier nebulae (and the easy end of NGC nebulae). The nebulosity in M45 (NGC 1432/5) is extremely difficult, and is reflection nebulosity, so a filter won't help - only a very dark sky will do. It was missed by Messier and the Herschels, and only discovered in the mid 19th century (using a 4" if I remember correctly).

[Paul M]

I believe that all the Messier objects were discovered with less than 5" aperture. 

Indeed but Mr. Messier was an old hand and never really knew light pollution!

As it happens, I never spotted M81 in my old 60mm refractor back in the day. That waited until more recently and my 6" newt. Probably more to do with experience than aperture in my example. Though I always found M1 to be reasonably easy in the 60mm.

[Little Big Planet]

Hi all, I'm just wondering - what are the best nebulae through a 5 inch telescope? 

Here's a link to a post by a member of SGL of what you can expect to see through the smaller scopes.. Also i will post images of nebula with and without filters being used and again credit goes to the original posters of these links. 

[Little Big Planet]

Here's a link to a post by a member of SGL of what you can expect to see through the smaller scopes.. Also i will post images of nebula with and without filters being used and again credit goes to the original posters of these links. 

forgot the link. ooooooops

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/

[Little Big Planet]

Credit to staff member RikM who posted this to me. hope the link and this pic help you out as they did me.. thanks

[dick_dangerous]

It's a bit like asking which is the best woman to choose for a wife from females under 5ft high really - it all depends what you like lol.

My wife is 4'10''...

I'm finding that summer yields the best nebula options - M8, M20, M17, M57, M27. Of course my telescope is a piddly little one, so with more aperture and darker skies you could find more than me!

DD

[Stargazer_00]

Credit to staff member RikM who posted this to me. hope the link and this pic help you out as they did me.. thanks

I'd add to this that a UHC changes the entire view to monochrome green/black as well.  So although it boosts contrast it comes at the expensve of natural colouration.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Its not a nebula, but M44 (Beehive cluster) in the constellation of Cancer is absolutely stunning. IC 405 (Flaming Star nebula) in the constellation of Auriga is also worth a look (as are all Nebs).I'm a big neb fan and my favourite is The Rosette. Pretty easy to find as its close to Beetlejuice (the red/orange star top right in Orion). You simply "Turn Left At Orion" and its fairly obvious once you are looking at it. It does need either a UHC filter, or better still is an OIII filter. A UHC filter will be of more use on more nebulae then the OIII filter, which is designed to make certain nebs that are pretty much invisible to the naked eye and scopes,visible.

[entropia]

I believe that all the Messier objects were discovered with less than 5" aperture. 

Now I feel bad . I was blaming my telescope for my lack of accomplishments

[AlexB67]

John's list is excellent, but I would add M17 (Omega, or Swan, nebula) and M16 (Eagle Nebula). M8, M20, M17 and M16 are all quite close together in the sky, but are low down in the summer skies. I found M16 needed dark skies and a few attempts with my 5" scope. The Omega nebula is fairly bright, though.

That area is heaven I recall last summer in the 5 inch.  Can't wait to revisit it in the 10 inch under dark skies and a UHC that I did not own back that time. 

[AlexB67]

Credit to staff member RikM who posted this to me. hope the link and this pic help you out as they did me.. thanks

That is an excellent rendition as to what happens when I put my UHC and view this nebula, even down to the increase in nebulosity and notice how it stretches that little bit further out, of course the stars do go a funky colour as well not shown there as already said. I guess proof that my cheap UHC filter at 39 pounds from the sky's the limit must be working well, but l've always been curious to know and try how it would compare to some of the more costly ones or the SW one.   sorry for the OT.

[John]

That is an excellent rendition as to what happens when I put my UHC and view this nebula, even down to the increase in nebulosity and notice how it stretches that little bit further out, of course the stars do go a funky colour as well not shown there as already said. I guess proof that my cheap UHC filter at 39 pounds from the sky's the limit must be working well, but l've always been curious to know and try how it would compare to some of the more costly ones or the SW one.   sorry for the OT.

The main difference I found with the more expensive filters is that the stars stay looking more star-like and less funky. 

[Stargazer_00]

Do more expesive ones keep a natural colour or are they also green?

I always assumed an O3 would be more green than the UHC so didn't get one (yet).

[John]

Do more expesive ones keep a natural colour or are they also green?

I always assumed an O3 would be more green than the UHC so didn't get one (yet).

I've not used a UHC or an O-III that added a green tint to the nebulae to be honest. The ones I've used are:

- Baader UHC-S

- Telescope Services UHC

- Orion Ultrablock

- Baader O-III

- Celestron O-III (same item as the Baader O-III as it happens)

- Astronomik O-III

To varying degrees, they all enhanced the contrast of the grey tones of the nebulae but did not seem to add any colour themselves. I've seen a pale green tint in M42 a number of times but I believe that comes from the nebula rather than the filter as I've seen it when observing without the filter, which is how I observe M42 most of the time.

[Stargazer_00]

I've only used a Skywatcher UHC (from FLO) and it adds a dark green fringe to stars and bright objects.

It's actually been a while since I used the UHC for anything.  I'll get it out on the next clear night and see what it looks like on M42.

[AlexB67]

That's good to know John.  Star colour is affected for sure in the STL filter. I'll watch out next time more carefully what happens to shape.   don't think it did anything too strange in terms of shape but will look more carefully for that next time.