Globtastic!

[AndyWB]

So, when I upgraded from a 5" to a 10" scope I knew this would show much more. I'd expected to see more of galaxies, nebulae, and better planetary resolution. What I'd not expected was the difference it makes to globular clusters! Wow! I had a look at M13 earlier in the year, but I've been waiting to have a look at many of those I've already spotted with the 10" - and last night was the night to tick a lot of them off! This was from in town, though, and when I started the sky was still a shade of blue...

I started the evening by looking at Saturn - which is great in the 250px, with 5 moons easily apparent. For an uncooled scope, the image was impressive at x200.

Then Antares appeared from behind a tree - so I chased, unsuccessfully, after M4. This proved a bit of a faff, with it being low, and the sky not being properly dark. I decided to come back to it.

M13 - High, near zenith, and fantastic - speckled all the way to the core.

M92 - I like M92. Smaller, denser, and also fairly well resolved. If it were in another constellation, I think there'd be more of a fuss about it.

M10 + M12- These surprised me by being relatively dim compared to what I thought they'd been. I'm sure they didn't seem as dim compared to M13/M92 in my 5" scope. It could be a contrast thing - the sky still wasn't dark.

M57 - Not a glob, but I couldn't pass up the Ring Neb. Strangely, I found it a bit hard to find at first!

Albireo - Easy to seperate, but actually, I think it's better in the small scope. For some reason, the colour contrast wasn't as obvious in the 10"

M56 - A bit tricky to find, but pretty obvious when I did.

Back to M4 - now visible, dimly. It's a big 'un, though. Visible with a line of stars through it.

M9 - Low, but fairly bright

NGC 6356 - Near M9, pretty obvious, though clearly dimmer than M9

M11 - The Wild Duck Cluster - but so many stars are visible in the 10", I couldn't make out the V of the ducks! A nice, rich, open cluster, though!

M16 - Eagle Nebula - No nebulousity was visible, but the open cluster that's in it was pretty clear.

M17 - Behind trees...

And then the clouds arrived! Only out for a couple of hours, but I'm glad I got the bigger scope out - it was worth it to see so many globular clusters resolve into something more obviously a cluster!

[todd8137]

Looks like you seen a lot on this report you forgot to mention at what mag and ep you used to view which ones

Pat

[kev100]

Hi Andy,

That's a great report. I can't wait to get out with my new 250. I did have a look the other night, but even at nearly midnight it was much too bright, and I could only see a handful of stars/planets. What time were you out from?

Kev.

[AndyWB]

About 2230, to 0015. It was still fairly bright, but in town, well, it never gets that dark anyway...

[Paul73]

Great night!

Interesting to read your thoughts on colour through the 10" SW. I have the same scope and, on most nights, the colour differences are subtle at best.

I love the area around the Eagle nebula. Can't think of another part of the sky where there is such varied array of targets (if only they were 10° higher). Hoping for a revisit tonight!

Paul

[kev100]

OK. I did look out at around that time, but it might just have been a bit hazy. Might give it a go tonight!

[Paul73]

Midnight to 2am will be darkest (moon rising at 1am but should be out of the way for Sat/Sunday). It doesn't get properly dark for another 4 weeks - there is still lots to be seen if you go easy on the faint galaxies.

Paul

[AndyWB]

I have the same scope and, on most nights, the colour differences are subtle at best.

Yeah, I was thinking about that on the way to work. My theory is that the 250px is so much brighter that it actually 'washes out' the colour. The 130p is dimmer, but that the stars do still appear blue and gold.

It's either that or I was simply working at a higher magnification than I would with the 130p, in which case it could just be that the stars were further apart, and hence the contrast was less obvious.

[cotterless45]

Neat report , I was out until 1.30. It did get quite dark enough to enjoy. M27 was particularly rich with a UHC filter and it was good to see "the blue snowball" NGC 7662 in Andromeda , hurrah !

Nick.

[dick_dangerous]

I sigh reading this - I looked out of the back window at 11pm in my PJs, and saw how clear it was, but I had to be virtuous because I had work and Mrs Dangerous' birthday today. I regret nothing... Hoping for a clear night this Saturday to go looking for some of those globs: M9 has so far proven elusive for me...

DD

[swamp thing]

Reminds me of when I upgraded from my 4.5" to a 10" newt. I went glob mad. Seeking out every glob I could find.

Great fun.

Enjoy

[kev100]

On Friday and Saturday nights (from about 11 till half 1) I managed to get out with my new 250PX, and thought I'd have a go at some of the objects mentioned in the OP. First time I'd really used the scope in anger, as it were. I'd previously only seen Mars, Saturn and the moon through it. Anyway, I managed some:

M13 – wow! A real treat in the 10 inch, and much betted than the 5 inch before. Very clear and sparkly, loads of stars visible (n my old 5in newt only the outer stars were visible

M92 – Smaller than M13, but a really lovely sight; again, lots of stars discernable

M4 – Eventually got this one. Very dim, though, and could just make out the bar of stars running through the centre

M57 – First time on this one. Actually looked clearer earlier in the evening, but the scope was really dewing up by the time I packed up

M51 Whirlpool galaxy – bit disappointing really, very dim, and not much better than the view through the 5 inch

Did a bit of star hopping – Antares (big, bright and red ... lovely!), Altair, Vega, Alcor and Mizar (very clear), Deneb.

Finally, with the Cygnus rift clearly visible (about half past 1) I looked and looked for the North American neb but couldn't find it. Nor did I have any luck with M71 or M27 (dumbbell neb). I'd spotted Andromeda (very easily) through my bins, but just couldn't find it with the scope, no matter how many times I tried.

All in all I was pretty pleased with my outings this weekend. The things I could see (stars, globs and the ring neb) looked amazing. Bit disappointed with dimmer/more distant objects. Also, whilst searching Cygnus for the North American neb I was very aware of the coma at the periphery of the FOV. I think I'll have to ask Santa for some better EPs.

Kev

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[AndyWB]

Hi Kev, don't panic on dim things! I think what's happening is that the globs are actually fairly bright (apart from M4 'cos it's so low) and the difference in the view is due to the better resolution - but you still need good contrast for faint fuzzies. M51 at Astrocamp was a bit disappointing compared to some earlier views I'd had of it. M13 looks marvellous in my 250px even under some light pollution, but galaxies are still very tough.

[kev100]

Cheers Andy,

You're probably right about the faint fuzzies needing better contrast. The fact that I've had a (slightly) better view of M51 through the 5-inch was probably down to time of year and also due to the fact that it let in less light generally than the 10 inch – I'm looking forward to exploring galaxies when the nights are darker. I also think that was why I could see Andromeda in the bins, but not at all in the scope ... it was just washing out in the light the scope was gathering. 

M13 was brilliant on Saturday night. Pretty much filled up the FOV with the 9mm EP.

Roll on the autumn!

Kev.

[swamp thing]

Kev

The trouble with targets like andromeda is that scopes around 10" and over are tending to look through them rather than at them. Bins can help here because they pick out the difference between background sky and the edge of the galaxy because of their large FOV. Large scopes can't fit it all in one field so we need to pan about to find the edge, this can be tricky to do with any LP.

Rest assured in darker skies bigger scopes can pick out some astonishing detail though

Many large nebulae are the same like the NA and rosette. These are big and diffuse and bins often trump large apertures.

Best way to remember big and small. Big target......small aperture, and vice versa for best results. This isn't a hard rule but often can help.

[kev100]

So even with, say, a 32mm ep, will I still struggle with large objects like andromeda?

Dicking about on my phone, when I should be outside with the scope!

[Paul73]

So even with, say, a 32mm ep, will I still struggle with large objects like andromeda?

Dicking about on my phone, when I should be outside with the scope!

You'll need to to go for a Super W i d e angle eyepiece!!! ££

Paul

[kev100]

Hnmmmmmmm ... Reckon ill be sticking to the bins for large objects for a while then ...

Dicking about on my phone, when I should be outside with the scope!

[AndyWB]

Yeah, I found that under a dark sky, with a 30mm eyepiece, M32 was bigger than the view in my 130p. That's, like, 2.3 degrees. It's huge!