craigfoot Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Hi all,Just joined this forum after owning my skywatcher 130 for about 18 months and having made some basic progress using apps and books. I've also got the celestron 15x70 binoculars and just ordered the Olympus 10x50.So far done some moon observation and also seen Saturn and Jupiter. Deep sky objects seem more difficult and any advice on this would be welcome (so far only managed the Orion nebula)I'm looking forward to getting the experience of others to help improve my setup and stargazing time! Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronin Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 For DSO observing you need to know the constellations, then you need a book that shows each constellation and which DSO's are in them and more precisely where in them.Which book is your decision, I use the Monthly Sky Guide by Ridpath and Tirion.To get an idea of what they look like use Google, for DSO there is on Wikipedia a good list, search for "list of Messier objects" it will be one of the first. The table can be reordered by type, constellation etc.Also try Cauldwell Objects.Start with binoculars to see if you can see anything, then give the scope a try.They are all dull grey and faint, absolutely none look like the ones given by Hubble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4N Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 If you google images of DSOs then to get an idea of what they will look like in your scope stand about 10m away from the PC with sunglasses on TSED70Q, iOptron Smart EQ pro, ASI-120MM, Finepix S5 pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigfoot Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 Cheers for the advice guys, I've worked out the main constellations and got a few good books such as turn left at Orion and some of the Patrick Moore ones.My 15x70 binoculars are a little shakey, hence I've ordered the lower magnification size to try too.I think the pictures you see online can be misleading as most of them are full colour etc. When I saw the Orion nebula it was just like a white cloud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4N Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Yes your eyes aren't sensitive enough to pick up the colour, and some of it is beyond the visible spectrum anyway. However some DSOs will show colour if you have enough aperture. TSED70Q, iOptron Smart EQ pro, ASI-120MM, Finepix S5 pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigfoot Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 What's classed as enough? I have 130mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4N Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 I've never seen colour through my 130P. TSED70Q, iOptron Smart EQ pro, ASI-120MM, Finepix S5 pro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purdo Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Hi Craig & Welcome to SGL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swag72 Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Hi Craig and welcome to SGL - I wish I could help on anything visual, but what I know about that could be written on a very small pin head!!! Look forward to seeing you around and hope that you enjoy your kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger111 Posted August 24, 2014 Share Posted August 24, 2014 Greetings Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesM Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi Craig and welcome to the forumClear skiesJames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kor84 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hello Craig and welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michigander Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Welcome to SGL, Craig!Dana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charon Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Welcome aboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowjet Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi Craig and welcome to SGL, some of the larger DSO should be visible in a scope aperture of 130, however, the best results for DSO observing will come only when the scope is used from a very dark site. It is possible colour sometimes can be observed in large aperture scopes, however, colour in DSO is mostly revealed in the realm of long exposure imaging Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterCPC Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi and welcome.Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandancer10 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi Craig and welcome to SGL. As glowjet says colour is usually reserved for imaging as your eye cannot gather enough light to see in colour. It's similar to a dimly lit room you can only see grey, but put the light on and everything is in colour. This is where Astrophotography comes into its own because of the long shutter speed it gathers lots of photons, hence colour.Happy Stargazing and enjoy your Astro journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigfoot Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi everyone, and thanks for the tips. . think astrophotography is a while off yet, need to get comfortable with the binoculars and telescope first and find a good dark location! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jase81 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 hi and welcome to SGL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Presland Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirius Starwatcher Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi Craig welcome to SGL lots of good advice on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C7tsj Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi and welcome to the forum.Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizibilder Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hello Craig and welcome to SGL!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laudropb Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi Craig and welcome to the SGL. Try looking for some of the Globular clusters. The Great cluster M13 in Hercules is a good place to start and will look spectacular in your 130 p. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingergeek Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hi there and welcome to SGL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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