10 Inch Dob... What can I see?

[Ccolvin968]

I know it's a bit of a vague question, but in comparison to my 5 inch Celestron 127EQ, what will the noticeable difference be?

Obviously it'll be better, but I'm in a pretty dark sky area. I can see the milky way a good amount most nights, except the galactic center which is drown out by two major cities 35 miles to the south. Will I be able to pick out nebulosity better? Resolve more stars in clusters? Do I need the OIII or UHC Filters for better viewing nebula? I know that's a 50/50 depends on the nebula... I am an all around observer. I love all my targets, in and out of the solar system. I'll be getting the Zhumell Z10 in the mail in about two days (Tuesday night, I'll put it together.) That night or Thursday night will be my first chance to get first light on her. I'll collimate my laser collimator first. I've heard the one that comes with it needs it. I'm fine with that though. A little work and less cash out the door never hurt anyone. Any of you had this scope or a 10" Dob that you love or loved? This is a jump from 5" to 10" in aperature. I also have two Meade UWA ep's in 14mm and 8.8mm coming in Monday. I've heard wide angle is the way to go with these faster scopes. $129 per ep better be worth it! 

[ronin]

You should see a huge amount, especially if the skies are reasonably dark.

M31 will be just the core however - say this as people expect to get it all in and generally that does not happen.

Try for the N American Neb in Cygnus and the Pelican Neb - both close to Deneb.

Really this is a bit of a case of try them to see if the scope and light conditions enable them to be visible and they are as said close to Deneb so should not be too difficult to get the scope pointed the right place.

Try M57 in Lyra, again not difficult to locate.

Try Albireo, the extra light gather should make a big change.

Trying to keep it to easy to locat items as not sure of the previous scope was a dobsonian, if not then spend a few nights simply geting familiar with the pointing, moving and locating of things. Nice big bright things preferably like stars: Deneb, Altair, Vega, Capella, Arcturus.

M33 is another, M109 in the Plough should be easy to locate - right next to Phecda.

Actually if clear then working through The Dipper (give it the name you are familiar with) is likely a good option. You have M101, M51, M106, M109, M97, M108, M81 and M81 all in the same region.

With the supplied eyepieces and the 2 you have ordered nd with it being a new item to you, spend time just getting used to the scope.Stars will be arpund for a while yet, unless Betelguese goes nova of course.

Mentioning that, as you are somewhat more South then here you may find M42 is visible and M45 also. M45 creeps above my horizon about 1:00AM, M45 should look good in a 10" with a 2 degree view.

[Chris]

I think you will see a BIG difference on DSO's. OIII and UHC filters will absorb a lot of light, so the extra aperture will really help when using these filters. 

Your new UWA eyepieces will really help to keep objects in view for longer which is very useful and less frustrating when using a manual mount. They will provide a more immersive experience also.

All in all, I think you'll be very happy. If I had more sense I would buy a Dob

[Charic]

I jumped from the Celestron 127 EQ to the 8" Sky-Watcher Skyliner.

I dont want to spoil it for you, but the 8" is good, I can only imagine what your about to see, and your conditions sound better than mine?

My next jump would be to the Skyliner 12" solid tube, If one became available, and not as fast as the 10" maybe prolonging the use of my present EP collection, otherwise I may have plans for Tele Vue, only plans?

The Z10 does not have its own laser according to their pdf user manual, page 5. http://www.zhumell.com/product-manuals/

[Stu]

Assuming the 25mm is your lowest power eyepiece for the moment, you will be limited to around 1 degree field of view, so the objects suggested like the North America Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy and M45 are not the best to try, as they look better in a wider field. M42 will be nice, but won't be visible for a month or so at a decent time.

Globular clusters will look fabulous, M13, M92 etc, plenty of the around at this time of year. Planetary nebulae such as M27, 57, the Blinking Planetary, Blue Snowball are all good and will benefit from a UHC filter. M11 looks brilliant at this time of year.

It is worth getting an OIII for objects like the Veil. You won't fit it all in but will get lovely views of smaller sections of it. These filter work very well under dark skies where you eyes are well adapted.

It's a shame your view towards Sagittarius is poor as M8/20/17 & 18 look brilliant at this time of year, having said that, perhaps try them with a UHC and it may cut the light pollution enough to get good views.

In general I think you are in for a nice surprise Have fun!

[Ccolvin968]

Thank you all for such great info! I'm around 47 degrees N latitude. I spent some time in the southern sky the other night with my 5 inch. The sky glow goes up maybe 25 degrees ish. Above that it's very dark and clear. It drowns out the galactic center. Above it is great. I can't wait to check out Albireo in my 10"!! It looked amazing through the 5". It'll be a bit before I can get the filters. Not a necessity anyway. Thanks for all the targets and good info. Tuesday can't come fast enough!!

[AndyWB]

Globular clusters will look fabulous, M13, M92 etc, plenty of the around at this time of year. Planetary nebulae such as M27, 57, the Blinking Planetary, Blue Snowball are all good and will benefit from a UHC filter. M11 looks brilliant at this time of year.

^-- This. I went from a 5" Newtonian to a 10", and this was the change that really caught me. Globular clusters really start to resolve and look good! This past year or so I've been gradually working my way back around the globular clusters. 

Everything looks better, but Globs were the big change for me. Other honourable mentions would be:

• The Moon. I was surprised by this, but the extra resolution brings out a lot of nice detail in crater walls, etc. You can really see the additional resolution; people don't always mention that aspect of a bigger scope.
• Nebulae (if under a dark sky). There's no doubt, the greater light gathering can make dim things more visible - but only if the sky itself is dark too.
• Double stars - if you're into that sort of thing (I am, sometimes). Again, your resolution at work.

In fact, thinking about it, most of the benefits I really saw in stepping up were probably more about the resolution than the light gathering...

[swamp thing]

A huge difference. Simple as that.   

Your doubling aperture man. Objects will cover four times the area at the same surface brightness.     This is an enormous jump.

Have fun.  

[Ccolvin968]

Will do! I'm lucky enough to have dark skies. I can see the milky way almost all the way across the sky. I can see 4 Sagittarius which is magnitude 4.74 on a good night. About 20 degrees below that I have some nasty sky glow. Otherwise it's dark. If I want pristine skies, I have an hour or two drive west or three hours north. Can't wait to leave work today! My two Meade UWA ep's and either the base or OTA are getting here today, then the other half tomorrow. The best part is clouds tonight, then tomorrow is perfect skies... Or so they say. The universe is agreeing with me for a change!

[Bart]

I went from 6" to 10" and then to 16". The jump from 6" to 10" was dramatic. As others have said, globs improved greatly, you get deeper into them for sure.

I like hunting galaxies and the difference there was huge. You will find many many more galaxies in the 10" relative to your 5". Galaxies of mag 10 and 11, and sometimes more will be visible. The fainter ones will not have much detail, but you will notice them. On some of the brighter galaxies, you will see detail. On good nights you will see hints of the arms of M51. You might see the black eye of the Black Eye galaxy and will probably, on a good night agan, spot the dark dust lane in the Needle galaxy, big thrills for me when i found them. You can browse Virgo and Ursa Major for faint stuff, as well as the bighter stuff. I also got more detail on planets like Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Yep, you're going to enjoy that 10". Great size, good detail and certainly more portable than the bigger Dobs

Barry

[damnut]

Hi There,

Take a look at these, just plug your scope data in and remember to click on switch to visual on the second link :--

http://www.stargazing.net/naa/scopemath.htm

http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm