M57 First Look

[Bathurst]

I put my telescope to sleep back in March after the Sun Eclipse, I then went on a jolly jaunt around Australia, popped up to Hawaii (went up to the Mauna Kea Observatory!) then to New York and eventually got home a couple of months ago.

ANYWAY....Mondays Moon Eclipse made me get the Telescope (see sig) out of hibernation, upon doing so I happened to see pics of M57 on some twitter account I follow and thought that might be nice to look at and this evening was my first chance.

So I started out at Vega, moved downards and to the left slightly, then almost straight away I found the two stars I was looking for and what'd ya know I found M57 plump right in the middle of view!

Chucked in the x10 and x8 for a closer look and could just about make out the Ring, unfortunatley due to the early evening time and high level cloud rolling in I didn't have a long/good look, but from what I saw it has only wet my appetite to see it on a much clearer & darker night.

I also tried but failed to find the Crescent Nebula, it shows up easily in Stellarium so can only presume I can see it with my scope, I'll try for that another day.

eeerrr...yeah that's it, a little Deep Sky observing blog thing

[John]

Congratulations on finding the Ring Nebula

The Crescent Nebula is much larger but much fainter - it's sometimes a challenge to find it with my 12" scope. An O-III or UHC filter helps a lot with that one.

A much easier target is M27, the Dumbbell Nebula. It's another planetary nebula like the Ring but much larger. You can find it in the constellation of Vulpecula, just above the "point" of the small and arrow-like constellation Sagitta. Well worth looking for 

[estwing]

well done you....throw as much power at the ring as you can,wonderful object...

[Piero]

Congratulations! It is not very easy to spot at that low magnification.

There are also lovely double stars in Lyra, if you are interested in these targets. Well worth a visit!

- Sheliak (Beta Lyr)

- Sulafat (Gamma Lyr)

- Delta Lyr and the wonderful open cluster Steph1

- Zeta Lyr 

- and the famous Epsilon Lyr (Double Double) (you will need ~70x at least to split the pair in subcomponents).

[Paul M]

Well done. M57 is a great target even in quite small scopes. I first bagged it in my old 60mm refractor way back in the days before light pollution was such a huge issue at home. It was a big deal for me, I can tell you.

And those fun little star-hops give you an intimacy with the sky that you'll never get with GoTo!

[laudropb]

Very good capture. You will find you see more detail if you use an OIII or UHC filter

[Bathurst]

Very good capture. You will find you see more detail if you use an OIII or UHC filter

I was just debating with myself yesterday whether i should get Filters, are they really worth it with my - relatively - little scope?

Moon filters I can see the point of, but Filters for Nebula? I suppose Orion is quite big in the frame, maybe i need to research this, thanks

[John]

I was just debating with myself yesterday whether i should get Filters, are they really worth it with my - relatively - little scope?

Moon filters I can see the point of, but Filters for Nebula? I suppose Orion is quite big in the frame, maybe i need to research this, thanks

There are some notable nebulae that are improved massively through the use of either the O-III or UHC type filter. My first use of such a filter was with a 100mm refractor and that enabled me to see the Veil Nebula (Cygnus) and the Owl Nebula (Ursa Major) for the first time in my observing life. Such objects are practically invisible without the filters.

I don't use a moon filter even with my 12" scope.

[swamp thing]

I was just debating with myself yesterday whether i should get Filters, are they really worth it with my - relatively - little scope?

Moon filters I can see the point of, but Filters for Nebula? I suppose Orion is quite big in the frame, maybe i need to research this, thanks

Please don't write off a scope because of its size. This is a common mistake by many newcomers to the hobby. You don't need giant apertures to see many nebula including the crescent. What you need are dark skies, filtration and patience.

It's very easy to blame ones aperture when it is our own observing skills that need perfecting. Not a dig BTW, just trying to encourage you to get out there and have a go

Ps I used a 4.5" newt for many years and often blamed the aperture. It was my skills that needed the upgrade. I'm often astounded by what I can now see with  a same sized scope if I really try for it. 

Enjoy yourself out there

[Bathurst]

It was a genuine query about the scope size as I didn't know if filters are worth it but thanks to you guys I now know they are

I do need to practise more anyway, you never stop learning

[niallk]

I definitely find that I continue to learn to see more. I can honestly say that the views in my 250px have gotten better and better. I had read on SGL from experienced people that one 'learns to see' - I have to admit, initially I thought it an odd concept, but now I understand better what they were describing

[Lowjiber]

Good find.  M57 can really take some power in decent conditions.

Filters?  You bet.  A quality OIII and a UHC will serve you well, regardless of the size of the scope.

Clear, Dark Skies