Please help

[Katash707]

I'm new to astronomy and just brought my first telescope 70/900 refractor and getting frustrated I know it's not the best but that's what I went for anyway all I want to know is can I see any galaxies and what eyepiece to use to see them thank you

[Stu]

Katash, your scope has a small aperture but is still capable of showing you plenty, especially if you get to some dark skies.

The easiest galaxy to start off with is M31 in Andromeda. It is a large object so use your lowest power eyepiece (the one with the highest number on it, perhaps 25mm?)

Here is a finder chart to help you see it.

[Knighty2112]

Probably best to use a 20mm eyepiece, or 32mm if you can, as this will give you the brightest and widest image possible. Best galaxy to view is M31 (Andromeda Galaxy). On a dark night it's quite easy to find, but use low powered eyepieces suggested to get the best view. Note that you won't see the structure that you see in all those nice Hubble images, but even so it is a glorious sight to see.

[MarsG76]

What you will see depends on not just the size of your objective but also on seeing conditions like atmospheric transparency and how dark your observing location is... If youre at a dark location,with a 70mm objective, comparing what I saw through my 80mm refractor, you should see are the brightest galaxies such as Sculptor Galaxy NGC253, the Andromeda Galaxy and M83... mind you though, do not expect to see anything resembling what you see in photographs, it wont have any color or detail like what you see in pictures.

You will also be able to observe a lot of nebulae, globular clusters, open clusters, binary/triple stars, planets, the moon, the sun (THROUGH A PROPER SOLAR FILTER).

Deep sky objects will, at first, look like a fuzzy glow, but the longer you study the view through the eyepiece, the more subtle detail you will be able to pick out and what you see will slightly change night to night as the seeing conditions change...

I recommend Televue Nagler eyepieces for various magnifications. As far as filters are concerned, with a 70mm telescope, I'd steer away from narrowband filters like OIII or UHC since they will cut out too much light.. to increase contrast but not cut too much light I'd stick to a LPR broadband kind of filter such as Baader Moon and Skyglow filter.

[wimvb]

... and besides galaxies, try to get a view of star clusters. Start with the easiest M45 (Pleiades).

In the area on the starmap which BigSumorian posted you can also find NGC752 between the triangle and Andromeda constellations

In Casseopeia (sp?), near Segin there are also several clusters worth observing.

Happy hunting!

[Knighty2112]

Sadly, as you only live about an hour and a half away from where I live, at this time of year in the UK we get that dreaded fog/mist arising on these increasingly cold nights/mornings, which, even though these mists might never be of the pea souper variety, is normally just enough to linger around and destroy any dark sky viewing for galaxies/globular clusters etc. We all long for that perfect night when not only are the skies dark, but clear of pesky clouds and mists too! When they do come along enjoy the sights as much as you can!

[Katash707]

Thanks everyone for the help I will keep at it and not get discouraged

[Stu]

I recommend Televue Nagler eyepieces for various magnifications. As far as filters are concerned, with a 70mm telescope, I'd steer away from narrowband filters like OIII or UHC since they will cut out too much light.. to increase contrast but not cut too much light I'd stick to a LPR broadband kind of filter such as Baader Moon and Skyglow filter.

With all due respect, I think it's a bit early to be suggesting Naglers in this instance. Wonderful eyepieces of course, but not relevant here. The OP needs to get to grips with their scope and eyepieces first and start learning the sky. A scope upgrade would be the next thing I would consider.

[Dave In Vermont]

To help you find your way about the sky, I suggest downloading Stellarium. Here's a Cut & Paste with the links, followed by a screenshot of mine.

 Stellarium is what is called a planetarium program. You start by setting it to your location, and it will show you a very realistic representation of the night sky - complete with any and all objects up there you choose to include. The instructions are quite large. Setting it up can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 10 days. It's up to you. Similar programs can run you £200. But Stellarium is totally free. And away we go:

 

http://www.stellarium.org/
 
As for instructions, the most current one's are posted in Wiki due to their being new features & functions being created almost daily. There is also a Pdf. that's almost up-to-date. Here's the Wiki-Link:
 
http://www.stellarium.org/wiki/index.php/Stellarium_User_Guide
 
And the Pdf. is here:
 
http://barry.sarcasmogerdes.com/stellarium/stellarium_user_guide-new.pdf
 
This should help you to find just about everything under the Sun.

Clear Skies,

Dave