Nebula

[Corkeyno2]

I have a Celestron Nexstar 4SE, and am very excited about observing nebulae. Does anyone know of some really cool ones? (I know they won't be Hubble quality).

Thanks,

Corkey

[Stu]

Given that your scope has a relatively long focal length and so a comparatively narrow field of view, I would probably start out with Planetary Nebulae as they are smaller and tend to have higher surface brightness.

Give M57 and M27 a try for starters, quite different to look at but fairly easy to find.

[Knighty2112]

M57 is a doddle to find right between beta & gamma Lyrae in Lyra. Easily visible on a decent night in a 10mm EP as shown below. Higher magnification will show the ring quite easily, sometimes seen better wth averted vision.

[ronin]

M57 in Lyra should be OK, easy to find as it is in the middle it the 2 "lower" stars.

Try for the Cocoon nebula in Cygnus, think the North American and the Pelican will be too dim, they are up by Deneb.

Either the Dumbbell or the Little Dumbbell is supposed to be easy (bight), but no idea if it, or they, are visible at this time.

Orion is not around yet.

Try this list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldwell_catalogue

And sort by Type, that way you get the Nebula grouped together, I would have thought that a SN remnant was a planetary nebula but it is classified otherwise.

Planetary nebula are generally small, I recall one night arguing if we had seen the Crab Nebula in a 6" or not, it really was small and dim. So use the longest eyepiece to find and centre whatever appers in view that may be the nebula then slowly increase. Somewhere you will get a bigger image but too dim to be useful. Makes life interesting trying to decide.

Nebula especially are better in a dark sky, and they may be better with a filter that passes the OIII and the Ha components.

[Davesellars]

While a bit low down in South, M8 - The Lagoon Nebula can be truly spectacular.  You need a dark and transparent sky  Not far above it there is M17 which is pretty bright (at least the part giving the swan shape...).

[Dave In Vermont]

Hi Corkey!

I've got a nice present for you - the DSO Browser. And it's completely FREE - like all the best things are on the web (if you know where to look).

I've been corrosponding with the guy who created it. Andhe loves to hear any & all ideas and comments from those who try it. It sounds like you're looking for what & where out there to good things to see. This you set for your location, or it will trace you and give it a guess, and tell it what you want to see. Such as: Nebulae. So here you go:

https://dso-browser.com/

Have fun all -

Dave

[ronin]

Found I had this marked: http://www.ne.jp/asahi/stellar/scenes/english/dsky4p_a.htm

Might be of use.

[Mark S W]

Hi Corkey

You might find this helpful  http://info-quest.org/documents/PDF/BrightPlanetaryNebulae.pdf

 

The brightest planetary nebulae (white) 2nd ed.pdf

Hope I copied that correctly

Mark

[Stub Mandrel]

M57 looks cool, like a little smoke ring. you can almost convince yourself it is blue (although it's probably just grey to the eye).

[LukeSkywatcher]

If nebulae excite you (as they do me), then a well worthwhile investment would be a UHC filter or an OIII filter (or both if you can afford them). A UHC filter enhances the view of many nebulae which are already visible through your scope. An OIII filter is a bit more special and it allows you to see nebulae in your scope that you can not see because of the type of light they give off. They dont need to be expensive. You can buy perfectly good ones for about 30-40 quid each. I use Skywatcher branded ones.

[Corkeyno2]

thank you everyone