16 inch Telescope

[Corkeyno2]

I am about to purchase a 16 inch telescope, and live on the edge of a medium sized town, so a small amount of light pollution. What can I expect to see through the telescope with just my eye?

Thanks,

Corkeyno2

[nightfisher]

with just your eye you wont see a great deal but put an eyepiece in the scope and wow! 

 

sorry had to put that......if your light pollution is pretty low you should start to see deep sky objects more like the images you see on these forums

[Paul73]

That is a whole lot of scope!

What sort of mag stars can you see with your naked eye?

And, what scope do you normally use?

Paul

[Corkeyno2]

9 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

That is a whole lot of scope!

What sort of mag stars can you see with your naked eye?

And, what scope do you normally use?

Paul

I can only really see the brightest well known stars and the planets. I did once, see a very dim, Milky Way. Before this scope, I used a 4 inch Nexstar 4SE

[nightfisher]

so your going from a 4SE to a 16" dob O M G you are going to see stuff, lots of stuff, what focal length is the 16 and budget for some nice eyepieces

[Corkeyno2]

15 minutes ago, nightfisher said:

so your going from a 4SE to a 16" dob O M G you are going to see stuff, lots of stuff, what focal length is the 16 and budget for some nice eyepieces

I believe the model I am interested in has a focal length of 1800mm. I am selling a full size replica of a TARDIS so I will probably have a reasonably large budget for eyepieces.

[swamp thing]

Hi again

I gave you some thoughts on possible issues of buying a large scope in your other thread. Now the good bit
I obviously cannot say what you will see from your back yard as I've never observed from it but from a dark sky........

I can't actually think on where to start.... Suppose I could start off by telling you that pretty much the entire new general and index catalogues are within the grasp of a scope of this size. There is an entire lifetime of observing in these alone. 
Next, bin your pocket sky atlas. It is useless with a giant scope like this. You will be routinely observing objects that are not even in it. You will need extensive star charts for this monster scope. The problem with big scopes is not so much seeing objects but finding out which ones which. Literally thousands of galaxies will suddenly jump out at you, and you will become lost in a sky packed with them. Some areas of sky you will see as many galaxies as stars. It really is a different ball game with a large scope.

The brighter DSO's will give photographic like detail that will make your jaw thud onto the floor.  
Driving a giant Dob at a dark sky site is about as good as this hobby gets IMO. 

Regards

 

[Corkeyno2]

11 minutes ago, swamp thing said:

Hi again

I gave you some thoughts on possible issues of buying a large scope in your other thread. Now the good bit
I obviously cannot say what you will see from your back yard as I've never observed from it but from a dark sky........

I can't actually think on where to start.... Suppose I could start off by telling you that pretty much the entire new general and index catalogues are within the grasp of a scope of this size. There is an entire lifetime of observing in these alone. 
Next, bin your pocket sky atlas. It is useless with a giant scope like this. You will be routinely observing objects that are not even in it. You will need extensive star charts for this monster scope. The problem with big scopes is not so much seeing objects but finding out which ones which. Literally thousands of galaxies will suddenly jump out at you, and you will become lost in a sky packed with them. Some areas of sky you will see as many galaxies as stars. It really is a different ball game with a large scope.

The brighter DSO's will give photographic like detail that will make your jaw thud onto the floor.  
Driving a giant Dob at a dark sky site is about as good as this hobby gets IMO. 

Regards

 

Is it that good even in a small amount of light pollution area? I'm getting really excited about this. 

[Timebandit]

2 minutes ago, Corkeyno2 said:

Is it that good even in a small amount of light pollution area? I'm getting really excited about this. 

 

It all depends on the particular seeing conditions and the how bad the light pollution is?. To really get the best out of a large scope it needs to be used at a dark site to grab in those fainter fuzzys. A 10" Dob at a dark site will show you far more than a 16" Dob at a light polluted site. Therefore to get the best out of any scope dark site is best at any aperture. But if you are investing a lot of money in a 16" dob be prepared to travel to a dark site to get the full benefit. 

As has been said on this forum before a tank full of petrol to get to a dark sight and a bit of travel time is well worth the effort. Get the 16" get a couple of very decent wide angle eyepieces and a tank of petrol and find a dark site and enjoy?  

[Corkeyno2]

1 minute ago, Timebandit said:

 

It all depends on the particular seeing conditions and the how bad the light pollution is?. To really get the best out of a large scope it needs to be used at a dark site to grab in those fainter fuzzys. A 10" Dob at a dark site will show you far more than a 16" Dob at a light polluted site. Therefore to get the best out of any scope dark site is best at any aperture. But if you are investing a lot of money in a 16" dob be prepared to travel to a dark site to get the full benefit. 

As has been said on this forum before a tank full of petrol to get to a dark sight and a bit of travel time is well worth the effort. Get the 16" get a couple of very decent wide angle eyepieces and a tank of petrol and find a dark site and enjoy?  

Cheers

[Stub Mandrel]

33 minutes ago, Corkeyno2 said:

 I am selling a full size replica of a TARDIS so I will probably have a reasonably large budget for eyepieces.

Full size outside AND inside?

[Corkeyno2]

1 minute ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Full size outside AND inside?

LOL it would be great if it was full size on the inside! Since it is infinite, I would have infinite resources and wouldn't need a telescope! I'd just use the parts to build a warp drive or something and go to the stars myself.

[swamp thing]

1 minute ago, Corkeyno2 said:

Is it that good even in a small amount of light pollution area? I'm getting really excited about this. 

Thats the real question buddy.........just how ,much light pollution have you got?

You see Galaxies are really shy and disappear real fast when any LP shows up.

LP from sky glow can ruin views from miles away. Major cities like London effect the surrounding countryside with their light glow for nearly 100 miles. For this very reason I take my 20" scope to mid Wales before I use it. 
 

[Corkeyno2]

1 minute ago, swamp thing said:

Thats the real question buddy.........just how ,much light pollution have you got?

You see Galaxies are really shy and disappear real fast when any LP shows up.

LP from sky glow can ruin views from miles away. Major cities like London effect the surrounding countryside with their light glow for nearly 100 miles. For this very reason I take my 20" scope to mid Wales before I use it. 
 

 I'm only about 40 miles from London. Will I still have good views?

[spaceboy]

Not directly related to what your asking but it may make for some interesting reading.

 

[swamp thing]

Just now, Corkeyno2 said:

 I'm only about 40 miles from London. Will I still have good views?

Hmm! I can't lie to you. What I said earlier will not apply to anyone living 40 miles from London......Sorry mate  

Don't despair, you will still get some good views but nothing like what a dark sky can provide. If you can make out the milky way from your back yard you should get some pretty decent views going for ya.  

Or do what I do. Pack the scope up once a month get the hell out of dodge and treat yourself to a galaxy fest  (or sometimes just sit in the tent looking at the horizontal rain being blown about in the  howling gale outside  ) 

 

[ollypenrice]

I live at a dark site which can deliver 21.9 on the sky quality metre, but more often delivers around 21.6. We have a 20 inch Dob amongst other bits and bobs and galaxies still like 1) to be nice and high in the sky and 2) seen in a fully dark sky with neither twilight nor moonlight.

But a big scope is a big scope...

Olly

[Corkeyno2]

18 minutes ago, swamp thing said:

Hmm! I can't lie to you. What I said earlier will not apply to anyone living 40 miles from London......Sorry mate  

Don't despair, you will still get some good views but nothing like what a dark sky can provide. If you can make out the milky way from your back yard you should get some pretty decent views going for ya.  

Or do what I do. Pack the scope up once a month get the hell out of dodge and treat yourself to a galaxy fest  (or sometimes just sit in the tent looking at the horizontal rain being blown about in the  howling gale outside  ) 

 

I did see the milkay way once in my out the back but it was quite faint. I can also see a couple hundred stars.

[Corkeyno2]

12 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

I live at a dark site which can deliver 21.9 on the sky quality metre, but more often delivers around 21.6. We have a 20 inch Dob amongst other bits and bobs and galaxies still like 1) to be nice and high in the sky and 2) seen in a fully dark sky with neither twilight nor moonlight.

But a big scope is a big scope...

Olly

What do you mean.

[ollypenrice]

10 minutes ago, Corkeyno2 said:

What do you mean.

The first sentence I think speaks for itself. The second suggests that, while a big scope will collect more LP, it will also collect more galaxy. You'll do better in LP with a bigger scope but not as much better as you would at a dark site.

Olly

[Corkeyno2]

4 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

The first sentence I think speaks for itself. The second suggests that, while a big scope will collect more LP, it will also collect more galaxy. You'll do better in LP with a bigger scope but not as much better as you would at a dark site.

Olly

Cheers

[todd8137]

What eps do you have  what make is the scope ?

pat

[cotterless45]

If you have any sort of light pollution that gives you a faint or no Milky Way, then an 8" Dob or six inch frac will let you observe the brightest of targets. The problem is getting good contrast to enable faint targets to stand out. From a dark site a 10" Dob will provide you with stunning views.

Remember , increasing aperture means increased weight and transport issues. Buying big aperture will not open up the skies and if you can just grab an easy to use scope, it'll be the one that you use. Remember that a lot of the off the PSA targets may be difficult to locate , especially if the sky is dark enough to provide a mass of stars in the fov.

Everyone should get out to a pristine sky, it's a different ball game . Aperture just doesn't come into it.

If you can get to a local group or star party, there's nothing to beat talking to and trying out other observers and their scopes. Personally, I'd paddle around in the shallows before jumping in the deep end,

Nick.

[Corkeyno2]

1 hour ago, todd8137 said:

What eps do you have  what make is the scope ?

pat

I have a 25mm, a 2x barlow and a 6mm. The telescope itself is a sky-watcher Dobsonian.

[jabeoo1]

1 hour ago, cotterless45 said:

Personally, I'd paddle around in the shallows before jumping in the deep end,

Nick.

Too True!

The best session I have ever had was under darkish skies in south devon with an Astroscan (4.125").  I effortlessly bagged more Nebula, remnants, clusters & galaxies than any other session. Opportunistic is key,  which means portable, quick and right now.