What can I see with a 10" reflector?

[Brandon]

Hi, I am very new to astronomy and I would like to know if objects beyond our solar system such as galaxies, star clusters, nebulae, etc. can be seen with a 10" reflector (SkyQuest XT10) in or outside of a light polluted city (medium sized city)?

[Ant]

Welcome to SGL.

The sinple answer to your question is YES. Some objects outside the solar system can be seen with the naked eye. (Double cluster in perseus, M31 Galaxy in Andromeda - to name just two).

With a 10" scope, hundreds, maybe thousands will be visible.

Cheers

Ant

[MikeP]

Hi Brandon,

Welcome to SGL. There are a few other Canadians on here - The Warthog may not be too far from you in Ontario.

It would be a good idea to buy a book called Turn Left at Orion. It details some of the finest deep sky objects that you'll be able to see, arranged by season when they are visible. In each case it shows you how to find them and what you should see through the eyepiece ie NOT the pretty pictures you may have seen that are taken with large telescopes.

With a 10" Dobsonian and 19 year old eyes, you will be able to see all the objects listed that are observable from your latitude. If light pollution is a big problem you could buy a filter or better drive out of town and view from the countryside.

Have fun.

Mike

[algol]

hi brandon i'm 22 in the uk and have a 5 inch reflector and am more than happy with it, tracked down 4 planets, and bout 15 or so messiers.

seen galaxies, open clusters, globular clusters, and nebulae. with your scope mate i imagine the views would be amazing and even more things would be visible.

plus with that sized scope if you are having trouble with light pollution you can get an LP filter, to cut out any dodgy city emissions.

[Sam]

Hi Brandon,

Welcome to SGL!! and what a start to astronomy with getting a 10"!!! You'll get some great views with. Almost all of the Messier objects are well within your grasp and on a good clear night you'll see some of the sprial arms on the likes of M51 and be able to resolve individual stars on a bunch of the globular clusters. The light pollution will, of coures, have a negative effect on this but the light gathering capability of a 10" mirror will give you plenty of enjoyment.

Sam

[Casus belli]

With good skies and a 10" scope you can see 100's if not 1000's of deep space objects. The darker your viewing site the more you will see.

I can pretty much see all the DSO's that are on stellarium (at least those that are visible from my latitude) I now use Cartes du ciel to print out maps for some of the fainter fuzzies. Both of these programs are free and easy to use and are a great help.

[Roy Batty]

Hi,

you might find the following link useful to get an idea of what can be seen.

http://astro.geekjoy.com/calcs/DSO_List.html

cheers

RB

[Periscope]

Yes as everyone has said already, you will be able to see hundreds of DSOs. I have a 8" reflector and the results are quite amazing. The biggest problem is light pollution, but unless you can get away from city lights, there's not a great deal you can do about it, except try some filters.

Question to Casus belli. What is the web adress for Cartes du ciel, I wouldn't mind trying this? I already have Stellarium.

Geoff

[Periscope]

Question to Casus belli. What is the web adress for Cartes du ciel, I wouldn't mind trying this? I already have Stellarium.

Geoff

Okay Casus, did a Goole Search and found it!

Geoff

[ottUp]

HI Brandon.

Where in Ontario? I'm in Ottawa. Might be able to help you hook up with locals, depending on where you are.

You'll see plenty with that scope - all the messier objects and many others if you are outside a city. Inside the city it will depend on how bad the light pollution is, but you will have things to observe.

Here is a list of good starter objects, with notes on what you can see in a similar scope (9.25") from in-city and dark skies:

http://www.themcdonalds.net/richard/astro/writings/myBeginnerObjects.shtml

- Richard

[Casus belli]

Question to Casus belli. What is the web adress for Cartes du ciel, I wouldn't mind trying this? I already have Stellarium.

Geoff

Okay Casus, did a Goole Search and found it!

Geoff

LOL No problem m8

[Brandon]

Wow I was not expecting so many replies! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! THANKS ALOT FOR UR HELP!

MikeP, I heard alot of good things about that book and I'm going to get it next time I'm out.

algol, thanks for the filter idea. I will check into those.

Roy Batty, great link. it gives me an idea what I can see and furthermore, it should help me choose my next eyepiece

ottUp, I live in Waterloo. I found someone on YouTube who lives here and has done amateur astronomy for 10 years and he said he would help me out. I also have found a club in this region. just waiting for them to reply to my email.

Thanks everybody for giving me an idea of what I can see. I did not realize I could see so much. I thought you needed to take 10 minute+ exposures with a camera on an eq just to see anything beyond our system but I guess thats just for the real faintier ones.

[Periscope]

Another good book worth having, when you are outside with your scope is

Sky & Telescope's POCKET SKY ATLAS Type it up on Amazon.com for the best deals.

It is one of the best small sky atlases you can have. It is ring bound for ease of use and the pages are semi waterproof (they will stand getting damp) It shows everything you will want to see up to 7.6 magnitude, thus not making the charts seem too cluttered. It covers the whole of the Northern & Southern Hemispheres in easy to follow adjoining charts and lots of other information regarding Galaxies, Clusters & Nebulas, listing all the catalouge numbers of all known examples.

I think most of the guys & gals on SWL have a copy of this book and it has just been talked about in this topic.

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,28319.0.html

Good luck with your stargazing.

Geoff

[Brandon]

Another good book worth having, when you are outside with your scope is

Sky & Telescope's POCKET SKY ATLAS Type it up on Amazon.com for the best deals.

It is one of the best small sky atlases you can have. It is ring bound for ease of use and the pages are semi waterproof (they will stand getting damp) It shows everything you will want to see up to 7.6 magnitude, thus not making the charts seem too cluttered. It covers the whole of the Northern & Southern Hemispheres in easy to follow adjoining charts and lots of other information regarding Galaxies, Clusters & Nebulas, listing all the catalouge numbers of all known examples.

I think most of the guys & gals on SWL have a copy of this book and it has just been talked about in this topic.

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,28319.0.html

Good luck with your stargazing.

Geoff

Thanks. I have an object locator system but I wanna stay away from it as much as possible. Locating objects the old fashion way is probably more rewarding. so the more books and charts, the better.

[Periscope]

I to have a GoTo system on my scope, but I also like to do it the old fashioned way and look for them myself.

Geoff

[James]

Others have covered this really but as an owner of a 10" reflector I'd just like to say wait until you see M13 in Hercules at about 120x, the Orion Nebula and the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). These are just three objects that will look spectacular through a 10" scope and there's lots more.

One thing I would suggest is a Moon filter. A 10" gathers a lot of light and the light of the moon coming out of the eyepiece will feel like a laser beam (i.e. very sore!).

Best of all, once you've got used to these objects in light polluted circumstances try and get the scope out to dark skies....

James

[Brandon]

Others have covered this really but as an owner of a 10" reflector I'd just like to say wait until you see M13 in Hercules at about 120x, the Orion Nebula and the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). These are just three objects that will look spectacular through a 10" scope and there's lots more.

One thing I would suggest is a Moon filter. A 10" gathers a lot of light and the light of the moon coming out of the eyepiece will feel like a laser beam (i.e. very sore!).

Best of all, once you've got used to these objects in light polluted circumstances try and get the scope out to dark skies....

James

ya I had to find out the hard way. I stared at the center of a full moon for a while and it messed up my eye for a few minutes. good thing I had the other eye to turn back to jupiter.

[Brandon]

I just got back inside from my backyard (in the city) and I saw lots of dso's. I saw a couple galaxies (andromeda), a couple nebulae (dumbell, ring nebula) and a bunch of clusters. After about 2-3 hours I had to pack it up because everything was completely covered in condensation. I can't wait until I go outside far from the city on a new moon and a clear sky to see these objects better.

[Vega]

Nice one Brandon :cheers: . Another one here from the 10" Newt club . On the right night I've had some simply breathtaking views of DSO's (in particular Andromeda, Perseus Double Cluster, Ring neb and M13). Probably the most challenging objects that I've seen are the Leo Triplet and M51 spirals but I haven't really gone out to view some of the real difficult one's yet. I have a heavily light polluted back garden but in a modest size town. Here's a few things I've found...

-A nice widefield eyepeiece (at least 32mm) is a must for a 10" Newt

-Sometimes if the sky is clean enough, light pollution has little effect (i.e. Look out for those clean Northerly winds, you'll be surprised how much better a sky can become even from your back garden).

-On saying that, lugging the scope to a darker location does make quite a pleasing difference.

Happy hunting!

Matt

[Periscope]

Glad to hear you have had a good start Brandon with your 10". There is lots to see, which will keep you occupied, once you get to know the sky much better.

Geoff

[Brandon]

Yes, I realise now from after last night how important field of view is. Later on, I'll get a really nice ~>32mm eyepiece.

Thanks everybody for all the help here and all the useful posts that are on this web site. I'm gonna be hooked on this website now lol

[TheThing]

Dont you just love ready posts from people new to the hobby who have become completely hooked in such a short time?

Sounds like you had an excellent first session, brandon and you scope sounds like a beaut! Please keep us up to date with how you get on?

[Periscope]

The thing is Thing, when you see what's up there through a large aperture scope, how can you not get hooked in such a short time. I too am a newcomer and buying a decent scope in the first place, is the answer to becoming satisfied with what you expect from the hobby. Those people that take the plunge, buy a cheap scope without doing any research or asking advice from people who are in the know, often loose interest very quickly.

Okay, not everybody can afford to splash out on a large scope, but it is worth seeking advice before buying something that is not much better than a pair of decent binoculars. Regarding a reflector scope, I would say that a 6" at least is the minimum aperture, if you want to get that WOW factor when you first look up at the sky.

Geoff

[TheThing]

Geoff,

You're in good company. Sir Patrick Morre suggests nothing less than a 6" reflector to start with, and he should know!

[SteelRat]

My 8 inch dob is a cracking scope to use and the views it's given of deepsky objects like M13 were very nice.

I wouldn't be without my 110mm Tal1 newt - I'm sure that Patrick would forgive me that