Cannot Find DSO

[Astronomy is kewl]

Hello,

 

Ever since I have gotten my 8" Dob, I have been trying to find DSOs. I had success with my much smaller refractor in suburban skies. So tonight (just came back), I saw that the moon and the Omega Nebula appeared to be aligned linearly horizontally. So, I decided to look through my finder scope and find the moon, then swing over to the right to find the nebula, but I did not find anything. Could it be because of my finder scope? It is a right angled finder, which I am not sure if it is oriented or not. The finder scope is the same one that came with the telescope, Skywatcher 8" Collapsible (all white). 

 

Please help, really wanna find DSOc

[HunterHarling]

That's probably because of the moon

With the moon out you have no hope of seeing any dso because it is way too bright. I recommend getting the free celestron sky portal app or sky map and try to find the lagoon nebula at least one hour after the moon and Sun has set and once your eyes have adapted to the dark.

Good luck hunting your dso

[bottletopburly]

Maybe investing in a red dot finder or a Telrad may be beneficial used in combination with your finderscope 

[domstar]

28 minutes ago, Astronomy is kewl said:

It is a right angled finder, which I am not sure if it is oriented or not.

Oh yes I still have problems with my finder and have to look at the direction actual tube is moving to see if I'm going the right way.

@HunterHarling is right though.The moon is a dso killer.

[Peter Drew]

First thing to do is to make sure your finder is properly lined up and check it again before each observing session, the minutes to do this will save you hours of frustration trying to find things. If your finder is a 50mm then itself should show you a good proportion of the popular DSO's on a clear moonless night. 

[Cosmic Geoff]

The Moon will kill any effort to find DSO's other than the brightest/highest surface brightness. Make sure your finder(s) are properly aligned.

If it's any consolation, I found locating DSO's (galaxies) with my manual 8" Newtonian to be a hopeless task. I couldn't find even M81 & M82 despite a determined effort.  I soon spent a wad of money on a 8" GoTo mounted scope which totally changed the situation.

[Astro Imp]

3 hours ago, bottletopburly said:

Maybe investing in a red dot finder or a Telrad may be beneficial used in combination with your finderscope 

As the OP has a truss tube S/W 8" Dob he will find there is not enough room to mount a Telrad. I found this when I first had mine and fitted a Rgel Quickfinder which works very well.

[Jimtheslim]

Telrad or Rigel and download/print the relevant finder charts. No more need for the finderscope. If the skies are dark enough you'll have everything you need to find all the DSO's that are going to be visible.

[Astronomy is kewl]

Woah, Thanks for all the great ideas and how 'the moon kills DSO', specially when it is nearly full. Thanks

[Moonshane]

This is worth a read. http://www.deepskywatch.com/Articles/what-can-i-see-through-telescope.html

All faint objects are affected by light pollution be this the moon, your neighbour, your city, or evening / dawn twilight.