Crab Nebula through the Esprit 100

[Jarvo]

So tonight started out with the intention of attempting to capture the Crab. Got everything set up and the battery died in the camera. Observing it is then...

I decided to still pursue the Crab visually, any excuse to get viewing time with the Esprit. I used my 15mm Nagler to give me 36 x magnification plus the Televue \ Astronomik UHC Nebustar filter. 

It took me a while to figure out the location of the Crab in the finderscope, at 9x50 in theory it should have been viewable in the finder but no luck. 

So I trained the finder on the place where it should be and started tracking. 

It took me a long time to barely glimpse the faintest of a smudge. I was hoping to see at least a clearly defined shape (not expecting any detail nternal structure) but my skies would not permit anything like any detail. 

I genuinely believe the slightest bit of light pollution can cause havoc with this object. My skies are not the best and getting worse sadly. 

To compare, I then trained the scope on the Blinking Nebula and found it immediately. Now the Blinking Nebula is magnitude 10 but with a more concentrated  surface brightness whereas the Crab is magnitude 8.4 but the light is spread over a wider area. 

The Blinking Nebula lived up to its name. Flashed bright and dull using averted vision but showed a nice disk size once I had put in an 8mm Radian to take the mag up to 68x . 

To be honest I was hoping for more but maybe I should be thankful for a glimpse of the Crab under my light polluted skies. 

Thanks for looking. 

Jarvo

[John]

That sounds about right for the aperture and it's not exactly a startling object in a 10 inch either, unless the sky is very dark indeed when it does start to take on some form and structure.

A good example of a famous deep sky object that can be rather lacklustre visually.

 

[kirkster501]

10 minutes ago, John said:

That sounds about right for the aperture and it's not exactly a startling object in a 10 inch either, unless the sky is very dark indeed when it does start to take on some form and structure.

A good example of a famous deep sky object that can be rather lacklustre visually.

 

Agreed.  Sky quality is everything with M1.  I have seen it in an 20" in a light polluted back garden and it had no detail at all.  Then, seen it through a 10" in very dark skies and it was a sight to behold.  

[Chris]

Don't feel bad, I can only just see the Crab in my C8, and I've always failed to see it convincingly with less aperture than this. 

I always pick an EP with an exit pupil of around 2mm for max contrast too. 

[Stu]

7 hours ago, Jarvo said:

I genuinely believe the slightest bit of light pollution can cause havoc with this object. My skies are not the best and getting worse sadly. 

Totally correct in my experience. I took years to see this object and it turned out all I needed was a properly dark sky. I think I recall seeing it in my 15x50is binoculars too, so if your skies are dark it is relatively easy.

[kilix]

I saw it with my Mak127, so aperture is probably not a problem, dark skies are required.

[Jarvo]

Thanks for the feedback Guys