What can you really see with 25mm eyepiece

[tyler0207]

Hello,

          I recently purchased a Orion skyquest xtc8. It came with a 25mm, 35mm wide field, and a 2x Barlow. My question is I live in the suburbs, what all can I really see in my backyard with the eyepieces given. Last night was my first night using scope and was really impressed with the views I got of the moon but as far as stars and planets and couldn’t really see anything. I know light pollution plays a big part. Thanks in advance. 

[Ricochet]

For planets a 7mm is a good choice with that scope. The 25mm with a 2x barlow (effectively a 12.5mm) isn't really enough magnification. 

When it comes to stars they will always be pinpoints of light, but the telescope will allow you to see more of them. Upping the magnification will darken the background sky whilst the stars remain at a constant brightness so a good thing to do it to locate deep sky objects using your wide field eyepieces and then up the magnification to test which eyepiece gives the best view. 

In order to do this you need to know where to look so I would suggest downloading some planetarium programs. On a PC you can download Stellarium for free but if you want something on a phone/tablet that you can take outside with you I suggest Sky Safari. 

 

[Startinez]

The 25mm & 35mm eyepieces will be better for globular clusters and other larger objects.

 

At a quick glance, the maximum useful magnification for that telescope is 300x so you can actually afford to all the way down to a 4mm eyepiece, theoretically, although I would suggest taking that absolute maximum magnification with some caution as that will be in perfect seeing and is not likely to be the case very often.

 

Edit: as for stars, you'll never really see anything other than distinct colour differences simply because of their distance away. Planets, nebulae, and the moon are where you'll really get the detail.

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, Startinez said:

The 25mm & 35mm eyepieces will be better for globular clusters and other larger objects.

Did you mean star clusters?  Most globulars are not much bigger than most planetary nebula and as such need around 200x or higher to resolve.

[Startinez]

54 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Did you mean star clusters?  Most globulars are not much bigger than most planetary nebula and as such need around 200x or higher to resolve.

Ah, of course. My mistake.

[Marvin Jenkins]

I can not disagree with any of the above, greater minds than my own for sure. You mentioned the moon was impressive, however, the moon is a wonderful object, but brings it’s own light pollution.

Really bright moon nights are not great for deep sky objects. Planetarium software or books (old school) will tell you when you are in a ‘new moon’ phase, ie no moon in the night sky.

let’s hope that the next new moon coincides with clear skies for all of us out there, but.... do not forget to get out there and look at our own moon when she is showing off.

Marv

[HEXZ0R]

for planetary and moon craters 5-9mm wide field eyepiece is great to consider

[Paul73]

First thing is first. To understand your local conditions. What can you see without the scope on a moonless night when you look up from your back yard (after a few mins for the eyes to acclimatise)? What are the faintest stars that you can see overhead?

Remember, that regardless of Light Pollution, the moon will make viewing anything faint, impossible.

Paul