Getting there now - few more questions

[Thor92]

Hello all,

Thanks for all your help so far. I am getting there, learning both the scope, mount and my camera.
I don't seem to have an issue finding, our moon or the larger planets.
I am however having a very hard time finding deep sky objects. I was doing my very best to find the Andromeda galaxy, using the SkyWalk2 app, but failed, infact I'm quite sure I captured about every star in the area of andromeda. It was very frustrating, I seem to be having trouble with any deep sky object, other than stars. I then moved back to capturing the moon, managed several close up shots and one half decent full disc image (well 5frames stacked - Image attached) 

So where am I going wrong with the deep sky stuff? doesn't seem to matter if i'm using a barlow lense connected to the DSLR or using it connected via my coma corrector at prime focus i can never find the deep sky stuff, the most success I have had is with a planetary nebula but even that was un identifiable even when processed.
Is there any easy way or tips at finding the deep sky objects, I realise that they are the dimmer sometimes smudge looking objects, after reading and watching a few tutorials I am still finding it difficult to find anything. I am considering making a DIY go to for my EQ5. I have a fair amount of knowledge with regards to stepper motors, ardunio and encoders, there are plenty of tutorials out there. Does this sound like a good idea, it should allow me to be able to find things easier aswell as be a good upgrade for tracking objects for longer exposures.

Thanks for your advice so far, I look forward to your comments

J

[Thor92]

After another night trying and failing to find the andromeda galaxy, I'm officially calling it "fake" haha Well that's what flat earthers do when they can't understand why something is happening, sorry that's another subject that annoys me, bloody flatards...... anyway I must be doing something wrong, from talking to @nightfisher it should be fairly visible, especially on a night like tonight It looks like a carpet of stars tonight it's absolutely beautiful, i'm just frustrated at my inability to find what is essentially a massive galaxy. Think I may need a session with someone that can find it. I'm absolutely positive I am looking in the right area, skymap,sky walk 2, solarium and every instrument I have says I'm in the right place but can only see stars. On a good note I did manage to get some good views of a double star while messing around  

[Stub Mandrel]

Hi Thor your moon is nice.

You do know that andromeda is much bigger than the moon? You could be looking straight through it...

Now the moon is moving away from it you should be able to see it in your finder scope.

Get Mirach in the finder (easy to do) move up one noticeable star.

Now move up the same amount, it should be in the centre of the finder, at the apex of a triangle formed by two slightly fainter stars.

You can find it this way with the naked eye.

[david_taurus83]

Does your mount have tracking motors? Bit confused between reading this and your other thread.

[Thor92]

11 hours ago, david_taurus83 said:

Does your mount have tracking motors? Bit confused between reading this and your other thread.

No not yet. I'm currently in the process of adding them. Perhaps I didn't explain it very well. I'm currently planning on using (making or buying) a astro EQ controller. This should give me a wider set of options for the future

[Thor92]

12 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Hi Thor your moon is nice.

You do know that andromeda is much bigger than the moon? You could be looking straight through it...

Now the moon is moving away from it you should be able to see it in your finder scope.

Get Mirach in the finder (easy to do) move up one noticeable star.

Now move up the same amount, it should be in the centre of the finder, at the apex of a triangle formed by two slightly fainter stars.

You can find it this way with the naked eye.

Thanks for your reply and comment about the picture. I was a tad aggressive with the unsharp mask but certainly getting there, a big learning curve getting the right camera settings etc.

Yes I understand it's absolutely huge which is why it's annoying me not being able to find it. You could be correct I could be looking straight through it. I think one of the problems is it's very close to a local obstruction and I have to setup in a different location to normal so that throws me off a little. Perhaps I shall persist abit longer. Any suggestions for any other deep sky objects that should be relatively 'easy' to find?

J

[Stub Mandrel]

3 hours ago, Thor92 said:

 Any suggestions for any other deep sky objects that should be relatively 'easy' to find?

J

M57

M27

Plieades (early morning)

Most bright globular clusters M13, M2.