Is my telescope enough?

[mih]

Hi, I have a 6 inch Bresser Newtonian, 750mm focal length, f/5, 9mm and 25 eyepieces and a 2x barlow. Is that enough to do some deep sky observing? If yes, what deep space objects are there to view for me? If not, what should i upgrade?

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by mih

[JOC]

That sounds a great amateur set-up and better than many people will have.  I'm sure someone will be along soon with a list of things you can view, but before you get stuck in it is important that your expectations are correct.  With this in mind I commend a browse of at least the pictures on the first page of this thread - the text in the post is useful, but it is a thread where the pictures speak a thousand words.

 

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by JOC

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, mih said:

Hi, I have a 6 inch Bresser Newtonian, 750mm focal length, f/5, 9mm and 25 eyepieces and a 2x barlow. Is that enough to do some deep sky observing? If yes, what deep space objects are there to view for me? If not, what should i upgrade?

 

I’m sure you will responses saying you need a 12” scope, or similar, but there is plenty you can see with a 6” scope if you haven’t used it much yet.

Much depends on your skies, light pollution will limit what you can see in any scope, but some of the better objects to try for are M13, M3 and M5 which are nice globular. M27 and M57 are two quite different planetary nebulae. M81 and M82 are well placed galaxies at the moment.

Don't forget that there is little or no Astro darkness now until after summer, so skies will be brighter than they can be which makes seeing the objects trickier.

[Timebandit]

 

 

 

To get the best out of limited aperture scopes , then you must get to a true dark site. The darkness of the Sky's can make a dramatic difference on the DSO visual situation. I also recommend you get the book "Turn left at Orion " to get you started on your DSO observation . 

Have fun 👍

 

 

 

[mih]

Thanks guys, very good advice!

[mih]

2 hours ago, Timebandit said:

 

 

 

To get the best out of limited aperture scopes , then you must get to a true dark site. The darkness of the Sky's can make a dramatic difference on the DSO visual situation. I also recommend you get the book "Turn left at Orion " to get you started on your DSO observation . 

Have fun 👍

 

 

 

Thank you for your response! I was wondering just where i could go. Should i go to a rural area, a camping site, go camping in the nearby mountains or something else?

[Ricochet]

If you go anywhere that is darker than your current location then you should see an improvement. The key is to be away from man made sources of light as much as is possible. If you are observing from an urban or suburban location then DSOs that are star clusters will be easier to observe than nebulae or galaxies. 

[Dr Strange]

7 hours ago, mih said:

Hi, I have a 6 inch Bresser Newtonian, 750mm focal length, f/5, 9mm and 25 eyepieces and a 2x barlow. Is that enough to do some deep sky observing? If yes, what deep space objects are there to view for me? If not, what should i upgrade?

 

Absolutely! I would suggest starting with the 110 Messier objects. Here is a link to them by season: http://www.messier.seds.org/xtra/similar/dataRASC.html A affordable way to find them is to install Sky Safari (there is a Apple and Android version), select a target and use the center option, hold the phone so it is facing you at a 90 degree angle to the scope with the phone resting on the telescope tube, and move the scope with the phone to get in the general area of the object then use your lowest magnification (25mm) to scan the sky and find it. Alternatively you can get a Telrad and upgrade your findersope to a RACI one and get the Pocket Sky Atlas (PSA) from Sky and Telescope and use the PSA as an Atlas to star hop.

[Louis D]

12 hours ago, mih said:

Hi, I have a 6 inch Bresser Newtonian, 750mm focal length, f/5, 9mm and 25 eyepieces and a 2x barlow. Is that enough to do some deep sky observing? If yes, what deep space objects are there to view for me? If not, what should i upgrade?

There's plenty to be seen in a 6" telescope such as yours.  As @Dr Strange suggests above, there's the Messier catalog for starters.  There's also the Caldwell catalog which was compiled by Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore for amateur astronomers to highlight many showpiece objects not listed in the Messier catalog.

[JG777]

Yes, a 150mm newt is a great scope for general use and very portable as well. There will be quite a long list of things you will able to see with it all things being equal. I really enjoy using mine even though I have a bigger scope sometimes its about having the right scope.