galaxies and nebula

[Shaun Sr]

i wanna be able to see galaxies and like the swirling arms. nebula and thier cloudy like structures.  what do i need to be able to do that.  i have an edge hd 8 and soon a 80mm es ed80   ill get whatever filter and eyepiece whatever the cost it dont matter.  i was looking at an astronomik 0III filter and a nagler 31mm.   but im only visual for now.  some of those views are breathtaking.  what do i need to get those?

[Astrosharkey]

There are very few that you can do that visually on, I image but I am sure a knowledgable observer will give you a list of possibles.

[jetstream]

17 minutes ago, Shaun Sr said:

i wanna be able to see galaxies and like the swirling arms. nebula and thier cloudy like structures. 

How dark are your skies?

[Jiggy 67]

Visually you will not see the colors and details you see in photos, expect to see a lot of grey, very dim smudges and sometimes the thrill is actually being able to see anything after using every trick in the book to do so in preparation. Light pollution is the biggest enemy of DSO’s so a good light pollution filter is useful. 
Having said all that there is still a massive amount of objects to see, some with good detail and some, like the Orion Nebula, with a hint of colour. I particularly like PLanetry Nebula which can be quite easy, bright and often show colour. A good high powered eyepiece is often needed for Planetrys as they can need some welly with the magnification . They are beautiful and breathtaking when you see them.

 I don’t think galaxy’s benefit from filters really other than the light pollution filter but others may disagree, visually they are always smudges and dark adaptation is the key

The Astronomik OIII is one of the best and you may want to try their UHC as well. Personally I prefer the UHC as it does what it says and makes an object stand out of a darkened background. Other than that it’s all about dark adaptation, patience, patience, patience and......more patience. 
 

[John]

Very dark skies and a 15 - 20 inch telescope or move over to using night vision technology ?

 

 

[Jiggy 67]

8 minutes ago, John said:

Very dark skies and a 15 - 20 inch telescope or move over to using night vision technology ?

 

 

Good point, I should have mentioned as much aperture as you can get!

[Shaun Sr]

3 hours ago, jetstream said:

How dark are your skies?

i live in michigan i go outside of the small city i live in and sometimes in it the skys are dark for the most part the country is only a few miles city of 40k

 

[jetstream]

1 hour ago, Shaun Sr said:

i live in michigan i go outside of the small city i live in and sometimes in it the skys are dark for the most part the country is only a few miles city of 40k

 

If you can see the Milky Way you will easily see spiral arms in M51 and possibly M101 if you are dark adapted. I'm up north of you in NW Ontario and find the eyepiece selection is crucial for seeing galaxies and nebula. The f10 Edge 8" will need something like a 42mm eyepiece to work properly with the excellent new Astronomik OIII or the Televue version of it, which is my preferred OIII.

You are right on the money with the 31mm eyepiece for seeing galaxies in your scope, with a bit higher mag being good at times as well.

The thing is- if skies are not dark seeing these objects will be unrewarding and difficult. Can you see the Milky Way and if so the southern large split in it?

[Shaun Sr]

2 hours ago, jetstream said:

If you can see the Milky Way you will easily see spiral arms in M51 and possibly M101 if yiou are dark adapted. I'm up north of you in NW Ontario and find the eyepiece selection is crucial for seeing galaxies and nebula. The f10 Edge 8" will need something like a 42mm eyepiece to work properly with the excellent new Astronomik OIII or the Televue version of it, which is my preferred OIII.

You are right on the money with the 31mm eyepiece for seeing galaxies in your scope, with a bit higher mag being good at times as well.

The thing is- if skies are not dark seeing these objects will be unrewarding and difficult. Can you see the Milky Way and if so the southern large split in it?

yes i can see the milky way streaming accross the sky but i never paid any attention to it to notice a southern split  i have to get away from the city to do that but thats a 20 min drive to darkness  and thanks for pointing out televue as filter  i go with them however i just bought a 14mm es100

[jetstream]

11 hours ago, Shaun Sr said:

yes i can see the milky way streaming accross the sky but i never paid any attention to it to notice a southern split  i have to get away from the city to do that but thats a 20 min drive to darkness  and thanks for pointing out televue as filter  i go with them however i just bought a 14mm es100

Just a note on the eyepiece selection for the filter- as a general guideline if we take the focal length of the eyepiece and divide it by the 8" Edges f ratio (f10) we get a number- and this number should be between 4 and 5 to allow an OIII or UHC filter to work. Not sure if you knew this.

The ES 14 100 is a VG eyepiece and will be useful for high power DSO- have you seen the Eskimo nebula?

I use a Vixen 42mm LVW but the 40mm ES 68 or the big TV 41mm Pan would work nicely with an OIII in your scope. Once set up eyepiece and filter wise I would point your scope at the Veil nebula in Cygnus from a dark site.

[Shaun Sr]

Thanks I know nothing Bout filters

 

[Moonshane]

I'd suggest attending a star party or if there's a local astronomy society perhaps someone with a decent sized scope could show you a few things. Visual astronomy is amazing and rewarding but I fear you will need to adjust your expectations as you'll never see galaxies like they are in images with the possible exception of night vision technology and even then.......