What's needed next?

[Stargazer Joe]

Hey, I am new to backyard astronomy/ stargazing. After doing some research, I bought an Orion XT10 Plus. I would like to view galaxies and nebulas, can I do so with this telescope and if so, what should I get next? What eyepieces or additional components would better aid me in doing so? 

Any suggestions are much appreciated! 

Edited August 13, 2020 by Stargazer Joe

[Pixies]

A good guide to finding them would be a start. Such as "Turn Left at Orion" by Guy Consolmagno and Dan Davis. Your scope is perfect for deep sky objects.

As a newbie myself, I would suggest you just start with what you have before jumping into the never-ending abyss of upgrades and additions. Find out what works and what you have trouble with and then look to make things easier for yourself.

I  would imagine your initial purchases will be either eyepieces or improvements to your finder(s) - but until you have a shot, you won't know what your priorities are.

But just to get things started... what eyepieces do you have?

[Pixies]

Oh - and probably some type of collimation tool.

[Stargazer Joe]

3 hours ago, Pixies said:

A good guide to finding them would be a start. Such as "Turn Left at Orion" by Guy Consolmagno and Dan Davis. Your scope is perfect for deep sky objects.

As a newbie myself, I would suggest you just start with what you have before jumping into the never-ending abyss of upgrades and additions. Find out what works and what you have trouble with and then look to make things easier for yourself.

I  would imagine your initial purchases will be either eyepieces or improvements to your finder(s) - but until you have a shot, you won't know what your priorities are.

But just to get things started... what eyepieces do you have?

Thanks so much Pixies! That's great advice. I did buy a collimation tool, and as for the eyepieces, it came with a 28 mm, 10 mm and a 2X Barlow. I did buy a guide, but, I need to simplify. I bought Burnham's celestial guide, all three volumes, and I can't wait to become proficient at using it, but, I need something newer, and simpler, so, I think I will obtain a copy of the book you suggested.

[Starwatcher2001]

Welcome aboard Joe.

That's a good choice for a scope and you'll certainly see plenty of DSOs through that.  Like any good instrument, it needs a skilled hand to get the best out of it, so I'd be wanting to spend plenty of time outdoors getting some experience with it. With a low power eyepiece in, get used to how the scope moves and how the view through the eyepiece relates to the sky (in terms of size and orientation). I'd start on bright objects: stars, doubles, planets and get familiar with star-hopping from one object to another.  Having those skills under your belt, and a basic knowledge of the constellations, will stand you in great stead to start looking for the DSO objects. Being confident that you're in the right area is a big part of tracking down galaxies etc.

Like Pixies says, I wouldn't bother getting a load more kit until you've discovered what works for you and what doesn't. Many of us have splashed out on stuff that we wanted, but later found out it wasn't stuff we needed or ended up using.

I've got the three volume Burnham's as well. It's an excellent (but obviously old) reference, but unfortunately spends most of its time on the shelf. A good sky atlas is better under the skies. I started with "Norton's Sky Atlas", an old fashioned paper book, but these days prefer an app for the phone or better still a tablet. If you go that route, make sure to drop the brightness as low as it will go, and if the app supports it, use "night view" that turns the screen red - which won't mess up your night vision.  The nice thing with apps (I use SkySafari) is that you can limit the magnitudes of what is displayed to match your skies, and also zoom in and out to match what you'll see through the finder or eyepiece (which are upside down to each other on a dob!).

Talking of seeing, a red light torch is highly recommended. Either buy one like that, or improvise with red paper or packing tape over the end of a normal torch.

I'm sure your familiar with warm stuff in Ontario, so 'enuff said, but there's nothing as miserable as being cold while observing for hours outside.

Other things that come in handy are a table for your stuff (eyepieces, charts, notepad, coffee mug...), and a box on its side to keep the dew off everything. If you can get a chair of a suitable height, that can make observing much more relaxing.

I use a cheap dictaphone when observing to make notes, but that's no good for drawings of course. Recording what you see, how you found it, eyepieces used, sky conditions, phase of the moon etc, can be a great help in sharpening your observing skills.

Hope some of that brain-dump helps you have fun with your scope.

Cheers,
Mark

 

 

Edited August 13, 2020 by Starwatcher2001
trypo

[Stargazer Joe]

28 minutes ago, Starwatcher2001 said:

Welcome aboard Joe.

That's a good choice for a scope and you'll certainly see plenty of DSOs through that.  Like any good instrument, it needs a skilled hand to get the best out of it, so I'd be wanting to spend plenty of time outdoors getting some experience with it. With a low power eyepiece in, get used to how the scope moves and how the view through the eyepiece relates to the sky (in terms of size and orientation). I'd start on bright objects: stars, doubles, planets and get familiar with star-hopping from one object to another.  Having those skills under your belt, and a basic knowledge of the constellations, will stand you in great stead to start looking for the DSO objects. Being confident that you're in the right area is a big part of tracking down galaxies etc.

Like Pixies says, I wouldn't bother getting a load more kit until you've discovered what works for you and what doesn't. Many of us have splashed out on stuff that we wanted, but later found out it wasn't stuff we needed or ended up using.

I've got the three volume Burnham's as well. It's an excellent (but obviously old) reference, but unfortunately spends most of its time on the shelf. A good sky atlas is better under the skies. I started with "Norton's Sky Atlas", an old fashioned paper book, but these days prefer an app for the phone or better still a tablet. If you go that route, make sure to drop the brightness as low as it will go, and if the app supports it, use "night view" that turns the screen red - which won't mess up your night vision.  The nice thing with apps (I use SkySafari) is that you can limit the magnitudes of what is displayed to match your skies, and also zoom in and out to match what you'll see through the finder or eyepiece (which are upside down to each other on a dob!).

Talking of seeing, a red light torch is highly recommended. Either buy one like that, or improvise with red paper or packing tape over the end of a normal torch.

I'm sure your familiar with warm stuff in Ontario, so 'enuff said, but there's nothing as miserable as being cold while observing for hours outside.

Other things that come in handy are a table for your stuff (eyepieces, charts, notepad, coffee mug...), and a box on its side to keep the dew off everything. If you can get a chair of a suitable height, that can make observing much more relaxing.

I use a cheap dictaphone when observing to make notes, but that's no good for drawings of course. Recording what you see, how you found it, eyepieces used, sky conditions, phase of the moon etc, can be a great help in sharpening your observing skills.

Hope some of that brain-dump helps you have fun with your scope.

Cheers,
Mark

 

 

Wow this is great. I really appreciate all the advice! I'm going to do exactly as you suggested. I am familiar with "warm stuff", haha. Some kind of bench would be great. The paint job on the hood of my car is taking a beating... I like the idea of an app, and will check out the one you suggested. Your phone is always in your pocket, so makes sense to have the right app on it.

Thanks again Mark!

[Pixies]

SkySafari is great. There are various cost options. I use 'plus' which allows you to superimpose the FOV indicator to match your scope/EP combinations. Also, it has an 'observation' feature which allows you to have your own pre-planned observation lists, or use public ones (including many created by SGL). the observation feature is worth the cost alone.

It is always being discounted, don't pay the full whack.

Stellarium is a great free app for a laptop. 

[Starwatcher2001]

I didn't know you could do that trick with the FOV Pixies on SkySafari. That's worth knowing. I went for the Pro version to allow telescope control, and that version doesn't seem to have that feature, which is a pity. I used to do that with a program called Redshift donkey's years ago and found it really useful, especially when star hopping. Get the field of view about right, superimpose the FOV circles on it, print it out and get under the stars.

I'm sure a lot of people do this, but I spend a lot of time with apps like this on cloudy nights, working my way around the sky looking for potential targets. A good tip I picked up on here that I'd never thought about, was to write a few notes about the object (distance, what it is etc) and use them when observing. Knowing a bit about the target and the neighbourhood makes star-hopping a lot more interesting. These notes are from last week's wanderings:

Star off at Enif, the horse's nose which is the brightest star in Pegasus, and a wide double (mags 2.5 and 8.7), separated by 144 arc seconds. You can probably split this in the finder. It's also called the "Pendulum Star" due to an optical illusion you might see if you gently shake the scope.

Sweep North West, aiming for the Dolphin's nose, past the Little Horse (Equuleus).

En-route, you'll find M15 a beautiful globular cluster. This lives in our galaxy and is an estimated 12 billion years old. That "messy snowball" contains over 100,000 stars and shines with a total luminosity of 360,000 times the Sun. It's probably got a black hole at it's centre. It contains variable stars, pulsars and a double neutron star.

When you reach the Dolphin (Gamma Delphini), which is a nice double, 126 light years away. Mag 4.26 and 5.03, split by 10". Without looking it up, which is the brightest, and what colours are they?

....

 

 

[Pixies]

12 minutes ago, Starwatcher2001 said:

I didn't know you could do that trick with the FOV Pixies on SkySafari. That's worth knowing. I went for the Pro version to allow telescope control, and that version doesn't seem to have that feature, which is a pity. I used to do that with a program called Redshift donkey's years ago and found it really useful, especially when star hopping. Get the field of view about right, superimpose the FOV circles on it, print it out and get under the stars.

I'm sure a lot of people do this, but I spend a lot of time with apps like this on cloudy nights, working my way around the sky looking for potential targets. A good tip I picked up on here that I'd never thought about, was to write a few notes about the object (distance, what it is etc) and use them when observing. Knowing a bit about the target and the neighbourhood makes star-hopping a lot more interesting. These notes are from last week's wanderings:

Star off at Enif, the horse's nose which is the brightest star in Pegasus, and a wide double (mags 2.5 and 8.7), separated by 144 arc seconds. You can probably split this in the finder. It's also called the "Pendulum Star" due to an optical illusion you might see if you gently shake the scope.

Sweep North West, aiming for the Dolphin's nose, past the Little Horse (Equuleus).

En-route, you'll find M15 a beautiful globular cluster. This lives in our galaxy and is an estimated 12 billion years old. That "messy snowball" contains over 100,000 stars and shines with a total luminosity of 360,000 times the Sun. It's probably got a black hole at it's centre. It contains variable stars, pulsars and a double neutron star.

When you reach the Dolphin (Gamma Delphini), which is a nice double, 126 light years away. Mag 4.26 and 5.03, split by 10". Without looking it up, which is the brightest, and what colours are they?

....

 

 

I do similar, but add them to an observation list in SkySafari I have created for things I want to try and observe at a later date.

The Pro version does have the FOV stuff. It took me ages to work out how to find it, even after someone on SGL told me about it.

Version6 plus and pro:

Click on the 'Observe' eye icon.

Click on 'equipment'

Then 'add telescope' - and find yours on the list or add a custom one - 'add to my equipment'.

Then again: 'observe' -> 'equipment' -> 'add eyepiece', and find it on the list, or more likely, create a custon (you'll need focal length and AFOV)

You can also add bins, barlows, etc.

Once it's all been added, goto:

'Observe' -> 'Scope display'

Select 'add FOV indicator' and  select whichever scope/EP combos you want to have available.

Finally again goto 'Observe' -> 'Scope display'

Select the FOV indicator you want to use. Also Telrad circles. Select 'Show even if not connected to telescope'

 

Apologies to the OP for hijacking his thread.

[Starwatcher2001]

Blimey, you're right Pixies, I've never come across that bit. That will be really useful. Thanks very much, you're a star!

Sorry for wittering on, Joe 🙂

 

[Pixies]

@Stargazer Joe - bringing it back to your original post.

Have you had first-light with your scope yet? If not (or otherwise, anyway) a good starter DSO target is M57, the Ring Nebula. It's probably the easiest star-hop you can make and your 2 EPs will be perfect.

Using Mk1 eyeballs, start with Vega (the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere summer sky and the highest of the summer triangle) and then find Sheliak and Sulafat in the constellation Lyra. Then all you have to do is point the scope's finder half-way between the two:

Now use your 28mm widefield eyepiece, and M57 should be in the view. It will appear as a small grey fuzzy star. Like it's out-of-focus.

Once you find it, get it centred in the view and then to get a better view, swap in the 10mm EP.

If you lose it with the higher-powered EP, you might have to go back to the 28mm EP or the finder and star again.

 

 

 

[Stargazer Joe]

@Starwatcher2001 @Pixiesyou guys are awesome,  thanks for all this info. I am definently going to try and find M57 using this advice. I've only used it a couple of times, looked at the moon, some stars, nothing crazy, was just getting a feel for the EPs and how the telescope moves. I ordered Turn Left at Orion and intend to download the app you buys guys recommended.  

@Starwatcher2001 the bantering back and forth is good! I'm learning from it.

 

Thanks guys  

[Mr niall]

Hi Joe

That is a fab choice of scope, if you look after it you will probably never want or need another one!

As above, definitely by Turn Left at Orion. As amazing as Skysafari & Nightsky & Stellarium (free for PC definitely definitely get that) there is no replacement for that book!

With your eyepieces You've actually got a really good range so I wouldnt bother thinking about replacing or upgrading.

As above - M57 is a good target but be aware it is teeny tiny - it looks almost like any other stars at low power so watch out for that!

I would have a go M13 and M92. They are pretty big and bright and nice and easy to find. If you look over toward the west it should be relatively easy to make out the slightly squashed square at the middle of hercules. If you can find that then you are all set.

Here it is below (the website is called freestarcharts.com - it is another one to bookmark!)

[rwilkey]

Hi Joe and welcome to the forum, one of the best guidebooks around is 'Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas' by Roger W. Sinnott, this is the one I use and is a good guide to DSO's (deep sky objects), through this you will learn to navigate the sky, found here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Telescopes-Pocket-Sinnott-30-Mar-2006-Spiral-bound/dp/B011T83TX6/ref=sr_1_4?crid=201ZXLWVM8LPI&keywords=sky+%26+telescope's+pocket+sky+atlas&qid=1597395824&sprefix=sky+%26+%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-4

Highly recommended!

[Stargazer Joe]

Mr Niall and @rwilkey
Thank you gents! M13 looks like a great place to start.

 

[Gfamily]

I found it useful to create my own finder and star hopper charts in word and Cartes de Ciel for a few targets.  These start with an easily findable star close to your target and then take a closer look to give you an idea of what you would expect to see in the finder and then in the main scope eyepiece.

It's useful in that you can work out your own path from the bright star  to the target. 

An example for M57 attached below 

I agree heartily with the recommendations for "Turn Left at Orion", but can I also suggest you make space on your shelves for the "Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders" (Google Books link)  - which takes the same idea, and goes an extra step - so not everything will be easy to find, but it will take you a lot further. It has some excellent information about how to enjoy astronomy as well. 

 

 

 

[Stargazer Joe]

Thanks you @Gfamily