Stephan's Quintet in a small scope

[domstar]

Seduced by the mind-boggling distances involved, I decided to try to see Stephan's Quintet or at least a smudge of light from it. I found the Deer Lick group (the big one not the fleas) and it was pretty clear but no cigar for the quintet. It's pretty dim, I know, but according to Stellarium, the surface brightness is more (less magnitude) than, for example, M74.

My question is, does anyone have any experience of seeing Stephan's Quintet with a 4 inch refractor? Am I wasting my time? (I enjoyed it all the same). Is it the case that the overall magnitude is more important than the surface brightness? I tried various magnifications from 28x to 90x and I sometimes almost thought I caught an averted glimpse.

I had two wonderful nights with planets, galaxies, an unfiltered Veil, and probably the last look at Sagittarius until next year. The sky was crystal clear and it was warm enough for me to fiddle about with my UHC filter. I'd forgotten how amazing September skies can occasionally be. Even the time spent trying to will Stephan's Quintet into existence was welcome but I'd like to feel that I've seen something so ridiculously far away.

Thanks

Dominic

 

[RobertI]

Hi Dominic,

An interesting question to which I don't know the answer, so I have done some googling and according to Skyhound :

" The largest and brightest galaxy is NGC 7320.  It is just visible in a six-inch scope as an elongated hazy patch.  Larger instruments may show mottling in the outer parts.  This galaxy has a much lower redshift and is likely to be between us and the other members of the quintet.

You will need at least an 8-10" scope and dark skies to see the other galaxies of this group, which are apparently part of the same galaxy cluster.  At 100x they appear as a close grouping.  Use higher magnifications to study the individual galaxies."

So I think the answer to your question is 'No'! However the nearby NGC7331 is much brighter and easily visible in a 4" scope. 

[jetstream]

On 10/09/2020 at 08:55, domstar said:

Seduced by the mind-boggling distances involved, I decided to try to see Stephan's Quintet or at least a smudge of light from it. I found the Deer Lick group (the big one not the fleas) and it was pretty clear but no cigar for the quintet. It's pretty dim, I know, but according to Stellarium, the surface brightness is more (less magnitude) than, for example, M74.

My question is, does anyone have any experience of seeing Stephan's Quintet with a 4 inch refractor? Am I wasting my time? (I enjoyed it all the same). Is it the case that the overall magnitude is more important than the surface brightness? I tried various magnifications from 28x to 90x and I sometimes almost thought I caught an averted glimpse.

I had two wonderful nights with planets, galaxies, an unfiltered Veil, and probably the last look at Sagittarius until next year. The sky was crystal clear and it was warm enough for me to fiddle about with my UHC filter. I'd forgotten how amazing September skies can occasionally be. Even the time spent trying to will Stephan's Quintet into existence was welcome but I'd like to feel that I've seen something so ridiculously far away.

Thanks

Dominic

 

I see some of the Quintet in my 120mm scopes, sorry I have no 100mm. This is from dark skies. Can I ask what mag your using?

[Whistlin Bob]

Hi Dominic,

I'm not sure. My own experience is that I spent ages trying to see them in a 14" dob at home (Bortle 5) last year and failed miserably. I then had an opportunity on holiday in a Bortle 2 with the same size scope and they were still quite tricky- although it was very satisfying when I finally got them. Unless your skies are excellent I would say it's pretty unlikely you'll find them.

[jetstream]

My 8" f3.8 shows them easily, but with a small refractor super dark skies and top notch transparency are an absolute must. Another must is knowing your scope and also maximizing transmission- ie using proven orthos at high mag. Another thing- my SW120ED loses transmission ( or CA issues) with a prism diag but the TSA120 does not. The 120ED needs a mirror diag for faint DSO IMHO and does very well showing Barnards Loop with no filter with a 42mm LVW.

I see you used up to 90x- try more with an ortho, say a 7mm Fuji.

 

[domstar]

Thanks for the replies. @jetstream. I was using a BCO 10mm which gives me 90x magnification and an exit pupil of just over a millimetre. I remember taking your advice before about upping the mag on galaxies (successfully) but I can't help wanting to try them at a lower mag so I spent most time with a 20 or 25mm eyepiece. 

@RobertI I read about the galaxy in front of the others but I must've got confused as I thought it wasn't as bright as the others that were further away. That's a bit of a blow, but, as you said, the bright one of the Deer Lick group is clearly visible. It was a good marker to search for Stephan's Quintet. 

It was the surface brightness according to Stellarium that got me thinking about the possibility as I know the magnitude is too faint for me.

It seems I've been taking a (very nice) knife to a gun fight. Thanks again.

[jetstream]

3 hours ago, domstar said:

I was using a BCO 10mm

Great choice and this eyepiece goes a long way to help with faint objects. If you have a Q barlow or VIP or any other good barlow that you can get 1.5x give it another try under the same skies. Seeing the Veil unfiltered is a very very good test of skies IMHO.

I do think you had flicks of the Quintet coming at you Dom- a great achievement in any scope but a superb one in a 100mm. Your 100mm ED is a great scope and will be good on DSO. My 90mm APO triplet is very sharp but falls short on DSO IMHO- I think SW ED scopes are top notch.

Congrats to you and Kudos Dom!