Help seeing DSOs!

[Spacecake2]

Hi,

I haven’t attempted to see deep sky at all except the Orion Nebula, and last night I tried observing the helix nebula and the Triangulum Galaxy with no luck:(. I used star walk and sky safari to locate the but I couldn’t see anything through the scope, so used the GOTO function and I tried it on Mars and it was aligned, but when I point it to the Helix nebula and the Triangulum Galaxy there was nothing except black (and the helix nebula was even close to the zenith!). But with the Orion Nebula, I could see a faint smudge. What am I doing wrong? (and I live in bottle 6.8 :(.

Kind regards,

Neil

[Kyle Allen]

The Helix Nebula and Triangulum Galaxy are both large so their light is spread out over a bigger area. This makes them much harder to see than their magnitude would suggest. They are difficult to see visually even for some more experienced observers! 

Start with easier deep sky objects, such as star clusters, and use your longest focal length eyepiece first to locate them. Light pollution can make nebulae and galaxies impossible to see because they have a low surface brightness. Stars are points of light so they can cut through light pollution much more easily. 

[inFINNity Deck]

Hi Neil,

At the moment I find M13, M27 and M57 quite rewarding DSOs for visual observing and I am sure that others on this forum may have even better suggestions (I am not doing visual observation of DSOs that often). Also keep in mind that you need to look at them using peripheral vision as the centre of our gaze is not very light sensitive.

Nicolàs

[Spacecake2]

24 minutes ago, inFINNity Deck said:

Hi Neil,

At the moment I find M13, M27 and M57 quite rewarding DSOs for visual observing and I am sure that others on this forum may have even better suggestions (I am not doing visual observation of DSOs that often). Also keep in mind that you need to look at them using peripheral vision as the centre of our gaze is not very light sensitive.

Nicolàs

I don't get to see m13, m57 and the Andromeda galaxy because it doesn't get high enough😧...

[Kyle Allen]

You get to see 47 Tucanae though! 😉

[inFINNity Deck]

1 hour ago, Spacecake2 said:

I don't get to see m13, m57 and the Andromeda galaxy because it doesn't get high enough😧...

ah, did not pay attention, you're down-under... 🤫

Nicolàs

[Ships and Stars]

You may struggle a bit with a 127mak. Also go for the 10" dob if you can, that's a huge step up in aperture. Find some dark skies if you can get away - you've plenty in Australia, though perhaps more so at the other end in WA  Once you see certain objects under good, dark conditions and gain experience, it becomes easier to see them in poorer or brighter conditions though they'll never look as great as they do out in the sticks somewhere.

Some objects like galaxies and nebulae though just need dark(er) skies full stop to see them at all. Oh and many nebulae will want at least a UHC if not OIII filter to make the most of them or even detect them. The really tough ones like reflection nebulae might call for an Hb filter, but that's another topic really.

Then there is exit pupil and dark adaptation, I generally go for an eyepiece that gives between 4mm to 6.5-ish mm and I stay away from my phone and any and all light sources for some time (up to half an hour) to get fully dark adapted. 

PS Going to dark skies will make any telescope behave like a much larger one!

[Spacecake2]

18 hours ago, inFINNity Deck said:

ah, did not pay attention, you're down-under... 🤫

Nicolàs

But.. i do get to see the: Running chicken nebula, the California nebula, Carina nebula, Orion nebula, cone nebula, NGC2239, 47 Tucanae and some other dso:).

[Zermelo]

Hi Neil,

I echo the advice above, try for some easier objects first.  M33 in Triangulum in particular is a difficult one, a difficulty made worse by knowing that it's large and photogenic!   It comes up quite frequently, these are two recent threads:
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/364279-cant-see-m33/
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/366028-triangulum-galaxy-query/?tab=comments#comment-3985083

I've tried and failed to find M33 myself. I have had more luck with globular and open clusters, and emission nebulae. Galaxies generally have been difficult, but I think part of that is down to my being an inexperienced observer.

You might also be interested in this thread that discusses easier and harder DSOs (and in particular, the chart of Messier objects half way down). 

[tripleped]

I would ditto that advice as well.  In my bad Bortle 8 sky even with a 10” dob I’ve learned to pretty much just go for open and globular clusters as most galaxies and nebulae are hArd to impossible.  But I’ve learned to accept that . Besides , globular and open clusters are really quite pretty to view!  

[Spacecake2]

On 22/11/2020 at 22:14, Kyle Allen said:

You get to see 47 Tucanae though! 😉

I just got my first photo of it

[Kon]

Since you are in Australia, have a look at the Observing Reports section and search for @Epick Crom. He is also based down under and you can read what targets are good visually, although he is using a 10" Dob. 

[Spacecake2]

1 hour ago, Kon said:

Since you are in Australia, have a look at the Observing Reports section and search for @Epick Crom. He is also based down under and you can read what targets are good visually, although he is using a 10" Dob. 

I also have a 10 inch dob :)

[callisto]

You will probably have more luck finding M33 with bino's....Like others have said it's quite a large Galaxy visually...the first time I managed to 'bag' this one was with the naked eye when I moved to a more rural location and it's more noticeable when not looking directly at it

 

Mark

[Epick Crom]

23 hours ago, Spacecake2 said:

I also have a 10 inch dob

G' day Spacecake2. Nice to have a fellow Aussie on here! I also observe with a 10" dob as @Kon mentioned, it's a fantastic scope. Feel free to message me and I will help anyway I can. Clear skies!

[Spacecake2]

1 hour ago, Epick Crom said:

G' day Spacecake2. Nice to have a fellow Aussie on here! I also observe with a 10" dob as @Kon mentioned, it's a fantastic scope. Feel free to message me and I will help anyway I can. Clear skies!

Thanks