The challenge of DSOs

[wobblewing]

I am going to get some better eye pieces first.  The supplied 25mm is ok with the 150p, but the 10mm I don't find very good.

Probably will go for the BSTs as they seem to be preferred by many on here.  Not sure it's worth splashing out more money than that.

Might be a while, nothing is in stock!

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by wobblewing

[Tiny Clanger]

20 minutes ago, wobblewing said:

I am going to get some better eye pieces first.  The supplied 25mm is ok with the 150p, but the 10mm I don't find very good.

Probably will go for the BSTs as they seem to be preferred by many on here.  Not sure it's worth splashing out more money than that.

Might be a while, nothing is in stock!

 

I posted earlier on a thread about heritage 130 EPs ,  link to  save retyping

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/369433-skywatcher-heritage-130p-eyepieces/?do=findComment&comment=4013458

Back in the summer I originally wanted a BST 12mm as my first 'good' EP, but it was out of stock  everywhere, then I found Alan at Sky's the Limit , who has some 8mms in stock , so I bought one sharpish.  It is very nice in the heritage 150,

Fast forward 6  months, and  I have some xmas gift cash to spend .. try to order a BST 12mm from  Alan,  and miss the last one in stock.  Instead  I've asked him to send me a 15mm.

Who knows, by the time the next batch arrive on the very slow boat from China, perhaps I'll have saved enough money for a third try for a 12mm !?

[wobblewing]

Ah.. I'd not seen that supplier... I was after an 8mm and say 12mm or 15mm... (the supplied 25mm seems ok to stick with, so won't bother with a 25 BST).. but the 10mm is a dog and I feel just distorts the image (have been using it on Mars with not a great lot of success getting a decent image) .. The BST 8 I've read is very popular and a favourite amongst fans... I wonder when that'll be back in stock!

Of course, my 2x barlow is the cheap 'astro essentials' one too, so that probably doesn't help!

Edited January 3, 2021 by wobblewing

[Tiny Clanger]

8 minutes ago, wobblewing said:

Ah.. I'd not seen that supplier... I was after an 8mm and say 12mm or 15mm... (the supplied 25mm seems ok to stick with, so won't bother with a 25 BST).. but the 10mm is a dog and I feel just distorts the image (have been using it on Mars with not a great lot of success getting a decent image) .. The BST 8 I've read is very popular and a favourite amongst fans... I wonder when that'll be back in stock!

Of course, my 2x barlow is the cheap 'astro essentials' one too, so that probably doesn't help!

I have a cheap barlow too (skywatcher one ) and find on most nights 2x barlow and 8mm BST making it 4mm just a bit too much, not for the 'scope, so much as for the 'seeing',so given the choice again, I'd go for the 12mm first.  I've also bought a 32mm skywatcher 'super' plossl, which is pretty good for finding stuff, the BSTs only go up to 25mm.

[wobblewing]

Yeh I was wondering that.... I'm not sure if the rubbish image I'm seeing is a mix of the 10mm EP with the cheap barlow, or mainly the EP... I think probably the latter, based upon what the 10mm is like on its own versus the 25mm barlowed.

2x barlowed 10mm is about as much as I could take with the Dob mount, I think.  Maybe a 5mm BST with no barlow would be good.

Edited January 4, 2021 by wobblewing

[wibblefish]

@wobblewing I had a similar trouble with M31 with a 90mm refractor and a disappointing night searching for it even though I was sure I was star hopping with the RDF towards it.

The next time I did what a @Tiny Clanger suggested and went hunting with a pair of binoculars and found it where I had expected, trained the scope and got it eventually working with the binoculars and the scope together then managed to get it directly with the scope the next night to convince myself I had it down right! 

Definitely don't give up on it I am sure you will find it eventually, there were also a few suggestions (including the moore winter marathon!) on the thread I created during my M31 disappointment (Winter targets for small telescopes). Happy hunting and please let us know observations and any other tips if you do find things I am always keen to try if I can ever get clear skys again :D 

[Tiny Clanger]

wobblewing and wibblefish ... could you be related ? 😀 Even if not , you should set up a company called after yourselves , it would be an excellent tongue twister ...

As I understand it,  Andromeda is just so big and diffuse looking (no sharp edges) that binoculars (or my 6x30 finder scope !) are actually better tools for the purpose. Persistence and patience pay off in the end , keep trying, all the effort makes eventual success sweeter !

Heather

[wibblefish]

56 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

wobblewing and wibblefish ... could you be related ? 😀 Even if not , you should set up a company called after yourselves , it would be an excellent tongue twister ...

As I understand it,  Andromeda is just so big and diffuse looking (no sharp edges) that binoculars (or my 6x30 finder scope !) are actually better tools for the purpose. Persistence and patience pay off in the end , keep trying, all the effort makes eventual success sweeter !

Heather

Wobblewing and Wibblefish, purveyors of quality optical phenomenon est. 2021  

Edited January 4, 2021 by wibblefish

[Marvin Jenkins]

As opposed to your arch business nemesis Wobblefish and Wibblewing Inc, which deliver very poor service.

Marv

[wibblefish]

22 minutes ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

As opposed to your arch business nemesis Wobblefish and Wibblewing Inc, which deliver very poor service.

Marv

 

[Stormbringer]

4 hours ago, wibblefish said:

Wobblewing and Wibblefish, purveyors of quality optical phenomenon est. 2021  

Sounds like a sketch from Black Adder lol🤣

[jcj380]

As written, light pollution makes a huge difference when looking for "faint fuzzies", but atmospheric conditions and the altitude of the object can also make things more difficult. 

I live in a Bortle 7-8 light pollution zone and the faintest stars I can see by naked eye are about 3rd magnitude. At best, I can see the two stars at the end of the Little Dipper's bowl but no others aside from Polaris.  I've learned that I really can't perceive any extended object like a galaxy here that's fainter than 8th magnitude and some of those are challenging with my current scopes and the altitude of the object above my horizon.

I usually confine my home observing to open star clusters, variable stars, and double stars, with an occasional attempt at brighter planetary nebulas.  Galaxy hunting is reserved for trips to sites with darker skies.

I'm also coming to embrace lunar observing.  It's big, bright, and almost always high in the sky when there is a clear night here.

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by jcj380

[wobblewing]

Wobblewing is related to my other expensive hobby, hence I'm restricted to not taking this one too seriously! 😄

It has a flexible wing and it wobbles... Here we are high above Tintagel Castle (you have to click through for the 360): https://photos.app.goo.gl/Uo2Qicjr3CBZfwyBA

Oh - broken link ?:  Try this one of the Scilly Isles instead!  (360 camera)

I don't have any wibbly fish, so you'll need to ask wibblefish.

Edited January 5, 2021 by wobblewing

[theropod]

http://Google returns a bad link notice for the above.

[wobblewing]

Sorry, try the link to youtube instead (edited).  I re-copied the other one- is it OK now?

Realise it's not in the astro context!  But this is the wobblewing!

Edited January 5, 2021 by wobblewing

[Capt Slog]

Nice one Wobblewing.  I've always fancied a go at that, but I have the sort of luck which makes me think it would end badly   

As for other hobbies.  I ride a bike a lot when the weather is nice, but i also used to do this....

 

...  With my eldest son, Chip Slog.

[wobblewing]

15 hours ago, Capt Slog said:

Nice one Wobblewing.  I've always fancied a go at that, but I have the sort of luck which makes me think it would end badly   

As for other hobbies.  I ride a bike a lot when the weather is nice, but i also used to do this....

...  With my eldest son, Chip Slog.

That looks like fun too.!  Too many things we can do, but too little time & resources!!

Edited January 6, 2021 by wobblewing

[Spile]

On 04/01/2021 at 15:13, Tiny Clanger said:

Andromeda is just so big and diffuse looking (no sharp edges) that binoculars (or my 6x30 finder scope !) are actually better tools for the purpose. Persistence and patience pay off in the end , keep trying, all the effort makes eventual success sweeter !

True but with an EP you might be lucky enough to find M32 or even M110. I know I found one of them last night when looking at the fuzzy centre of M31. Now remind me - which is up and which is right a bit?

[John]

26 minutes ago, Spile said:

True but with an EP you might be lucky enough to find M32 or even M110. I know I found one of them last night when looking at the fuzzy centre of M31. Now remind me - which is up and which is right a bit?

Yep - you can get a "3 for 1" deal with a low power eyepiece

M110 is quite a bit fainter than M31 and M32 though, especially if there is some light pollution around. Nice triple galaxy possibility though.

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2021 by John