Help with observing

[Lucaswy]

Hello,

I am a beginner to all this. I have just purchased a Celestron Nexstar 130SLT and I am having trouble getting close in to Nebulas etc or even being able to see them. The aperture of my telescope is 130mm and the focal length is 650mm. Focal ratio is f/5.

I have collimated, finder-scope aligned, level telescope even temperature matched outside. 

I live in a Bortle 6 area so I have a little bit of light pollution. I can see star clusters clearly just not nebulas or galaxies.  

I have a 9mm and 25mm eyepiece that came with the telescope, which seem not to be the best of quality.  I have a 32mm celestron omni plossl eyepiece, omni 2x Barlow and BST starguider 5mm eyepiece.   

I am wondering if anyone has any advice please to assist on this issue.  Would any filters help?  

 

Thanks,

Lucas

[Cosmic Geoff]

If you live in a Bortle 6 area, you will see few galaxies and even fewer nebulae with a telescope of this size.  Your eyepieces and collimation are not the issue. Narrowband filters will help on nebulae with strong emission lines, otherwise no.

I suggest you either find a dark skies site you can observe from, or investigate what you can do with EEVA.  I have found that this delivers startling resulkts from an urban area, almost matching the visual performance of a larger scope at a dark site.  See the EEVA Reports sub-section of the forum here.

 

[Floater]

+1 for above. Bortle 6 is the problem.

[Jiggy 67]

I suggest you read this thread

You will not see galaxies as you see them in photos. With your skies and scope the best you can expect is some very faint smudges and the large nebula are very difficult to tease any detail out. A dark site will help but you may have to adjust your targets for now. There is plenty more, well visible in your scope and skies....double stars, planetary nebula, planets and star clusters. 
Save the galaxies and large nebula for a dark sky site, consider star parties for example where other observers can help you out or join a local astronomy club. There is plenty to see, but sometimes, you have to alter your expectations. 

[Tiny Clanger]

1 hour ago, Lucaswy said:

Hello,

I am a beginner to all this. I have just purchased a Celestron Nexstar 130SLT and I am having trouble getting close in to Nebulas etc or even being able to see them. The aperture of my telescope is 130mm and the focal length is 650mm. Focal ratio is f/5.

I have collimated, finder-scope aligned, level telescope even temperature matched outside. 

I live in a Bortle 6 area so I have a little bit of light pollution. I can see star clusters clearly just not nebulas or galaxies.  

I have a 9mm and 25mm eyepiece that came with the telescope, which seem not to be the best of quality.  I have a 32mm celestron omni plossl eyepiece, omni 2x Barlow and BST starguider 5mm eyepiece.   

I am wondering if anyone has any advice please to assist on this issue.  Would any filters help?  

 

Thanks,

Lucas

I'm in a similarly light polluted area, with a 150mm aperture, 750mm focal length reflector, and have managed to see some nebulae & galaxies , but it has taken quite a lot of persistence . Presuming your computerised set up is pointing you to the correct spot (I have no experience of them, so can't help  if that part of the setup is  letting you down ) there are a few things you can do to maximise your chances of seeing a faint fuzzy .

First, give you eyes plenty of time to adjust to the dark : mine need at least half an hour , so I look at clusters etc while my eyes adapt. Don't go indoors, don't look at any screen that is not switched over to red display , don't use a bright torch . Turn off , or draw the curtains of, any lit house windows or bright garden lights .

Second, choose your observing time with care : no Moon in the sky, and as late as you can, it's not properly dark at this time of year until around 10pm I find . You don't say where you are, but my local council save money by turning every other streetlamp off at about 1am  so that's the start of hopeful fuzzy hunting for  me.

Third, on some nights the sky clarity is really good, the stars twinkle (poor 'seeing' ) but the sky appears more transparent , so you see more stars.  Those are the best nights to look for faint fuzzies , there was a recent cold blast of Arctic air which was perfect, but it made for a chilly time in the garden.

Fourth,  try for targets which are quite high in the sky, at least 40 degrees, preferably higher. The lower you look , the thicker the layer of air you are looking through. I've also found that there are areas of sky below 50 degrees which , from my garden, are hopeless because of the light pollution being stronger in that direction, so I simply don't bother looking for anything faint in that part of the sky.

And finally ... persist. I've looked, I don't know how many times (over 2 dozen at least) for the Leo Triplet, and failed miserably, failed again, caught a suspicion of one component, tried several  more times, failed , and eventually managed 2/3 of it , it is actually come as a relief that it is now too low , and in my more polluted sky area for me to spend time on it ! But there's always next year.

I've recently (on a very cold clear night) had really nice views of the almost overhead Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy (M 81 & M82) give them a try, start with your 32mm plossl, and if you get a suspicion of a couple of smudges visible , change to your 25mm stock EP. Good luck !

Heather

 

[Zermelo]

You may be having problems with either the pointing accuracy of your goto mount, or battling light pollution with insufficient aperture, or both.

How accurate is the pointing at objects that you can see (planets, or known stars)?  The best that is usually expected is that it will place the target somewhere in the field of a low power eyepiece (like your 25mm).  For a target that's very obvious, that is usually fine, but possibly not with a faint one.  It does become a bit easier once you have seen a galaxy or planetary nebula because you know what to expect. With no experience, it's easy to scan the sky in the neighbourhood and fail to spot a faint object. If you find that the 32mm eyepiece makes the background sky look significantly lighter, you may be better off starting with the 25mm. You may have a better chance of spotting the grey smudges!

What kind of finder do you have? Does it typically show many stars? Have you been able to match the field to a star chart when you've been looking for a target?

Edited April 13, 2021 by Zermelo
typo

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

You should be able to see the brightest galaxies - m81 and m82. They will both fit into the 25mm field of view as tiny smudges. Individually through the 9mm a little more shape to them. Later in the year, Andromeda's core should be easily visible when higher. This time of year globular clusters will be visible as smudges. Using the 9mm and 5mm will darken the sky and you may resolve some stars within globulars m3, m13 and m92.

The planetary nebula M57 is doable. You should be able to see the ring, but the central star unlikely. Try it toward the end of April onward around midnight. Avoiding nights around full moon.

Cross emission and reflecting nebulae off the list for now. A UHC filter may help but I wouldn't encourage you to buy one just yet. You will probably have more luck with those using 10x50 binoculars on a clear night.

Your 130mm and eyepieces is capable of splitting some smashing coloured double stars. Don't neglect those. Worth a look.

Install Stellarium or Sky Safari on mobile for tips and tours.

[Merlin]

The minimum magnification that can usefully be used on a ‘scope is about four times the aperture in inches. That’s X20 with your five-incher