What can you expect from a 130mm Telescope?

[Nikolai De Silva]

Hi! 

I have a Sky-watcher P 130/650 Starquest and I'm enjoying it at its best. We got this two months ago and was only able to observe the moon, Saturn and Jupiter (a little). Because, unfortunately and unbelievably it was raining and gloomy mostly all these times.

Therefore can anyone help to get an idea of what I can expect from a 130mm Telescope? 

Hoping for your ideas!

Nikolai.

[bosun21]

You will be able to view a multitude of targets with your telescope. These include the planets although the addition of a barlow would be of benefit for them. Globular and open clusters, asterisms, nebulae, and some galaxies. To get the most from your telescope you should learn how to collimate it properly. This can make a big difference in how clear the targets appear in the eyepiece. As I already said a barlow lens would be beneficial. Good luck.

[Marvin Jenkins]

Everything depends on your location in relation to light pollution as far as deeper sky stuff goes.

I originally started with a 130 newt in B3/4 skies and I can only agree with bosun21 that is all doable.

At one point I thought I would need to up the aperture to see more but in fact a decent mount EQ5 was an eye popping difference and really shows how capable a small newt can be.

If you don’t have great skies then don’t ignore double star astronomy like I stupidly did for the first few years.

Good luck and let us know how you get on. And so you know, my original 130 is most used scope to this day in a grab and go situation.

Marvin

[jjohnson3803]

10 minutes ago, Marvin Jenkins said:

If you don’t have great skies then don’t ignore double star astronomy like I stupidly did for the first few years.

Agree completely with that.  I gave up on galaxies in my light pollution soup quite awhile ago and had been concentrating almost exclusively on open clusters.  I started observing some doubles rather recently and it's opened up a whole new realm of observing.   Splitting a double is really quite satisfying for whatever reason(s).

Edited October 30, 2023 by jjohnson3803

[Marvin Jenkins]

4 minutes ago, jjohnson3803 said:

Agree completely with that.  I gave up on galaxies in my light pollution soup quite awhile ago and had been concentrating almost exclusively on open clusters.  I started observing some doubles rather recently and it's opened up a whole new realm of observing.   Splitting a double is really quite satisfying for whatever reason(s).

Cambridge double star atlas is a gem. Wouldn’t be without mine as many nights look promising, stay clear but the transparency is awful so I give up on faint objects and delve into the atlas.

Marv

[Bugdozer]

I have a 125mm telescope so reasonably comparable, except mine has a longer focal length. So you'll need a higher power eyepiece than me for magnified objects but your scope will do better for extended faint ones. But based on my observations I would suggest some of the following will be easily visible to you, assuming you're not in Light Pollution Hell (where your mileage will definitely vary):

All the Messier objects that come a decent height above the horizon from where you are

Transit shadows of Jupiter's moons

Saturn's brighter faint moons, like Dione and Rhea, as well as Titan very clearly

Uranus and Neptune, although you won't be able to make out a disc of Neptune because its angular size is just about at the resolution limit of that aperture. Uranus you could, but you'll need a powerful eyepiece.

Many of the other deep sky objects from the NGC catalogue dependent on how dark your skies are.

If you're lucky, some of the fainter comets that could show up at any time!

 

 

[Nikolai De Silva]

11 hours ago, bosun21 said:

To get the most from your telescope you should learn how to collimate it properly.

We have a Starquest mount so collimation is not required. Really this Telescope is a GRAB AND GO Telescope. We're enjoying it!

9 hours ago, Bugdozer said:

assuming you're not in Light Pollution Hell

We're not in a Light Pollution Hell, but in a 'Mini Light Pollution Hell'😅. Only 1 to 2 miles away from the town. 

Once I saw Jupiter very bright in the midnight. Can we see brighter skies when dark increases? What are the times that night becomes darker?

Nikolai.

[Coco]

Bresser  AR127L is only 3mm smaller, the M27, M57 are superb through an SVBony 6mm eyepiece,  globular clusters are also fabulous, similar views to my 12" dob on bright targets, I can detect clearly a 5th star in the Trapesium (M42) although not split cleanly do to either optic quality or seeing.

[Bugdozer]

4 hours ago, Nikolai De Silva said:

We have a Starquest mount so collimation is not required. Really this Telescope is a GRAB AND GO Telescope. We're enjoying it!

We're not in a Light Pollution Hell, but in a 'Mini Light Pollution Hell'😅. Only 1 to 2 miles away from the town. 

Once I saw Jupiter very bright in the midnight. Can we see brighter skies when dark increases? What are the times that night becomes darker?

Nikolai.

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Sri Lankan daylight times through the year so I couldn't advise on when it's darkest. However for planetary observations, dark skies aren't so important because the planets themselves are bright, Jupiter in particular.

Being close to a town, you may find that restricts your views of fainter objects like galaxies and nebulae, which are inherently quite low contrast. The issue with a lighter sky is that it becomes difficult to distinguish between the light from the sky and the light from an object. 

[jjohnson3803]

6 hours ago, Nikolai De Silva said:

What are the times that night becomes darker?

Try Googling "nautical twilight" and "astronomical twilight".  I have the APT dark sky app on my iPhone, but I don't know if it covers your location. 

You can also try stellarium-web.org.  If you adjust the time in the box on the lower right of the screen, it will indicate things like "twilight", "dark night", "moonlight", etc.

Edited October 31, 2023 by jjohnson3803

[Nikolai De Silva]

3 hours ago, jjohnson3803 said:

You can also try stellarium-web.org.  If you adjust the time in the box on the lower right of the screen, it will indicate things like "twilight", "dark night", "moonlight", etc

I tried it! Is this the indication about the light.

Thank you very much for your information!☺️

[jjohnson3803]

Yes, that's it. 

In my case, moonlight isn't always a bad thing - my house blocks the western sky and I have large trees to the SSW, so the moon is hidden part of the night.  The downside is the house blocks the western sky. 😉 

Edited November 3, 2023 by jjohnson3803

[Nikolai De Silva]

On 30/10/2023 at 23:08, Nikolai De Silva said:

 

Thank you for your advice!

 

Have a great time!

Nikolai.

[doublevodka]

On 31/10/2023 at 06:07, Nikolai De Silva said:

Can we see brighter skies when dark increases? What are the times that night becomes darker?

Nikolai.

Clearoutside can be very useful in regard to darkness, weather etc.

https://clearoutside.com/forecast/7.05/79.90

The coloured bar under the times indicates darkness, black is astronomical darkness, the best time to view dimmer objects such as galaxies. Hopefully that is useful 👍

[Nikolai De Silva]

3 hours ago, doublevodka said:

The coloured bar under the times indicates darkness, black is astronomical darkness, the best time to view dimmer objects such as galaxies. Hopefully that is useful 👍

Thank you very much! I'll look for it surely.

Nikolai.