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What can I realisticly expect to see with my skywatcher 130p


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Got my skywatcher explorer 130p last week managed to set it up and have a look at the moon and mars and some stars. Next up i'm going for the orion nebula. Basically I know a lot of whats up there but with my scope what would anyone who has had experience with this type of scope recommend targeting as a good sight, I don't want to waste time looking for things that may be out of my scopes depth, i can save that for a future upgrade. I have been having private convos with a couple of people who have helped a lot but would like more views on this. Also are there any essential extra eyepieces I should be looking to get in the future to get the best out of this scope?

Thanks

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Without not knowing what your light pollution is like, I cannot say for certain would look great in your scope but have you tried some open clusters like the Pleades (M45), the Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264) and the Beehive Cluster (M44)? Bright groups of stars using a wider field or low power eyepiece look stunning in most scopes in pretty much any conditions. Saturn is starting to rise at a fairly sensible time now so that could be worth a go.

FWIW, my biggest scope is 150mm (6") and I still have a farily large list of objects I'd like to observe. There's plenty to see in a smaller scope.

Tony..

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EPs are a very personal thing and there is a wide range. They also give different magnifications depending on your scope FL.

I would say you need the right EPs to provide you with:

One in the 20x to 40x range: For DSOs

One in the 50x to 80x range: For smaller DSOs

One in the 100x to 120x range: Planets on regular nights

One in the 200x to 240x range: Planets on good to excellent nights

As to what you can see I would try to look at the planets, double stars and every Messier object if you have a dark location (it is said a 4" is enough for the Messiers, under really dark skies).

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I started with a 130PM - the most used eyepiuece for it was a 15mm and a 32mm. What can you see ?

Well the double cluster in Perseus looks good at low power, M13 in Hercules looks good, The Pleiades, beehive cluster, planets apart from Mars (which looks duff most of the time in most scopes ;) ) plus Neptue and Uranus which look like small blue stars and are really hard to find.

Not sure about the Ring M57 - it should show but its a tough target. M31 (andromeda Galaxy) which always looks a bit fuzzy and M42 (Orion nebula). M42 should look pretty fine.

Hope thats of some small help - theres nothing wrong with the 130 - its a very fine scope that punches well above its weight.

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