Globuler clusters

[Zarathustra]

Hi everybody, just wondering if sombody can help me with observing globular clusters, all i ever see is a small blob, can't resove any stars, i can find m13, 3 and 15 and it's the same with all of them!, using a 4inch scope with a 25 and 9mm ep, also a 2x and 3x barlow.

A friend showed me m13 through his 8inch scope in a 2x barlow and it was a stunning sight!

Any comments or tips how you observe or what with, would be grealy appricianted!

cheers!

[Doc]

In this case aperture is key. The more light entering your scope the more stars you will resolve.

[gliderpilot]

If you can get away from town and into the countryside you'll find the views through the eyepiece will be much better.

I have a 4" refractor and 8.5" reflector and the views through the 8.5" simply blow the 4" away. As doc says, aperture is king and 4x the area is a large increase.

Another technique is to spend a period of time at the eyepiece. If you look and then move on, you don't get the details that come about through say 20 mins of observing. I find making a sketch is a good way to notice fainter and more tenuous details.

Enjoy the views anyway, they're still pretty good through a 4".

Mark

[John]

With my 4" ED refractor and an excellent quality eyepiece I can resolve stars the outer regions of a few of the brightest globular clusters. With my 10" scope they are resolved right across. As Mick says it's aperture that is the key - your friends 8" scope captures 4x as much light as your 4" does.

[Zarathustra]

thanks for the info, i'll stick to the open clusters for now then, which look great through the scope! i'm pretty lucky and live in the countryside so no light pollution:D :Dmight have a little hunt about on ebay for a nice big dob!