how do i find gallaxies?

[jabberwocky]

im completely new to stargazing and im sill getting to grips with my SW explorer 130m, but id love to see my first gallaxy, but how do i find them and will i know what im looking at when i do? with my scope and and a 25mm and 10mm eyepiece what will an easy to find gallaxy look like? will it be obviously a gallaxy or just look like a star?

i realise my scope is a bit small and im not going to see a huge amount of detail but knowing what im likely to see will help me recognise what im looking for.

oh and which is the easiest to find and see wih my size scope?

[yeti monster]

Stellarium will show you where to look, your 25mm will allow the better view, dark adapted eyes and minimal light pollution will offer you your best chance of noticing them. It takes time to get your eye in tune with seeing the faint fuzzy blobs. The hardest part I find, is getting the scope pointing in the right place. Star hopping using a Telrad finder has helped me find M101 and the Leo Triplet. Patience isn't available on ebay (yet)!

[Nexus 6]

Hi jabberwocky, also a great aid to learning the night sky and not too dear is a Planisphere

Books

[G2EWS]

Hi jabberwocky,

A second here for Stellarium. FOC on a windows machine or iPod touch/iPhone or a few pence on an iPad. There are others, but Stellarium is easy to use and will help you get around the sky.

Also meeting up with someone for help is a good idea. Drop Dark Knight a pm as he is only in Westbury so not that far from you. He has been very helpful to me along with Steph his Wife.

Best regards

Chris

[brantuk]

If you can't take your pc/laptop out in the field then there's several things you can use. A planisphere, Sky at Night or Astronomy Now magazines (center page object pullouts), or a good book with finding instructions like Turn Left at Orion, or Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders.

The last one on the list is terrific - it folds out flat on a picnic table for easy reading and has full description of object (including how bright), finding instructions (star hopping) and a picture of how it should appear in the scope.

[Horus]

Stellarium for me, its available on iPad (foc) and use red light mode. But prior to using that I used a planisphere which isow available in WH Smiths again.

[acey]

First find a dark enough sky - you won't see any galaxies without that. Ideally you want to be able to see the Milky Way naked eye, though it's not essential. But darkness counts for far more than aperture - from a dark site you'll easily see galaxies with binoculars, while from a light-polluted one you might struggle with a 16". Check out the star-hops to galaxies such as M81/82, M51 or M65/66.

Messier 81

1999JRASC..93..253M Page 253

M65, M66 and NGC 3628 - Leo Triplet

Get a star atlas. I like this one:

Peterson Field Guide to the Stars and Planets

Or download a free printable one such as TriAtlas A

JR's website on Deep Sky Astronomy

You want a map that is detailed enough for you to get to the exact area where the galaxy should be. Sweeping around the general region in the hope that it will swing into view is OK at a dark site but not so productive at a bright one where the thing you're looking for is going to be very indistinct. Remember that your finder and scope show everything upside down, so you need to turn your map accordingly.

When star-hopping, I find it useful to look at the pattern on the map and turn it into words, then look through the finder and seek that pattern. For example, "little box of four stars with one on the left" or "6 stars in a V". I don't have a good visual memory and find I can match map to sky much better using words.

One thing you need to get a feel for is how distances on the sky - seen through the finder or your main scope at lowest power - match your map. Some people make circles they can move over the map (a ring of wire, or a circle drawn on a transparency).

Be patient - it takes time. When you see your first galaxy you'll be disappointed because it's only a tiny featureless smudge. After you've seen a few dozen more you'll go back to that first one and be amazed how big, bright and detailed it looks.

[swamp thing]

First find a dark enough sky - you won't see any galaxies without that. Ideally you want to be able to see the Milky Way naked eye, though it's not essential. But darkness counts for far more than aperture - from a dark site you'll easily see galaxies with binoculars, while from a light-polluted one you might struggle with a 16".

Hi jabberwocky

This is THE most important factor in observing Galaxies.

You will need a star atlas of some kind but without dark skies you will find it very tough.

Regards Steve

[andrew63]

Hi jabberwocky

Dark skies are the biggest help as others have said. But remember a hugh telescope is not required as many of the brighter ones can be seen in binoculars or your scope viewfinder. I vouch also for star atlas like 'pocket sky atlas' it's cheap and used by many on this site and by your side is much better than any electronic device!

andrew

[jabberwocky]

Thanks for the advice guys, well I've popped my DSO cherry, I came home from work at about 2am and just had to get the scope out, the sky was crystal clear, said hello to Saturn first, then spent a very frustrated hour trying to find M109, not even close. Then as a last fling before going to bed I decided to try M57, checked on skywalk on my phone it's location pointed the scope, looked through the eyepiece and there it was almost dead centre, I didn't even try all that hard, typical! I could make out the ring shape but that's about it, and it was never really in focus, it really showed up the limitations of my scope, I just couldn't get it in focus but it was still a great feeling seeing my first DSO. I'm hooked! Only slight issue, I now want a bigger scope and a place in the country for dark skies, lol

[Nexus 6]

Good to read you have seen some decent objects with the scope, and yes be carefull you don't catch aperture fever

if you get the chance.. try and get to a nearby dark sky location, what wil enhance your views with the 130 for sure

[stolenfeather]

Sorry to sound repetitive but Stellarium with the help of a Telrad finder will be the winning combination for you. Dark skies, as Allan has pointed out, is a definite MUST!

Isabelle