dso help

[Steve_meg]

Hi all

Have had my sw 250 px a few weeks now and seen saturn, a few of the bright stars and the moon. However having problems with dso, other than not knowing my way around the sky that well, I'm not sure what I can see.

I have seen picture on here, tv programs and eyepiece simulators that i should be able to see nebulars, galaxies and their colours. Is this correct? Also I have been trying to use stellarium to navigate the sky, what kind of mag will i be able to see up to?

sorry if this is a bit of a loose post but just need to understand the limits and what things might look like.

any help would be great

[nightfisher]

best advice is to take time to study stellarium and get an idea of what is visible and how to find it

[tom33pr]

Stellarium will be the way to go.

Here's a map of the Messier objects that may help too:

What is Messier Catalog – List of Messier Objects & Messier Pictures

regards.

[GrantEb]

Just so you are aware, you won't see any colour in nebulae or galaxies, unless in really dark skies, and on really bright objects, like M42.

[Rusty Strings]

When viewing DSO's, you need low mag from a 25mm ep, this will give a wider FOV. They are called faint fuzzies for good reason, higher mag does not make them easier to find or see.

[greglloyd]

Yes. You should try and start with the brightest showpiece objects which also happen to be closest to the brighter stars in the sky (i.e. requiring the minimum amount of star hops to get to them).

M31 is an example - though best view in the Autumn.

For now, try finding M13 and M3. These are bright globular clusters well within your scopes potential. Both should be visible in your 9x50 finder scope (just about) and you shoudl firstly try and view them with a 25mm eyepiece before increasing the magnification for a closer view. Good luck

[Astro Imp]

Hi Steve,

Remember that at the moment the moon is getting to-wards full and will make it difficult/impossible to see faint fuzzies.

[NGC 1502]

Joining an astronomy club is a great way to learn the sky, here

is a list for Berkshire - Clubs

Regards, Ed.

[Steve_meg]

Thanks for the advice, just find somethings shown on websites and tv a bit misleading. for example sky at night featured a telescope night, and what you can see through telescope simular to mine as bright galaxies. just made me confused as i thought surely i would see them.

Stellarium has been very helpful, as my skymaps in the books i have are a bit confusing.

Is anyone here a member of either the maidenhead or reading astro clubs??

[greglloyd]

M81 and M82 should look bright in your scope with a 25mm eyepiece

Don't expect them to look huge though.. they will both be in the same eyepiece view (at the same time).

I have the same scope as yours and was able to view them last night despite the moon washing out the sky. With a dark sky they should be very easy to see (providing you have decent skies). The best advice is to learn to star hop. Look up a star chart or Stellarium to see exactly where these galaxies are and then jump from star to star until you get to them. Just pointing in the rough direction will not be good enough

For M81 / M82 I usually start at the top right star in the bowl of Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and work from there (following a line of 4 or 5 fairly bright stars in the finder scope). I can then usually pin point M81 in the finder scope as a faint smudge and I know I'm on the target once I see that.

[greglloyd]

p.s. I remember when I was younger with a 40mm refracter I had a habit of pointing in the area I thought the object would be and then sweeping around in the eyepiece for it. This generally doesn't work and will just lead to frustration! Try and be structured and navigate from star to star using the star chart / Stellarium as a 'road map'. Follow the path exactly to the object trying to locate small patterns of stars on the way that you can compare directly with the star chart

[Steve_meg]

i think that might also be my problem as well. I try to find a star pattern but end up doing a sweep of the area with no sucess. not surprising as there is so much up there. guess i need to get the hang of star hopping.

also 25mm is the lowest ep i have, would say a 32mm be a good investment?

[greglloyd]

A 32mm will certainly give you a wider view in the large scope which will help with finding objects, but I think the best thing is to master star hopping to the right spot with the finder scope. You should be able to locate the exact area an object is in using the finder scope only (not necessarily seeing the object itself in the finder, but rather the exact stars in the location where the object is). Also, I find that a pair of binos can be useful for doing a quick star hop first of all. They are such a handy way of scouting out an object's location.

[stolenfeather]

There are many books one can purchase like "Turn Left at Orion" but the best aid you can have is indeed Stellarium (as many before me has mentioned). Having a Telrad viewfinder also helped me a great deal since there is a plug in that exists with Stellarium. Knowing the night sky will get better each time you go out there.

I wish you clear skies,

Isabelle

[SirFoo]

Get a telrad and then download some free telrad charts. This should make finding the dsos less frustrating. They'll still be faint and fuzzy though!

[Woking]

+1 on Turn Left at Orion from a fellow beginner - not only tells you how to find stuff but also tells you what you are looking at too which star maps and planispheres don't.

Also, join a local group. Have a look at the Social Groups on SGL, there maybe an active group near you. It's a great experience with a friendly group and as a beginner you will see a lot more than struggling on your own.