Unusual beginners question

[Jnicholes]

Hi everyone,

So, I have an unusual question about astronomy. Before I ask the question, let me tell you what my equipment is.

I have an 80 mm refractor with a 900 mm focal length. It’s a goto telescope with tracking. The lowest powered eyepiece I have is 21 mm.

I have a goal to get a picture of all planets, including Pluto, the dwarf planet. I know that Pluto is a 14th magnitude object in the sky. I have a phone with a very high exposure camera, that also allows me to do long exposures with tracking.

Keep in mind, I once did track Pluto in a 10” dobsonian. I know how to do it. I lost the photos.

Here is my question. Given my equipment, is it possible to see Pluto through my telescope?

If not, I’ll settle for everything up to Neptune.

Jared

[MistrBadgr]

Hi Jared,

I am not an expert related to Pluto by any means, but here is what I have been told: Some people have seen the little white dot of Pluto with an eight inch scope. Many more have seen it with larger. Judging by what I have been able to see with a 60mm refractor that other people said I could not, if someone with really good eyes and really knows that they are doing told me they had at least gotten a blinking glimpse of Pluto with a six inch scope, I would choose to believe them. Whether they actually did or simply thought they did....I would not judge.

I have seen an image that a gentleman sent me at one time where he had imaged Pluto with a Meade 80mm f/5 refractor ETX, using his slr camera.

Hope this helps!

[Jnicholes]

Thanks for getting back. Sounds like it is possible, but difficult. I think I’ll give it a shot near the next new moon.

Jared

[ARock]

I have imaged pluto with my ST80 clone on a EXOS Nano EQ mount with a DSLR. I have added guiding to my EQ mount, which lets me take long exposure photos.

I stacked 3x5 min exposures for pluto and even then it was barely visible. The difficulty is proving that one of the dots you see is pluto. You might be mistaking it for another Mag 14 star nearby.

If you can image it on multiple nights with the exact same framing, you could see it move by animating the two pics.

If you only have a single night's image, be sure to note down the exact RA Dec of pluto at the time you took the images. You can use platesolving tools to figure out/mark the RA Dec of pluto on the image. Not easy but possible.

It was one of the most challenging projects I have done.

You could try to take a long exposure (as long as possible) on your phone. Look at the image and try to figure out the mag of the faintest stars in your image. That will tell you if imaging pluto is possible.

[Lady Fraktor]

If condition were good you can view Uranus and Neptune but not enough aperture/ resolution for Pluto.
The current magnitude of Pluto is 14.33 so out of reach of a 80mm.
Click on Pluto current position for more information.

https://theskylive.com/pluto-tracker

[mikemarotta]

Here is my question. Given my equipment, is it possible to see Pluto through my telescope? If not, I’ll settle for everything up to Neptune. Jared

Well, it is still a very worthy project. I look forward to your results. 80mm refractors are commonly popular for this kind of project and I find that especially encouraging.

[Baurice]

It partially depends on whether your mount will support a DSLR camera. Alternatively, you can use a CCD imager if your budget allows. The maximum exposure you can get undriven is about half a second, nowhere near enough. i would suggest a minimum of a minute, probably much longer.

[Don Alvarez]

The only way you'd know for sure, is probably to take pictures on successive nights. That way you'd see it moving against the backdrop of stars.

[Jnicholes]

OK everyone,

Sorry for the delayed reply. I decided I’m going to attempt it. I don’t think I will succeed, but in six days, I am going to attempt to track Pluto for two days, if the sky conditions permit. Currently cloudy right now.