Galaxies and Nebula viewing

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jlw9406 United States of America
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Galaxies and Nebula viewing

#1

Post by jlw9406 »


Hello all,
As a newbie and after being helped with alignment I have that kinda figured (when I use goto, whatever I’m looking for is usually in the eyepiece when it gets there) I’ve been looking at Jupiter mars Saturn, Sirius, Polaris and a few others. My question is this, when I select a galaxy or nebula what should I see? I never really see anything and I don’t know what I’m looking for to adjust to on the chance I’m off a bit, I’m using the Celestron 8SE I know I won’t see great detail but shouldn’t I see something? I live in NE Florida and out in the country and it’s relatively ‘dark’ . I’m using the lenses that came with it as I’m not sure what to buy in that area yet. Any advice or help is appreciated
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Re: Galaxies and Nebula viewing

#2

Post by Bigzmey »


Galaxies and nebulae called faint fuzzies for a good reason. Majority of them are faint and observing them is acquired skill.

I suggest to start with a few which are large, bright and obvious. Once you see a few you will get idea what to look for.

Try to find Orion Nebula (M42) and Andromeda Galaxy (M31).
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Galaxies and Nebula viewing

#3

Post by JayTee »


This post should help a lot. It's the best simulator I've used that gives you a fairly good idea of how little you're going to see.

viewtopic.php?p=232879&hilit=Simulator#p232879
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

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jlw9406 United States of America
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Re: Galaxies and Nebula viewing

#4

Post by jlw9406 »


Thanks to you both, the simulator helps a lot, I’ll play around with what I got and then decide on a different eyepiece after I get better at it
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helicon United States of America
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Re: Galaxies and Nebula viewing

#5

Post by helicon »


A hint is to use a lower powered eyepiece to increase the size of the field of view. Lower powered eyepieces have bigger numbers, e.g. 25mm, 30mm, etc. This will make it easier to find your target.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
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Re: Galaxies and Nebula viewing

#6

Post by kt4hx »


As Andrey mentioned galaxies and nebulae can be quite challenging to observe for beginners. Part of that is not having a frame of reference for what you should see in the eyepiece. That comes with experience. Another key factor is how bright your skies our from light pollution and how much extraneous ground lighting impacts your viewing location. Both those issues impact your ability to dark adapt and rob you of contrast when looking through the eyepiece. In terms of galaxies, I can point you to my article here on the site "Why Can't I See That Galaxy? for some ideas of what we deal with when trying to observe them. You can find it here:

app.php/article/why-can%CA%B9t-i-see-that-galaxy%CA%94


The darker your location the better your chances. As Andrey mentioned try for the brighter ones, such as Messier 42 in Orion and Messier 31 in Andromeda. Once you have a few under your belt, you gain a better sense of what you are dealing with in terms of expectations. Good luck and never hesitate to ask questions. We all started at the beginning, and we each progress at our own pace. I am fond of saying "the more we learn the more fun we have, and the more fund we have, the more we learn." I hope you find that is the case for you as well. :icon-smile:
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
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"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
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Re: Galaxies and Nebula viewing

#7

Post by pakarinen »


In my location with my current scopes, all but about 5-6 of the brightest galaxies are blotted out by light pollution. YMMV.

Did anybody mention using averted vision? Instead of looking straight at a dim object, look just a bit off to the side. Here's one article on it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Averted_vision

Another trick if you're unsure if you have your target in your field is to tap the side of your scope to cause a little vibration. That can help dim objects stand out from the background - your eye will (might) pick up the movement of the target. It seems our eyes are rather sensitive to movement in low light environments.
=============================================================================
I drink tea, I read books, I look at stars when I'm not cursing clouds. It's what I do.
=============================================================================
AT50, AT72EDII, ST80, ST102; Scopetech Zero, AZ-GTi, AZ Pronto; Innorel RT90C, Oberwerk 5000; Orion Giantview 15x70s, Vortex 8x42s, Navy surplus 7x50s, Nikon 10x50s
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