Frankskywatcher wrote: ↑Sat Sep 10, 2022 8:38 pm
Awesome report my friend !
I must admit that I am a bit jealous with a 10” dob and a Bortle 4 Sky I have yet to see a galaxy ( I think I have seen them but they are just globs) clearly like I have the planets!
How do you manage to (1) stay awake and (2) move that thing around ?
Thank you Frank. You should most definitely see galaxies with a 10 inch in a B4 sky. The most important thing there is experience and perspective. The latter does come with the former. Truly seeing dimmer extended objects is not an intuitive thing, but a skill that one must learn and hone. We must train our eye to see subtle variations of light and dark to pick up these objects. Granted there are some brighter ones that are not so difficult, but given that galaxies are far and away the most prevalent
DSO up there, the majority are challenging. Thus we must learn not only to find them, but to see them. Its not a case of simply looking, but of truly seeing.
I will recommend a couple of articles I wrote some time ago. One was about observing galaxies, the second about what details to look for in various
DSOs and how to interpret what you do see. Hopefully they will help you out. Here are the links:
app.php/article/why-can%CA%B9t-i-see-that-galaxy%CA%94
app.php/article/deep-sky-objects-and-their-observation
Perspective is about what we expect to see and what we do see. Many beginners are spoiled by images of objects and don't consider that is not what they will see visually. Some objects may take time to find simply because we pass over them without noticing them. When looking for an object slow down. Let your eye adjust to the slowly changing field as we look for something that we are not used to seeing. Once you locate a given object it is typically easier to find it again. This is because you now have that all important "perspective" of what you should see.
Now, besides learning how to see galaxies we must also learn how to find them, as well as any other object up there. Star hopping is not an intuitive skill either. One must practice this art, and I do see it as an art. Learning how to interpret what we see through a finder scope and an eyepiece, and compare that to what we see in an atlas (either printed or electronic) is something we learn and improve with more experience. All this is truly a case of desire and patience. We all make mistakes in trying to find objects. Doing this for decades I still get off on the wrong path sometimes. But the key there is not to become frustrated. Simply go back to your starting point and figure out where you went wrong and correct it.
As to your questions, 1) I can only stay awake so long. During the summer months it gets astronomically dark so late that we have little choice as to when we observe. But as the nights get longer we can start earlier if we choose. Since I am fully retired, I don't have any daily commitments to meet, so I can sleep in late most days if I choose to do so. That does help of course. Question 2), moving the 17.5 inch in terms of deployment, well I have wheelbarrow handles and 10 inch pneumatic tires on it. So I simply roll it in and out of the garage at our dark site house. When in use, it moves just as any dobsonian mounted reflector does. It weighs more than your 10 inch, but the movements are the same and not difficult.
Do check out the article I linked. I hope that it clarifies some things about observing galaxies. I highly recommend tracking down M31 in Andromeda as a first attempt at a galaxy. Typically the first thing most will notice is its bright core. It does extend far beyond that core, but the core is brighter and more apparent. So give it a try sometime and just be patient. Good luck Frank.