No Galaxies :(

[PeterEde]

So far I've only managed to find one and found out quickly you need lots of time on it. Haven't managed to find it or any other galaxies since.
Even M31 is out of my sight for now.
Will most be invisible to my little ED80?
I tried for NGC253 last night. Took photos in the area I thought it would be at high ISO and nothing was obvious.
I'm planning on finding a site for the eclipse away from home. Maybe tonight with a no obstruction to the Nth horizon
I might just get M31.

[RickS]

NGC 253 is bright and fairly large (close to 30 arc min on long axis) so you should be able to get a result if you're pointing in the right place. A lot of galaxies are much smaller and dimmer and would present more of a challenge. M31 is a good target too, of course.

Cheers,
Rick.

[PeterEde]

Pair of binos in order I think

[doppler]

Here is a 50mm wide field pic of ngc 253, at magnitude 7 it can be seen with binos. It's a bit low for me at the moment and in the light glow of my town.

Rick

[Amaranthus]

I presume you mean for imaging? Here is what I got on NGC253 with an ED80: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=125772

i.e. a lot is possible!

[PeterEde]

Ok. I'm going to use my 100-400 to find it with my camera tonight

[cometcatcher]

How about the SMC and LMC. They're galaxies. :)

I can understand the frustration of finding galaxies by star hopping with a small refractor. What about slipping a nice widefield eyepiece into the ED80 to help you find NGC253? Take note of the starfield in the finderscope when you find it so you can re-find it more easily.

Lots of galaxies in range of the ED80 but leave them until the moon is out of the sky. Galaxies and Moon don't mix.

[PeterEde]

Maybe my problem is I'm not using my finder scope either. I find the stock one near useless with it's tiny eyepiece. Maybe a better finder is on the cards?
SMC and LMC are below my current southern horizon. House roof
1/4 moon not helping either

[cometcatcher]

The moon is up to 3/4 now. ;)

How big is your finder? I find the 8 x 50 a nice size. Alternatively have you thought about adapting a rifle scope to use as a finder? I have a nice zoom on one of my newts. Their advantage is they are right side up.

[PeterEde]

8X50 but the eyepiece is so small. I took it off.
Maybe I'll get an Orion autoguider kit?
Another thing to add to my growing list

[SteveInNZ]

Can you piggy-back the camera with the 24-70 on it ? A camera makes an ideal finder.
You'll find a red-dot finder much easier for star hoping.

Steve

[traveller]

Peter, I use Orion 50mm finder guider and ED80 combo and works fine in detecting faint objects.
I run EQMOD with Stellarium, so I have PHD running at 2-3 sec capture, then zoom in on Stellarium and do some minor adjustment to the mount via EQMOD to match the stars, then do a 30-60 sec grab at 1600 ISO to do any fine tuning before imaging run.
Hope that helps.
Bo

[PeterEde]

Clear as mud Bo.
Oneday I'll have a setup like that :)

I usually use my 100-400 Steve. The lens then mounts to the piggy back point.

[cometcatcher]

Peter has an EQ3 non goto Bo.

[PeterEde]

Do I want goto? One day it would be nice. Very helpful
Have polar scope hopefully arrive today. And hopefully my LP does not render it useless at home.
Maybe next tax cheque I'll upgrade my mount to HEQ5Pro

[traveller]

Oops sorry Peter, my bad.
If your budget stretches, I'd recommend a second hand EQ6 over EQ5. You can also try a Orion autoguider/QHY5 or splash out on a QHY5II and see if you can capture the object first (assuming the imaging scope and finder guider is aligned, plus you can use it for the upgraded mount later).
Bo