What can i see with a 150/750 scope

[EmzRulz]

Hello all.

I got the above scope for christmas. So far I've had fun looking at the moon and doing a general pan of the sky. I haven't managed to look at Saturn or Jupiter yet, but they are on my too look at list. I'm just wondering what else is good beginner stuff to look at with this scope. I currently have 10mm and 25mm eyepieces ( the one's that were supplied with the scope). However after a bit of research i hope to get a Barlow *2 and an 8mm or smaller eyepiece in the near future. Any advice would be greatly apreciated.

(It's a Newtonian scope)

Cheers
Emma

[VPAstro]

Hi Emma, take a look at the great orion nebula. It is the middle "star" of the saucepan's handle. Also, look for are program called Stellarium. It is a desktop planetarium and is great for locating objects in the sky.
Have fun with your scope,
Andrew...

[ZeroID]

Hi Emma, Orions nebula should be quite doable with that scope. Also designated as M42 and Stellarium (free) will find it for you. 47 Tuc is a big globular cluster worth looking for as well, quite spectacular with billions of stars close together.
The Carina region along the Milky Way line is full of star groups, clusters and a few nebula. Check it out on Stellarium first then see if you can find some of them. Southern Pliaedes, Eta Carina.

[brian nordstrom]

:) Emma congratulations and :welcome: to IIS , you will get years out of what a 6 inch scope will show , great size , like goldylocks , 'not to big and not to small ' , all Messier objects ( that are visible from your location) 1000's of our southern deep sky objects , awesome luna and planetary views , no it is a great starter scope .

Just take your time and learn , there is no rush as they aint going anywhere in a hurry , grab a good star atlas/planetarium and enjoy .

But the best advice I can give is this , 'Join a club' you will get all the help you need from like minded amertures like your self and have a ball learning .:thumbsup: .

Brian.

[Chippy3476]

Welcome Emma,
Thats not a bad first telescope, my best advice would be to get an app on your smartphone if you have one, there is a mobile version of stellarium in the app store, i have found one called star chart to be very usefull and its free too. You can hold your phone up to the sky and it shows you roughly what your looking at, it lists all the messier objects which most should be doable with your scope. You will get alot of good advice from members of this site, as I did when I started out.
Cheers
Dan

[kens]

Welcome Emma. I can tell you that you can see plenty with a 150/750 scope. I've had mine for 30 years!
Your 25mm and 10mm eyepieces are just fine and if you get a Barlow you've got the equivalent of a 12.5mm and 5mm as well. So with 5, 10 and 12.5 the 8mm may not add much.

[Steffen]

Emma, I'm telling you, your scope is right smack bang in the middle of the zone of seeing nothing.

As popular opinion in the prevailing visual astronomy camps goes, your scope is either:

Too small: Nothing short of 14" of aperture is even worthy of putting an eyepiece into, because aperture rules;
Too large: Nothing seen in a scope larger than 70mm is worth looking at, because it looks just plain ugly. Especially if none of the optical elements are made from unobtanium-tetrafluoride.


All those six-inch weenies are just having you on.

Just saying... :D

Cheers
Steffen.

[AG Hybrid]

Ha! My first scope was a 150/1000 and your not wrong. When I turned up to my first observing night I felt quite inadequate. Hence why I roll with a 300/1500 these days.

Then again it served its purpose to provide just enough of an interesting view to make me want to look deeper and get hooked on this hobby. That was like 5 years ago now.

[Eden]

And they say that astronomy is a humbling experience...

[gaa_ian]

Oh ....... we are such a bunch of aperture snobs aren't we :P
In my experience, most people want a telescope that is
*Easy to use, set up pack up
*Does not take up too much space at home
*They don't need a 2nd Mortgage to buy it
*It does not need its own seat in the car

Then there are us AA's (Astronomers Anonymous)
Hi... My names Bill and I am ashamed to say I only have a 10" Dob :rolleyes:

[rrussell1962]

Emma, your telescope is capable of giving you years of wonder and enjoyment. A great book would be "Turn Left At Orion" It will give you loads of ideas for observing.

[el_draco]

You'll love saturn to bits. It'll be a small target but very jewel like. I am shocked nobody has said:
47 Tuc
Omega Centauri or any of a dozen other bright globulars
The Jewel Box
Tarantula nebula
Eta Carina
Any of the Southern star clouds
Phases of Venus
Alpha Centauri

etc, to the 5th power

Question is, do you have a star atlas? If not, there are many available online. Here is a big one:

http://www.deepskywatch.com/index.html (printable)

Its free but very powerful, You may want something lighter like Stellarium: http://www.stellarium.org/ (computer planetarium)

Failing that, listen to some of these mugs, they know a thing or 3... :rofl:

[Chippy3476]

47 tuc was mentioned in the second comment :P

[EmzRulz]

Thank you all for your help. I have stellerium already :) both the computer and the mobile version. I did have a look at a few other's but found it to be most helpful. I will see if they have that book at the library :). I have found venus and i think M42 which was pretty cool.

Why is it that aperture rules? I thought the saying was "size dosen't matter, It's how you use it" :rofl:

[Eden]

LOL! A larger aperture telescope is able to collect more light, enabling you to see more detail in the target. I think you have a fine instrument for a first telescope and I hope you find astronomy to be just as rewarding as I do.