Finding nebulas with a dob

[icytailmark]

hi im out trying to find the lagoon and trifid nebula in my backyard but all i see is stars in all of my eye pieces. Can anyone give me some tips on locating nebulas in the sky. I have a 12 " dobsonian.

[Davros]

Get a free program called Stelarium on your computer. It shows you the position of features in the sky. You then need to know where your telescope is relative to a known point. If you can find Jupiter (should be very bright) then you can hunt for objects (starhop) from this known point of reference.

[Blue Skies]

You also need to be in a dark place away from light pollution. This means getting out of the suburbs and into the countryside. Light pollution will just wash these nebulae both out, no matter how big your scope is.

Also the Lagoon is very large, it may be the case that you are looking in the middle of it and not realise it. In my 8" I usually only see half of the Lagoon in a 25mm. A good sign that you are in the Lagoon is an open cluster with a spiral shape to it.

The Trifid is then a short swing to the celestial north. It is not that large but should fill the eyepiece, and in a 12" shouldn't be too hard to see without a filter.

[Robh]

Do you have binoculars?
With reasonable skies, the Lagoon Nebula is seen in binoculars. The Trifid Nebula is nearby. Try sweeping the area with binoculars to familiarise yourself with its position relative to the brighter stars in Sagittarius then go to your telescope.

Regards, Rob

[mental4astro]

Hi icytailmark, :welcome: to IIS.

Adding to what Blue Skies said about dark skies (hi Blue!), if you can make it saturday week, the 22'nd, a few of us IIS's will be at the Katoomba Airfield. You'ld be welcome to join us with your new puppy to give it a thrash & chew the fat.

Having said that, check the 'star parties' forum to see where else IIS'ers get together. The Pony Club is a fav.

[seanliddelow]

I have the same problem as you. I do see a faint trace of neblousity but nothing major, dark skies ahoy!

[astro744]

You need a good star chart such as Sky Atlass 2000 Deluxe ($100) or download each chart from the following link: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zs3t-tk/atlas_85/atlas_85.htm I prefer the charts without constellation lines since there are no lines in the sky.

Then you need to familiarise yourself with what is where and when. A planisphere will tell you what where and when (expecpt for planets). At the moment Scorpius & Sagittarius (centre of our galaxy) is high in the evening and there are countless of fine objects to look at.

If you can find Scorpius follow it from Antares (bright orange star) to the end of its tail where you may spot a faint 'smudge' which is M7, an open cluster. Your local light pollution will play a big part here if you see this or not.

Now, find the tail of Scorpius and M7 on your charts and use this as you reference point to search for M8 & M20 (Lagoon & Trifid).

I like to think of M8 & M20 as being within the steam coming from the spout of the teapot (Sagittairius). Of course a bright city location will rule out seeing any of what I just described.

If you do have a light polluted sky you will need to star hop from the brightest stars in the region and always cross check with your map to ensure you are looking at the correct star. Look at star patterns on the map and see if you can find them in the sky. (A Telrad helps here to star hop). Also have a look at the following Telrad charts. The one for M7 also shows M8 at the top of the page.

http://www.utahskies.org/deepskyIndex.shtml

I like the scale of Sky Atlas 2000 and have the original deluxe version which goes to mag. 8. The new one goes to mag 8.5. The deluxe version is in colour and is very easy to read.

[MJ_]

A UHC or similar filter will also help

[Jules76]

Agreed. :thumbsup: I recently purchased a Baader OIII filter from erick on these forums, and it's made a big difference to my viewing of nebulas in my light polluted skies with my 8". I've been looking at M20 (Trifid Nebula) lately, and without the filter, all I see is what looks to be a star cluster with maybe the faintest hint of nebulosity. Put the filter on and WOW, where did all that come from? :eyepop:

[seanliddelow]

My uranometria 2000.0 may help. Im using m6 and m7 as refrence points tonight.