I am 15 years old and I have been excited to get my Meade Lightbridge 10" Dobsonian for ages, and now i have it. I've been studying things in the sky right now, Omega Centauri, M8, Saturn, all the viewa were pretty spectacular. The thing I was looking forward to viewing th most was M104, the Sombrero Galaxy. Especially from these pictures on this webpage
http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/...n-the-suburbs/
The sketch through the 10" got me excited. I starhopped all the way to M104, only to find a faint wisp of smoke
. My telescope is collimated to the accuracy a laser collimator can go to, Why would my image be so faint. Many other nebula that I have tried to witness that are said to be spectacular in 8 inches, I can't seem to locate at all.
I really want to see these galaxies and nebula which I've been told should show up easily in a telescope with a 10" apeture.
Quick specs on my 'scope
Focal Length: 1270mm
Appeture: 254mm
Focal Ratio: f/5
Eyepiece Focal Length: 26mm and a 9mm
Thank you very much.
