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Old 26-11-2009, 04:40 PM
scroll1 (Wayne)
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What Deep Sky Objects can I hope to see

Hi all,
I enjoy reading through this forum often and thought it is about time to start asking questions.
I have now, for a year a NexStar 6 SE... I am really happy with the telescope and have seen some wonderful things in my journey in learning how to use it.
I was wondering what possibilities I have for seeing some deep sky object, like galaxies here in the southern skies. I live out in Samford just outside of Brisbane. I am shielded a little from the Brisbane lights by some mountains, but that means I have a very narrow view angle directly above me.
What should I be hoping for with the 6SE? I have just bought a 2 x barlow and have a reasonable collection of lens. They only success I have had to date is the Orion Nebula. I am not disappointed, I love looking for it whenever I can, but maybe I should start searching for other things...
thanks for any information,
Wayne
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Old 26-11-2009, 09:29 PM
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tnott
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Hi Wayne,

I had a 5" ETX as my main scope for years and there is heaps of Deep Sky stuff you can see, if you know what to look for, are realistic about what you will see, and take the time to train your eyes. Darker skies will help but many are visible from suburbia.

Main things to look at with this size scope would be globular clusters, and compact open star clusters. Hundreds of them.

Some of the brighter nebula are visible, like the Tarantula, Orion, Lagoon and Eta Carina. Don't bother with nebula filters with this size scope.

Some of the brighter planetary nebula, like the Saturn, Ring, Bug and the blue one in Centaurus are visible.

A few of the brighter galaxies are worth looking at too like NGC 1365, NGC 253, NCG 55, M83, M104, and Centaurus A. The Magellenic Clouds have many objects in them that you search through.

The views obviously won't be the same as a larger aperture scope but it is amazing what you can see with this size scope.


For more info try to get some viewing guides for smaller scopes. A constellation guide for small scopes can be found at:

http://www.weasner.com/etx/ref_guides/toc.html

A really great book is "Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope - and How to Find Them"

There is another guide that keeps getting published in various guises such as "Sky Watching". Have a look in your local Australian Geographic store.

The Sky and Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas is an excellent star chart for this size scope.

Have fun!
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Old 26-11-2009, 09:49 PM
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RobF (Rob)
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I'd suggest you consider downloading the freeware version of Astroplanner Wayne, and work your way through some of the brightest Messier and NGC objects. It will give you an idea what is visible and when - you can even put in a representation of your horizon.

This isn't meant to be planetarium software - its what is says - planning software to help you figure out what you might see - you'll still needs maps or other software to home in on things. (Many here will be able to suggest or offer lists of bright southern DSOs the Messier catalogue doesn't cover)

http://www.ilangainc.com/astroplanner/

Ohh - and welcome aboard!
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Old 27-11-2009, 03:31 PM
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glenc (Glen)
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December

Next new moon try and get away from the lights and look for:
Open clusters: M45 (Pleiades) , M37, M35, M41 and NGC 2516
Globular clusters: M55, M15, M2, NGCs 6752, 104, 2808
Nebulae: M42, M78, NGCs 2070, 3372 (Tarantula, eta Carinae)
Planetary nebulae: NGCs 7293, 2392 (Helix, Eskimo)
Galaxies: SMC, LMC, M31, M33, M77, NGCs 55, 253, 1316
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Old 27-11-2009, 03:42 PM
scroll1 (Wayne)
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thanks for all the replies... this is exactly the type of information I've been looking for.
The software looks very interesting and at last is something I can run on my mac laptop.
I'm on holidays shortly so December is going to be a good time to hunt down all the objects listed.
I am wondering what lens to be using initially when trying to track down and fine-tune where the go-to software is sending me, and whether the 2x barlow will aid also... I am assuming that I would be searching with the 32mm lens at first and then increase the magnification once I have centred an object... would that be correct?
thanks again for all the replies,

Wayne
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Old 27-11-2009, 04:23 PM
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glenc (Glen)
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Yes use low power first. I suggest you only use the Barlow for small objects.
Binoculars are great for finding things too.
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Old 29-11-2009, 12:08 PM
scroll1 (Wayne)
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...just a lot of good information in these forums, really good.
I'm wondering though whether some of these books that I'm looking at getting will be ok for our southern skies. These books look like really good introductions for me, but I'd be interested in comments on how applicable the star charts are going to be when it comes to finding things... sorry for my ignorance...

Star Watch: The Amateur Astronomer's Guide to Finding, Observing, and Learning about Over 125 Celestial Objects

Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope - and How to Find Them

thank you,
Wayne
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Old 30-11-2009, 04:39 AM
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glenc (Glen)
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I don't know about those books. Do you have this one? http://www.quasarastronomy.com.au/

Here are some more southern deep sky objects: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/dunlo...hernObservers#
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