Hi all,
I've not yet been able to find a Planetary Nebula. I have a 6" scope and have failed trying to find the Crab and more recently the Bug nebula (tried for a long time on that one). Perhaps my aperture isn't big enough or I'm not looking well enough, or I'm not using the right mag., or do I have to have a dark sky as opposed to suburbia I have found other nebs, just not the planetary ones.
Are there any out there at the moment that are fairly easy to spot in my 6"? Any help my way would be much appreciated. I can't wait to see one of these!
The Crab is a difficult object at the best of times. It is very faint, and even in my big dob, 17.5", it is difficult and unimpressive. Technically, it is not a Planetary Nebula, but a supernova remenant.
Try this Planetary, near the southern Cross: NGC 3918
It lies just to the right (west) of the Southern Cross, within Centaurus, and most star charts will show it too, easy to find too.
The first time I saw it I was taken aback at how bright AND how blue in colour it is.
Alexander is right. The Blue Planetary (3918) is quite bright and the small blue disk easy to spot. The Bug is fainter but should be visible also. here are a couple of charts that might help. I draw imaginary lines from one star to another to help find things.
You could try the Saturn Nebula between Capricorn and Aquarius or the Eight Burst nebula (ngc2132) between Antila and Vela. From memory they are moderately bright as well
Wow! Gosh, thank you guys for your help so far. I'm so excited, I can't wait for the weather to clear up so I can have a look at the ones you'll have suggested so far.
You've got make them 'blink' for you, as sometimes they're stellar in their appearance and look just like a star. You make them 'blink' by looking straight at them - and they should disappear - then look away - and it should pop back into your averted vision. They're often very diffuse and faint and not picked up by the cones in the centre of your eye, the bright light and colour section, but the rods that detect shades of light around the edges of your eye should see them.
And they often have a distinctive blue-green colour to them, at least the bright easy ones do.
I doubt your 6" would get the Crab unless you were in a good dark sky, it can be an *ahem* of a difficult object at the best of times.
The Ring Nebula M57 in the constellation of Lyra is an easy one to find.
A bright little smoke ring sitting 1/3rd of the way between two bright stars. Though at the moment it's a morning object, best seen after 1am.
Once you've found The Ring Nebula, it's only a short star hop to The Dumbell Nebula M27.
One suggestion I'd make Suzy is to check out the freeware version of Astroplanner. Gives you an instant idea of when an object is visible, how bright, type (galaxy, neb, planetary, etc) and all sorts of other goodies (like programming in your own visible horizon). Freeware comes with Messier and NGC catalogues. Glen Cozen's "All Sky Messier Catalogue" includes quite a few of the bright southern planetary nebs that Messier didn't/couldn't see - you can load up custom catalogues.
Once you've found something, you can make notes on what you saw too....
You've got make them 'blink' for you, as sometimes they're stellar in their appearance and look just like a star. You make them 'blink' by looking straight at them - and they should disappear - then look away - and it should pop back into your averted vision. They're often very diffuse and faint and not picked up by the cones in the centre of your eye, the bright light and colour section, but the rods that detect shades of light around the edges of your eye should see them.
And they often have a distinctive blue-green colour to them, at least the bright easy ones do.
I doubt your 6" would get the Crab unless you were in a good dark sky, it can be an *ahem* of a difficult object at the best of times.
Thankyou for that wonderful tip Jacqui. I didn't know they could be this difficult, but am very keen to give them a go all the same. Okay, will give up on that Crab, won't waste my time on it anymore!
Should I drag these PN's in with a 22mm Lvw Vixen, or do I need to up the power more to search for them. They sound so tricky.
The Ring Nebula M57 in the constellation of Lyra is an easy one to find.
A bright little smoke ring sitting 1/3rd of the way between two bright stars. Though at the moment it's a morning object, best seen after 1am.
Once you've found The Ring Nebula, it's only a short star hop to The Dumbell Nebula M27.
Absolutely!! Ring neb is a beauty, and easy to see. Lyra is rising a bit earlier each night - it was quite high in the sky when I was out the other night. The Dumbell is also great!!
The filter is remarkable for picking up very faint planetaries in light polluted skies. Brighter planetaries can become spectacular objects with this filter.
The filter is remarkable for picking up very faint planetaries in light polluted skies. Brighter planetaries can become spectacular objects with this filter.
Regards
Steven
I have a UHC filter on the way to me. Will this help?
Another good piece of kit, apart from an OIII or an UHC filter is to forgo looking through your eyepiece and purchase a GStar camera. They're a very sensitive, low light video camera designed for astronomy that allows you to see things directly that you normally wouldn't see through an eyepiece. You can also use them to take piccies as well If you're interested, goto here... http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/gstarcam.asp. Steve Massey, the guy that owns and runs MyAstroshop, will help you a lot with anything to do with the camera (anything to do with anything, really) and he's a great guy too. With the GStar, objects like the Crab, which are buggers to find at the best of times, will be easy targets...the Crab shows up very clearly onscreen and you can even see the pulsar powering the neb' at its centre, as well. Your 6" will have no trouble doing this with the camera attached to it. Actually, the camera will allow you to see objects that you normally wouldn't see in your scope as it will virtually double the aperture of your scope....you'll routinely see stars down to 15-16 mag through your scope with the camera, even in moderately light polluted areas (your scope should be able to pick stars down to about 12.5-13 mag without assistance at a reasonably dark site). They come in two flavours, mono or colour and for their price, I think they're great value. I own one myself, JJJ has one and there's a few more of us that also own a GStar. There's also another camera called a Mallincam that is of the same type as a GStar...can't remember who owns one here, but I know one of the guys here at IIS has one...but it's more expensive than the GStar and they're Canadian. Another thing they're great for is when you have family and friends over. You can connect a GStar upto a TV/Monitor and have a little "show and tell" session in your backyard!!! Great for school outings and star parties too. So, think about it, have a talk with Steve and the others here that own one. See if it fits the bill for you and go from there
I have a UHC filter on the way to me. Will this help?
Oh yes....the UHC and OIII filters block the light at the wavelengths that come from artificial light and enhance the light coming from nebs and such. You'll notice quite a difference when you add one to your light train
The UHC will help but it is nowhere near as effective as an OIII filter.
The OIII filter will remove light pollution and naturally occuring sky glow.
A terrible filter to use for star clusters, galaxies and reflection nebulae but ideal for OIII emission objects such as planetaries and emission nebulae.
Thankyou for that wonderful tip Jacqui. I didn't know they could be this difficult, but am very keen to give them a go all the same. Okay, will give up on that Crab, won't waste my time on it anymore!
Should I drag these PN's in with a 22mm Lvw Vixen, or do I need to up the power more to search for them. They sound so tricky.
Thankyou everyone for your help.
A 6" telescope is more than enough for the Crab Nebula (M1). It is about a degree away from Zeta Tau. Scan around and you will see it. However strong city lights will make it more difficult.
Most planetary nebulae are small but some like the Ghost of Jupiter and Saturn Nebula are large and bright enough to be seen easily. The Helix nebula is huge too.
LOL @ Carl
You're pushing her over to the dark side now.
But he's right Suzie. If you want to see faint fuzzies live on your telly or computer sceen, the Gstar-Ex is the way to go. No more squinting up to an eyepiece.
Here's a link to an article about beginning Astrophotography using a Gstar. http://www.ioptron.com/images/up/ATT...on_Article.pdf
and have failed trying to find the Crab and more recently the Bug nebula (tried for a long time on that one). 
Perhaps my aperture isn't big enough or I'm not looking well enough, or I'm not using the right mag., or do I have to have a dark sky as opposed to suburbia 
I have found other nebs, just not the planetary ones.
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If you're interested, goto here... 
