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  #41  
Old 07-02-2015, 03:55 PM
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gaa_ian (Ian)
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Originally Posted by Sylvain View Post
Yes, when looking for DSO target, it's crucial to have your eyes adapted to the darkness! It makes such a massive difference on how much you can see. Think about when you are in a dark room/at night and suddenly turn the light on: this feeling/pain you have in your eyes is your pupil rapidly contracting to reduce light influx. It will then take a while (10 minutes mini) to slowly dilate and let the light flow back in. So very important to avoid all kind of white light. Stick to red light and perhaps grab yourself a red light torch to help see you around. A good tool is a planisphere. That is literally a map of the sky and you can look at it with your red light torch to navigate the sky. If you are planning your night with some specific objects, why not print some maps ahead to help you star-hop your way to the object? I find it a good exercise to plan ahead how you will get to your target.

As previously mentioned, always start with your longest focal length eyepiece as this will give you the widest field of view and make it easier to star-hop. If you are thinking of upgrading your eyepiece, IMO for about the same budget there are better deals to be had out there than the standard Bintel plossl, such as the flat field eyepieces, but you need to have a look around the web and eBay.

But the most important is to keep observing and using your equipment. By doing this, you will improve your skills for finding your way to objets and train your eyes on observing and detailing them. I believe seeing and observing are 2 different things: it is easy to see an object, but to observe it means you take the time to detail it, look for faint details, explore the structure. A great tool to help with observing is peripheral vision: this is utilising the outer part of your eye rather than the centre part. It's the same zone that detects movement in the background, such as when you are focusing on something but your eye picks up some movement in the background and you instinctively look at it. That peripheral vision is actually surprisingly sensitive in its detection capabilities - a crucial evolutionary survival tool. To stimulate this zone of your eye, what you want to do is try not to stare at the objet directly. Instead look next to it, look at different points around the object and slowly move your eye around it. It takes a bit of practice and is a bit tricky because you will sometime pick some details and instinctively look at the object but then the moment you look at it straight, the details are gone. But practice that and it will truly help your observing and you will be able to make up more details in the objects you observe.

Keep us posted with your observations!
Great advise Sylvain, I have also found sketching to be a great way to pick up detail. The peripheral vision trick is particularly good when observing planetary nebula ! I do quite a lot of my observing with my 4" Kson dobsonian with some ortho eyepieces and have recently shown some newbies how to use the peripheral vision trick and it worked a treat for them
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  #42  
Old 07-02-2015, 04:20 PM
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barx1963 (Malcolm)
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Originally Posted by breammaster View Post
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-25-Flat...item2c965ef581

How would something like this perform on DSOs in my 130p?
Yes it will perform, just probably not significantly better than your existing eyepieces.
A small scope like the 130P is still a small scope, not that there is anything wrong with small scopes, but the main limiting factor with any scope is the aperture.
Eyepieces make a marginal difference at best. For example in my kit I have a 10mm Ethos (cost at present is around $800 - $900) and I also have a 10mm plossl that came free with my first ever scope. I have done the exercise of viewing an object through both eyepieces. Sure the Ethos has a massive field and the plossl does exhibit some aberrations at the edge and the eye relief is easier with the Ethos. But as far as how the object I am looking at is concerned, not much difference.
The lesson is that chasing "performance" by buying eyepieces is not necessarily a winning game. Good quality eyepieces at the top end are worth it in my opinion, but only if you understand what the true benefits are.

Malcolm
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  #43  
Old 07-02-2015, 06:25 PM
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Originally Posted by breammaster View Post
I saw a number of clusters including 47 tuc last night. I did notice that many of them were faint. 47 tuc was quite faint for me. Its was about half the size of the moon but a faint shade of grey in my 10mm. I used the 25 mm and it was a bit brighter. I wonder if its the full moon messing with contrast or maybe i need to upgrade to the bintel plossyl
Great that you have seen some faint DSO's ,well done!
Maybe stick with what you have, put what you would spend on EPs toward a larger appenture scope.
As a beginner to Astronomy it seems like a game of patience ,with dedicated observing and that these faint objects are like looking through a microscope, except they are really very large and unbelievable far away!Making them seem small.
But you are looking at something that may contain millions of stars or remnants of stars.
Suzy's guides are fantastic, (should be stickies)and the advice from more expert observers are invaluable in your journey, keep searching the sky is the limit!
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  #44  
Old 07-02-2015, 07:00 PM
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Awwww *shucks* thanks Pete .
And plus+1 for what you said here
Quote:
Maybe stick with what you have, put what you would spend on EPs toward a larger appenture scope.
Sylvain has given some really great advice too, I couldn't agree more with what you said Sylvan, re "seeing" and "observing".
And I'd also like to expand on what you said
Quote:
the most important is to keep observing and using your equipment
- Spot on!

Wey, use the opportunity of when the Moon is around to also observe the sky without any aid. If you learn the brightest stars in the sky (it's within the link of my original post here), it will make finding objects so much easier. You won't be learning them all in one go either, as different stars will be visible during different seasons so you will have plenty of time to become acquainted with them. Then learn some constellations, slowly over time (don't expect to know them all ) . Make up your own constellation pattern if it makes things easier - I know I have a few made up ones . Bet several others here do too .
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  #45  
Old 07-02-2015, 08:36 PM
breammaster (Wey)
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Thanks guys for all the advice feel very welcome around here. I'll keep what I have and work with it. It's just a whole new experience for me and I'm really digging it. I think the more I learn and see up there, the more engrossed in it I become. It can be easy to get carried away with all the gadgets and gizmos and sometimes you just got to step back and go with simplicity.

It's amazing how these photons travelled all that way to get to our eyes. Feeling very connected to the universe. It's a much different feeling to just passively looking at Hubble space photos. I think that's what drew me towards getting that scope was even though I knew I wasn't going to see amazing images(even though they really are quite extraordinary in a different way),it was like I'm participating in something bigger.


I'll save up for that 10inch dobsonian in a few years.
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  #46  
Old 07-02-2015, 09:33 PM
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Originally Posted by breammaster View Post
Thanks guys for all the advice feel very welcome around here. I'll keep what I have and work with it. It's just a whole new experience for me and I'm really digging it. I think the more I learn and see up there, the more engrossed in it I become. It can be easy to get carried away with all the gadgets and gizmos and sometimes you just got to step back and go with simplicity.

It's amazing how these photons travelled all that way to get to our eyes. Feeling very connected to the universe. It's a much different feeling to just passively looking at Hubble space photos. I think that's what drew me towards getting that scope was even though I knew I wasn't going to see amazing images(even though they really are quite extraordinary in a different way),it was like I'm participating in something bigger.


I'll save up for that 10inch dobsonian in a few years.
You are very welcome, each of us see's things differently,why should observing the universe be any different? You will see things I haven't or won't for awhile. Because you are more observant.
(Even if I have or someone has a bigger scope) one day I may get something bigger to observe with but, even now with an 8 inch Dob I feel kinship with the first observers, and they saw a lot!
You are spot on Wey,its amazing that light, photons have travelled 1000s or hundreds of thousands of years to be seen by your eyes !At exactly the time you happened to see it!

Last edited by creeksky; 07-02-2015 at 10:39 PM. Reason: underline special
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  #47  
Old 07-02-2015, 11:03 PM
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It's a really humbling experience isn't it.
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  #48  
Old 08-02-2015, 11:06 AM
Sylvain (Jon)
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I think you are absolutely correct. This hobby quickly takes you in when you realise what it actually means. You get a glimpse of the immensity of the universe, barely able to imagine how big it is and how small we are. it never ceases to amaze me. I find it a great time to reflect and it puts things in perspective I have found.

I also agree, it is easy to get carried away and get aperture fever. I have been down that road myself! And sure, I have enjoyed the greater aperture, but with greater aperture comes greater setup time, extra lugging around and I found that it took away some of the spontaneity of observing the wonders. Just knowing there is a long setup ahead of the photons hitting your eye, sometime made me not want to observe at all. For me, bigger is not always better. This definitely is a very personal thing though! I am now happy with my smaller form factor, quality setup

And look, you have 130mm of aperture, which is more than what most of us had for our first scope! Mine was a modest 114/900 newtonian. In your case, it is likely there is more to gain by fine tuning your telescope, especially the collimation - which is the alignment of the mirrors - than upgrading at this stage.

Clear skies!
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  #49  
Old 10-02-2015, 10:27 AM
breammaster (Wey)
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What a difference a dark night makes. Went out yesterday and Managed to see a really bright 47tuc. Could see the fine specs of stars that dot this cluster. M42 was really green aswell. That Nebula was out of control. Also managed to see the Ruby Crucis. Was only a very small red dot that I could see by changing viewing angles.
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  #50  
Old 19-02-2015, 11:01 PM
breammaster (Wey)
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I think I managed to see Sombrero Galaxy tonight. Was pretty low in the sky at 11pm. Under corvus constellation. Needed to use basically averted vision to see the thing. Was a very thin faint line. To the right of it(in my reflected telescope image) there was a small jewel box like grouping of stars.

Basically like this but much fainter.

http://www.ericteske.com/2014/05/m10...canon-t5i.html

Does it get brighter in a few months?
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  #51  
Old 19-02-2015, 11:42 PM
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Wey
Well done on M104 (The Sombrero Galaxy). Yes it is low at the moment, so that makes it not as spectacular as later when it is higher. I just looked at it now about 12-30 Victorian time and only so so, but the transparency was going so there you go. Try a couple of hours ater or at the next new moon and you will be rewarded!

Cheers

Malcolm
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  #52  
Old 20-02-2015, 07:10 AM
breammaster (Wey)
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Thanks Malcolm I might give it another shot tonight if I manage to stay awake till then. What magnification would you recommend for it on my scope? I've got a 650mm focus length. I have a 25mm, 14.5mm and 10mm eyepiece.


By the way, I've become so obsessed with the sky that the other night when it was 90% cloudy I stood outside for an hour trying to pick out little cloud breaks! Managed to get jupiter in but not much else. hehe
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  #53  
Old 20-02-2015, 10:05 AM
BeanerSA (Paul)
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It's nice to see somebody else's experiences matching my own so closely.

With regards to your above question, see if you can find an eyepiece calculator online somewhere, and look up the apparent size of the object you want to look at. Then you can pick the eyepiece that is going to allow you to fit the whole object in it.
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  #54  
Old 20-02-2015, 11:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BeanerSA View Post
It's nice to see somebody else's experiences matching my own so closely.

With regards to your above question, see if you can find an eyepiece calculator online somewhere, and look up the apparent size of the object you want to look at. Then you can pick the eyepiece that is going to allow you to fit the whole object in it.
Thanks for the tip I'll check out a calculator. Not sure how dim it'll be at a high mag in my scope though. Can't wait till the autumn when this galaxy is brighter.
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  #55  
Old 21-02-2015, 09:37 AM
breammaster (Wey)
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Are there any relatively easy to find galaxies tonight that I could find in my scope? ANy that can be seen before 12:30am?
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  #56  
Old 26-02-2015, 08:03 PM
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Thinking back to when I used to do deep sky stuff many years ago, the objects that stick in my mind were Omega Centauri, Eta Carinae (I found that by accident when browsing through the milky way) and the Sombrero Galaxy (which blew my mind when I found it).
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  #57  
Old 26-02-2015, 08:27 PM
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barx1963 (Malcolm)
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Wey
I meant to reply a while back, but it slipped my mind. The obvious one at the moment is M104 (the Sombrero Galaxy). Of course you have to wait til about midnight ATM for it to be high enough to be worthwhile, and wil/ be small in your scope, but is a cracker object. NGC 5128 (Centaurus A) is also becoming prominent, but is quite low in surface brightness so in your scope is more of a smudge. The pairing of M65 and M66 (the bright 2 galaxies in the Leo triplet) are also nice and should be easy to see in the same field.
Remember, galaxies are the ultimate "faint fuzzies" very hard to see much detail without dark skies, dark adaption, averted vision and a bit of aperture helps!!

Malcolm
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  #58  
Old 04-03-2015, 08:00 AM
breammaster (Wey)
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Malcolm, my galaxy observing might be better off now that I am the proud owner of an 8 inch Saxon dob! Got it for dirt cheap. Almost the same price I paid for my heritage. I need to figure a way to either sit of stand without putting too much pressure on my lower back. Also need to vacuum the spider webs that are inside the tube. Funny how the web actually don't effect the image at all.
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  #59  
Old 04-03-2015, 10:54 AM
Akwestland (Andrew and Kim)
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To all who have contributed,

What a great thread. Some of the tutorials/advice given here are fantastic, I read the whole thread top to bottom, including some of the associated links. as a very new starter it has given me some objects/techniques to focus on.

There may even be some components that could be beneficial as a "sticky" for the raw beginners (like me).

I will re-read this again yet and make some notes for myself and am now looking at some of the apps and links to further educate myself.

Fantastic work and thank you all.

Cheers,
Andrew
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  #60  
Old 04-03-2015, 02:15 PM
BeanerSA (Paul)
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There may even be some components that could be beneficial as a "sticky" for the raw beginners (like me).
Agreed. This scope in this form and also the AWB OneSky, are really starting to get some traction, and I'm sure we'll see many more requests for observing suggestions.
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