So is my scope good enough

[Simon E]

Been reading the "SKY AT NIGHT" mag this week and it has got an article on seeing 40 galaxies etc etc in one night.

I have Celestron Nexstar 8 se, (SCT) so it has an 8inch mirror.

Last night was pretty clear so i did a bit of looking into the heavens. Andromeda just looks like a misty cloud I used various eye pieces ranging from 40mm down to a 5.7mm, but couldn't make out any detail, unless my eyes are going. I did some of the viewing before the moon was up.

What should I see through this size scope. Or do you only really see great detail when u take long exposure photos of 1/2 hr each.....

Should i get a 16" reflector... etc etc

Views and suggestions please,  

si

[JohnP]

Si - Must admit I have always found visual a bit of a disappointment myself which is why I image. The images you see taken with CCD cameras are far superior to what you can see with your eye. A CCD is a lot more sensitive at capturing photons - you don't need to image for 1/2 hr etc.even exposure of 10-15 secs will start to show a lot of detail on some of the brighter galaxies/ nebula's (& sometimes even less than 5 secs depending on your imaging setup) You also won't see colour with your eye except on all but a few of the brighter objects (e.g albireo). Visual does get better when you go to dark locations & start using bigger apertures but for me anyway it still doesn't give me that wow!!!! factor... Most of the nebulae/ galaxies I have looked at are just fuzzie blobs... I'm sure others may disagree but that's my take on it.

John

[The Thing]

Absolutely Si. I have a Meade LX90 8" and it's exactly the same for me.

The only way to get a better view is to go to a darker site as we do for our deep sky camps. When you do go somewhere dark the extent of Andromeda is truly amazing, but it's still a misty blob!

[Ian]

they're not called faint fuzzies for no reason. Most of the time I'm not even 100% certain I can see anything at all. Unfortunately you won't see hubble images at the eyepiece.

However, adding an understanding of what the fuzzy thing is, and putting it in context makes observing exhilarating. Although to be honest, I find visual observing is best shared with others. Adds a degree of competition

Nowt wrong with your scope, or almost any other, once you've bought into a certain level of quality. In fact, a little test with Dunc at the previous DSC I was at indicated that even aperture for visual isn't that important. We were chasing faint fuzzies with Mike and we could see at least 95% of the targets visible in his 8" were also visible (but much smaller) in my 72mm refractor.

[Simon E]

It did make me laugh the other day. I had the new scope out and called the other half out to have a look, she looked in the eyepiece and said "Erm looks a bit like a white golf ball". I pointed out that you could see some clouds, but she wasn't that impressed.

She said to me, "for the money, over a grand, she was expecting to see little guys running around on the surface".

Although I did take a film capture of the Planet on my neximage web cam afterwards and after playing about with it and passing it through some filters in paintshop pro and stacking the 600 frames i took it almost looked like Jupiter.

Then the moon came out and we had a look at "Neils" footprint on the moon

This star gazing stuff is fun, gonna pray for a clear night tonight and maybe I can find a different fuzzie

I must say the Goto stuff is excellent, lined up on 2 stars last night Polaris and Vega, and it found the Galaxy straight away, cooooool

Si

[JohnP]

I find visual observing is best shared with others. Adds a degree of competition

..

Have to agree someone (you know who you are) never fails to take great pleasure in saying 'oh can't you see that John...' or you 'must be blind..' or 'just look at those colours....' or 'you can't even find m57 - you must be ******** crap...' & lots of others things....

Yep... Nothing like a bit of competition on the imaging field... The tough thing at DSC's though is that whenever I do visual it's normally after I have drunk too much beer....

[Ian]

Yep... Nothing like a bit of competition on the imaging field... The tough thing at DSC's though is that whenever I do visual it's normally after I have drunk too much beer....

That's merely a levelling of the field. Not that you'd think so, watching us stagger around.

Personally though, I think that person in question is making it up. I'm sure he commented on how clear the view of M31 was through binoculars with lens caps on...



(NB, not all of my posts contain factual information)

[Carole]

Have we got 2 Simons, or are you Astrowars and you've changed your Forum name?

Carole

[Mac]

gonna pray for a clear night tonight and maybe I can find a different fuzzie

Clear nights.

what are those?

All i can say is good luck.

Either that or move to an elevation of about 8000ft.

[Rick]

changed your Forum name?

...in response to a request from the admins, yes. (Ref this post)

[Rocket Pooch]

I find visual observing is best shared with others. Adds a degree of competition

..

Have to agree someone (you know who you are) never fails to take great pleasure in saying 'oh can't you see that John...' or you 'must be blind..' or 'just look at those colours....' or 'you can't even find m57 - you must be ******** crap...' & lots of others things....

Who me?

[JohnP]

Surely not mate!!!!!!