Re: How am I doing?

I’ve been into astronomy since I was 5 years old. I’m 52 now. I got my first real telescope just over a year ago, a 5-inch Mak. Since I have no previous experience to judge my success by I’m curious if I am getting the kind of success that I could or should be expecting. I feel pretty good about what I have been able to see in my scope and I'm talking about naked eye, NOT CCD or film. I know if I feel good about it that’s all that counts but I am curious if I am getting the most from my efforts. I live in a moderately dark site, but I do have a small town a couple miles south of me as well as the usual and hated mercury vapor lights. In the past year I have seen:

96 of the Messier objects.

53 Galaxies in total (A number are non-Messier).

29 Globular clusters (A number are non-Messier).

An unknown number of faint Open Clusters.

I have seen several planetary nebulas not on the Messier list.

I lot of good views of Jupiter and Saturn and their moons. I have seen Uranus, but it looked like a star. I did see Saturn and M1 in the eyepiece together.

I have spilt a number of doubles, but certainly not as many as I could since I am constantly trying to add to the Messier and other DSO list. I enjoy DSO, they are like trophies to me.

I also have a pair of 15x70 binoculars that I have seen 36 Messier objects with. Usually though, I just enjoy wandering around the Milky Way with these.

With my Mak I seem to start to have a real problem on DSO around mag 10. I can see a few DSO fainter than mag 10 limit, but not many. I have seen bright PN out to mag 11.

What should my expectations be? Am I on target or am I missing something?

I would appreciate any comments. I'm just trying to gauge if my efforts are paying off or if by more experienced standards, I'm just "goofing" off. I have no basis (previous experience) to determine if the above list is good, average, or poor for my size scope. (I know there are a lot of variables here, but in general terms how would you rate my success for my first year.)

I am having a LOT of fun so far but my main concern is that it's getting harder for me to find new DSO. I did just order the Caldwell Objects book in the hopes of tracking down more objects. I also use a star atlas and a couple of very good computer star charts as well as all the astronomy periodicals. I'm afraid that in another year I will run out of new DSO to add to my "hit list".

I either need to find some new tricks or talk my wife into a bigger scope ;-)

Daryl Crowley
Ludington, MI

Daryl, my experience pretty well mirrors yours. I did some astronomy in high school and started back in last March with a borrowed 5" Newtonian. I now use an 8 inch dob with a fine mirror and a 5 inch Mak Newt. I think that I may be one Messier object ahead of you, and you are almost certainly several galaxies ahead of me. I am sure that I am (and you are) a much better observer for finding all those objects. I agree with you that it is fun. One of the best things was finding the Helix nebula, and discovering that my friend (who has done a lot more of this than I have) had never even looked for it. I haven't read the Caldwell Objects, but there is a valuable passage in the Messier Objects where O'Meara talks about not racking up numbers of objects but observing one object for an entire night, and really learning it, finding as much as possible of what one can see in it.

The most important thing is that you enjoy what you are doing, not what anyone else thinks. I predict marital tension and a larger scope in your future, which will enable you to see more in those objects you have found as well as more objects.

Lorne Johnson

Daryl, I think you're doing fine... but don't worry about what anybody else is doing. Just do it because it's fun, it's peaceful, it's what you enjoy doing, and that's what really counts.

It does not matter if you looked at 110 Messier objects, or just 1... Astronomy is not a "Race" to collect more items, but to enjoy viewing them, at your own pace.

No competition going on here...



Clear dark skies, my friends!


Ivan

Hello there Daryl,

That's quite a lot of DSOs in the past year and IMO that's quite an accomplishment with a 5" aperture! I also observe from my semi-rural backyard with my 4" APO and have bagged
399 non-Messier DSOs (not counting double stars) in the past year and half. Also, I keep notes on the objects I see and spent an average of 30-45 min. per object.
http://members.cox.net/ronby/Palatable_4-inch.htm

With my sky LM varying from 5.3 - 6.0, my 4" TV-102 Light Cup has been able to grill down to sub mag 13 PN and sub mag 12 galaxies. My "speed limit" test after the first try (using stars around M57) has been stars down mag 13.3 (the sky LM was only mag 5.3 at the time). So perhaps you would want to judge how deep can you see by finding out what's the dimmest stars you can see. In the quest to see an object at the limit of my telescope, I learned that patience, technique, dark adaptation and sky condition (from my backyard) are extreme important.

Please check this section out for tips on DSO that I hope you may find useful.
http://members.cox.net/ronby/Desserts.htm
In addition to new Caldwell book, I highly recommend another book: Deep-Sky Wonders by Walter Scott Houston.

Lastly, you said you're having a LOT of fun. This is more important that anything. There are many more DSOs out there waiting for you and your 5". But if you feel you're still running out of DSO, most people try the H-400 list after the Messier. While many objects on that list are quite easy, some are inhumanly difficult for a small aperture like NGC 6118, the Blinking Galaxy, which my Light Cup considers as the H-400 Admission Test ;-).
http://www.messier45.com/listgen/index.html

Wishing you more fun hunting.
Ron B[ee]

Wow, I really appreciate the response. But I must clarify that I don't consider all this a race or a competition. I do spend a lot of time revisiting objects and one of my main objectives is to commit to memory, the location of as many objects as I can. I do get a kick out of jumping from object to object for newbies (newer than me) without the use of a map. I can find most all of the Messier and a number of other objects by starhopping form memory. They seem to find it impressive, and it makes you "feel" clever.

I do try to spend a fair amount of time on each object as I can see more the longer I look, and of course some nights are better than others. But, with all that said, for me there is a thrill in seeing a new object for the first time. You can find it and see the for the first time only once! I will always have the urge to visit a new corner of the Universe for the very first time.

Thanks for all the input. I'm feeling much better now and I will certainly follow up on the suggestions for new DSO.

Daryl

Daryl,

The fact that you're enjoying yourself is most important. We don't have report cards or effectiveness rating scales to comply with. But one thing: beware of aperature fever. You may find your 5" mak not quite up to the task of finding DSO objects described as "bright" or "large". I caught a bad infection as a result of looking for NGC891 in my backyard using a 10" SCT. Later, with more experience and darker skies, I could find it with ease. Nonetheless, that didn't cure my fever. I have an 18" dob now.

Howard K

I've been observing for almost 15 years...albeit just casually.

If it were a competition, you'd be kickin' my butt. But alas, it's not. Sometimes I go out with a plan, sometimes not. The main thing for me is just to get out and relieve the stress of the day.

No matter what I'm looking for, or at, it never fails to remind me just how insignificant my troubles are. When I see the Andromeda galaxy, I don't look at it from a scientific point of view, but rather a philosophical one...I'm seeing something that has already undergone millions of years of change since it's light got to my eyes.

Humbling.