Re: finding the ring nebula


"brucegooglegroups" <brucegooglegroups@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:1188853214.993067.39140@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hi all,
Thanks for your further encouragement. I spent this year learning the
constellations , so I am ready for more deep sky. However, I am not
sure about using a Dob. It's been frustrating finding deep sky
objects- including the Ring with it.
I am wondering whether I should invest in a larger aperture scope, 8
inch. I don't think I want to go the goto route, so an equatorial
mount is a possibility. The only issue is that my northern directional
view of polaris is not the best place to have the telescope due to
street lights in that area.

Comments?
Bruce

Hi Bruce,
There's nothing inherently more difficult about finding objects in a Dob, in fact quite the opposite. It is however a little frustrating at first no matter what scope you have. You aren't suffering anything new. That's for certain. :-)

I'm not sure a bigger scope is really necessary, but a low power wide field of view is always the way to start a finding mission.

Commiserating from my not to distant past, it is especially difficult to start out on your own without an astro-friend to at least get you looking at something interesting . I started this journey alone, and with the exception of a handful of times, I've done, and continue to do my observing alone (it's my "me" time :-) ).

Of course, I then come here to share my experience(s). ;-)

Remember this, it's not the main scope that's the "problem" when it comes to finding, it's the finder, and learning to use it well. I can enjoy seeing any fuzzy in any scope that will show it (and 4.5" qualifies for _at least_ a couple dozen show piece DSOs).

The trick is finding them in the first place. :-)

Keep at it, and keep looking up,
Steve Paul

.

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