Astronomy Help Please?

Question

I have a decent telescope (nothing fancy, but it serves its purpose), and currently, I only have a 25 mm eyepiece, and a 700 mm focal length= 28 x magnification. I am expecting a 9 mm eyepiece this week.

However, tonight i tried looking at the Ring Nebula and the Dumbell Nebula in the summer triangle. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to find them. I am quite frustrated right now, and basically what I want to know is how hard it is to find those types of nebulas using my current magnification, and if it will be any easier when I get my 9mm eyepiece. I am just an amateur astronomer (I'm a teenager), and I really want to learn more about astronomy. Are nebulae very dim, and hard to see?

Answer 1

Any deep sky object will be hard to see tonight with the moon nearing full, and if you live in an area with a lot of light pollution they will be hard to see any night.  If you are at a darkish location without much moonlight those two nebulae should pop right out.   But yes, some nebulae can be quite faint, such as the veil nebula in Cygnus.  The 9mm eyepiece might help a bit since it will darken the background sky, but it will also darken the nebula a bit.  It's give and take with higher power eyepieces, while you can get a closer look you will also get a fainter image.  And when you are looking at a faint object, don't look right at it though your eyepiece, look off just to the side.  The center of your eye is good at seeing detail but isn't too light sensitive, but the outer parts are far more sensitive to faint light.

You may want to get a 2x barlow lens, it doubles the power of whatever eyepiece you are using.  You can get a good one for $30 or $40.  Also, if you are having trouble finding things you might want to get a telrad reflex sight and some charts to go with it.  The telrad make finding the ring nebula VERY easy.

Another thing you can do that will help you learn a ton and let try some fancier equipment is to join a local astronomy club

Here's a good site for learning about astronomy, it requires registration but it's free:  http://www.skyandtelescope.com/

An article on averted vision:  http://vegas.astronomynv.org/Tutorials/a...

A good barlow lens, and the one I use:  http://www.telescope.com/control/product...

The telrad:  http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_telr1.htm

The charts I use with it:  http://www.scopestuff.com/ss_spot.htm

A site to help you find a local club:  http://www.astroleague.org/

A free program that is good for making your own star charts:  http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/

Another program, this one will give you a better idea of what you will see in the eyepiece:  http://www.stellarium.org/

Answer 2

you need a dark sky, but nothing special.

M27 is pretty bright, 7ish magnitude, EASILY visible with your 25mm.

you should make out a fuzzy applecore shape.

Answer 3

The power of a telescope is not magnification but rather light gathering power.  The larger the aperture or opening at the front of the scope.