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starbux
sage
Reged: 02/08/06
Posts: 216
Loc: Silicon Valley, CA
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Limiting magnitude about 3.5 or 4. This was no easy task. I've been trying to view for quite awhile. I used an 8" Intelliscope dob, but the COL alone was not enough. I also used a 30mm 80* eyepiece and Uranometria 2000 (newly acquired 1st ed) to identify the field. Once the spot was pinpointed (and the atlas was essential for this) I was able to up the magnification and some of the cluster stars (mag 12+) became faintly visible with averted vision. I should add that I had an 8" SCT flexible dew shield on the end of the scope as a glare shroud (also kept dew off secondary) and a black observers cloth over my head and eyepiece to block off glare from streetlights and the like.
Those in an urban environment with larger scopes should do even better. I'm just happy it was do-able with the 8".
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GlennLeDrew
sage
Reged: 06/18/08
Posts: 467
Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Boy, that's a pretty bright sky--good catch! And your 'scope ferreted out stars some 8 magnitudes, or 1,500 times fainter than your naked-eye limit.
In the darkest skies I've had here in eastern Ontario (a bit south of Algonquin Park), I've glimpsed NGC188 in 7X35 binos. In decent skies just outside Ottawa, it's routine in 10X50's, but of course it's only a starless fuzz-ball.
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Home-made 11X50 right angle bino, 8.1 deg. FOV
Modified 26X100 bino, 3.5 deg. FOV
Mediocre minds discuss people. Good minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas.
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VanJan
super member
Reged: 07/09/08
Posts: 101
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Your description matches what I saw with my 8" newt under similar skies. Pinpointing the exact location is soooo important with marginally visible objects. Good observation. Good technique. Congrats!
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starbux
sage
Reged: 02/08/06
Posts: 216
Loc: Silicon Valley, CA
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Yeah there are some faint star patterns including a nearby obvious double star. I also had a broadband (2" Orion Skyglow) filter on the 30mm which still allowed me to glimpse the smudge of light in spite of the potential light absorption, especially given the fact that being so close to the pole it never gets optimally high in the sky. Using a new ep with new coatings helped too.
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starbux
sage
Reged: 02/08/06
Posts: 216
Loc: Silicon Valley, CA
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Quote:
Boy, that's a pretty bright sky--good catch! And your 'scope ferreted out stars some 8 magnitudes, or 1,500 times fainter than your naked-eye limit.
I am discovering that individual stars don't follow the same rules of light pollution that extended objects tend to. It seems that even under bad light pollution if you can block off enough ambient light and crank up the magnification sufficiently, you can see stars within a magnitude or so of the scope's theoretical dark sky limits. Seeing 10th, 11th and now 12th magnitude stars with certainty is heartening.
Under light pollution it seems that low magnification will make faint stars fainter or even invisible.
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