Deep Sky Observing means visually observing the distant objects outside our solar system, most notably star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. All of these objects have in common that they are rather faint and will only be visible with some practice. A 114mm Newtonian can already detect hundreds of deep sky objects. A 114mm Newtonian gathers 2.25x more light than a 76mm Newtonian. For deep sky observing this means the difference between seeing and not seeing. A 76mm Newtonian will only show a couple of deep sky objects. In a 114mm Newtonian there will be many more objects, and the objects will also be seen more easily. Deep Sky Objects will only be seen as shades of grey. No colour will be seen except in a few remarkable exceptions. Only with 300mm aperture or larger telescopes a small amount of colour can be seen, but never as much as in the many photos you can see throughout the internet. Despite this Deep Sky Objects cause a unique fascination - the little "something" in your eyepiece is the real deal! In all cases what you see is huge, a lot larger than our own Earth and often hundreds or even millions of light years away! Star Clusters These are very rewarding objects in a 114mm Newtonian. The variety ranges from large, conspicuous objects like the double cluster h + x (x being the Greek letter "Chi") in Perseus to loose congregations of stars that will easily be missed if you don´t look for them. Each cluster has its own feel, its own aesthetics. No two different clusters will look the same! Outside our galaxy are located the globular clusters, ancient and extremely dense congregations of stars. In our northern latitudes M13 in Hercules is the most prominent example. It is not easy to dissolve these objects into single stars, but a 114mm Newtonian will do this to some extent and with a little observing practice. Double and Multiple Stars Not every star is an "eremite" like our own sun. Often two or more stars circle around one another. The movement is two slow to see, even after years the stars will still be the same distance from each other. But the view of two pinpoints of stars is a frequent sight in a telescope. Multiple stars become particularly interesting if their components have different colours, like Albireo in Cygnus. Gas Nebulae Our milky way galaxy contains thousands of gas nebulae. Many of these nebulae are areas where stars are born, such as the Great Orion Nebula. In a dark winter´s night you can easily see this nebula in a 114mm Newtonian. Other nebulae are the remnants of old stars. Due to their appearance they are called Planetary Nebulae. In former times even the best available telescopes were unable to resolve details in these objects, so they were easily confused with planets. A 114mm Newtonian of the modern age easily dissolves several of these nebulae, revealing their true shape. In Lyra you can see the ring nebula. This object will require a high magnification, but is visible even to observers with only a little experience. Another great object is the Dumbell nebula. One day in the distant future our own sun will produce a similar nebula when it sheds itself of its outer layers. Galaxies Our own milky way is only one of billions of galaxies, many of which are within reach of the 114mm Newtonian. In the constellation of Andromeda you will see a patch of light: The Great Andromeda Galaxy. This is the closest neighbour to our own galaxy, not counting a handful of "little" galaxies with "only" a few billion stars in them. The light travelling from the Andromeda Galaxy takes about three million years to reach us, travelling at almost 300,000 kilometres per second! Two smaller patches of light are the companion galaxies of the Andromeda Galaxy. They too are visible under good observing conditions. In a 114mm Newtonian galaxies are only faint patches of light, without detail. The spiral structure of many galaxies is not yet visible. Despite this these objects are extremely fascinating because of how far they are away and how incomprehensibly big they are! |