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In my area of the Lower Hudson Valley I have light pollution that is class 5 on the Bortle Light Scale.

  Oh no!!!

   When did they start Bortleing light?!?!

   Corporate Swine!!!

I live in the woods of Washington State, not a light one to be found anyware around, Sweet!!

cyberpatzer:

  Oh no!!!

   When did they start Bortleing light?!?!

 

   Corporate Swine!!!

 We have been going lighter here.  With good reason.  In the newspaper lately there has been a rash of dog stealing.  My backyard is shared with my mother and father in law and is about 2/3 - 3/4 acre.  With the way the buildings lay we have 3 mercury lights.  They all come on at dusk and off in the morning.  I put two on a switch so I could kill them while observing and I need to put the last on a switch.  Our yard is fenced in with a locked gate in sight from my back door but that has not stopped the thieves.  We have 2 pure Chocolates and a pure Black lab and a Yorkie.  They run the whole yard and I keep a close eye on them.  As far as light pollution in general?  Geez..  They have built 6 large warehouses about 2 miles to he East, which is the direction I generally gaze.  They all, of course, have sodium lights everywhere, both buildings and parking lots.  At least the builders used fixtures that are top shielded.  You can see a glow at night but not as bad as some areas I have seen.  To the west is the biggest city in my area, about 145,000 people and lots of light.  I have done okay as far as observing goes but do you know I have never seen the Milky Way.  I would love to look up and see it sometime.  

Arawn75:

 We have been going lighter here.  With good reason.  In the newspaper lately there has been a rash of dog stealing.  My backyard is shared with my mother and father in law and is about 2/3 - 3/4 acre.  With the way the buildings lay we have 3 mercury lights.  They all come on at dusk and off in the morning.  I put two on a switch so I could kill them while observing and I need to put the last on a switch.  Our yard is fenced in with a locked gate in sight from my back door but that has not stopped the thieves.  We have 2 pure Chocolates and a pure Black lab and a Yorkie.  They run the whole yard and I keep a close eye on them.  As far as light pollution in general?  Geez..  They have built 6 large warehouses about 2 miles to he East, which is the direction I generally gaze.  They all, of course, have sodium lights everywhere, both buildings and parking lots.  At least the builders used fixtures that are top shielded.  You can see a glow at night but not as bad as some areas I have seen.  To the west is the biggest city in my area, about 145,000 people and lots of light.  I have done okay as far as observing goes but do you know I have never seen the Milky Way.  I would love to look up and see it sometime.  

Suburban L.A. is horrible. I'll just say that when it isn't mucky and hazy I can't see any galaxy save for Andromeda with 80mm fully multicoated binocs.

I've been trying to figure out if my inability to really see any DSO's at home is due to light pollution, or other issues like collimnation.  I have an old 8" coulter optical newt on a dob mount and a 4.5" Orion Starblast newt on a alt/az goto mount.  I use the goto to find the DSO's that are a bit harder for me to find otherwise, but all I ever get is a fuzzy object that I can sometimes not even see without averted vision.  I then point the 8" at the same object but it's not much better.

 Case in point, last night I pointed at M31.  I tried several times at different hours at night, although I did give up at around 1am.  All I every saw was a fuzzy object that I assume was the core, that I'd estimate was about 1/2 the size of the moon in my EP if not a bit smaller.   I have 40, 35, & 26 mm EP's that M31 should completely fit in on the 4.5".

I've been able to locate all kinds of objects, like the dumbbell & ring nebulas and many star clusters, but unable to see anything distinct beyond saying "yup, there's a fuzzy object there with stars near it so I know it's in focus".

Is this all I can expect from my home, at least at this time of year?  I live in the south part Riverside, CA.  My backyard is right next to a huge empty field to the south, so I've had ok views of Jupiter (can see some banding) and any other planets that've been up.  To the naked eye I can see the big dipper and make out polaris but not the little dipper/ursa minor.  Riverside proper is in that direction so I'm not completely surprised.

I'm considering a nebula filter, which from what I've read should help with those types of DSO's but do the regular light pollution filters help?

Astronomical seeing, atmospheric transparency, Collimation and yes light pollution will all effect how things will appear through the eyepiece.
Most objects are going to be faint and kind of fuzzy, but you should still be able to see some subtle detail in them if you are using enough magnification, your eyes are well dark adapt and you use averted vision. 
The eyepiece you are using are long focal lengths that will only result in lower magnifications. If the astronomical seeing permits you need to use as much magnification that you can.  2x per millimeter of aperture is the general rule of thumb to follow.   Many objects with the exception of Andromeda will require more magnification and clear stable dark skies.  Sometimes it takes a little time for your eye to adjust before you will start seeing a slight bit of detail. 

Andromeda is a great low magnification wide field of view object. better with larger aperture. I wasn't impressed with it using my 4.5" reflector..
If you can't see M32 and M110 in the field of view along with it, then you're not seeing the whole thing.  If there is too much moisture in the air, and in combination with light pollution or glow from the moon, you will be unable to see much in it. It will probably be washed out.
 
There are also other Nebula and Galaxies that will also be washed out real easy with any sky glow.  Some of these objects are extended over a vast area of space making the surface brightness relatively low. A low faint surface brightness under less than ideal conditions usually only results in a faint wisp or small faint featureless gray fuzzy area. 
There are broadband LP filters that can help on many objects, A UHC or OIII filter will work great on most Nebulae.
You must also make sure your expectations don't exceed the capabilities of your equipment and conditions.
Observing faint distant extended objects requires about 60% dark skies and plenty of magnification along with about 40% averted imagination.  

Have A Nice __________

 Are there any plans to make dark sky preserves in the United States?

 I live inbetween Liverpool, and Manchester UK.

The only thing I can see are the Planets, the Moon, and some of the bright stars, and, ofcourse, the Sun.

Oh, and sometimes I see a few satellites. 

hrm, looking at the sky tonight, I'd say my area's a Bortle 7.

Arawn75:

With the way the buildings lay we have 3 mercury lights.  They all come on at dusk and off in the morning.  I put two on a switch so I could kill them while observing and I need to put the last on a switch. 

I too would strongly suggest motion sensor controlled lights.  Those merc vapour things are a major LP polluter. I know you fear for your dogs but look at it this way: the only thing those constantly illuminated lights manage to do is allow thieves to "case" your property from a safe distance.  Having a light pop on unexpectedly is a much better deterrent as it will startle them and warn you when someone is lurking around. It will save you some money too.

L

I first got interested in astronomy while living in the U.S. Virgin Islands IN 1990--DARK SKY PARADISE, BABY!!  I got my hands on an old Dynascope RV-6 which I loving restored and had a great old time with! (Mechanically challenged, but optically--DAMN GOOD!!) As Crosby, Stills and Nash sang, "When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, ya' understand now why you came this way...." (or words to that effect, etc.)  Plenty of "faint fuzzies, Jupiter lunar shadow transits, and speaking of Jupiter, one of my favorites was viewing the comet impact sites on Jupiter way back when.  (By the way, I wrote a letter to "Astronomy describing my observations, and lo and behold, they published it!).  Anyhow, I had to move back to the mainland in 1999 and I am currently residing in suburban Ft. Lauderdale (Rats!!)  Ha!!--I don't even own a telescope anymore!!  I guess it could be worse--I can usually find Polaris with my naked eye, and I have seen M-32 (Andromeda Galaxy) with binoculars).  Unfortunately, as a victim of the current economy, a telescope is out of the question right now.  Fortunately, when I do have the resources, I will focus (no pun intended) on one of my main enjoyments which is Lunar viewing!  (note my "User Name"). While in the VI, I was quite successful hunting for lunar volcano domes, and really enjoyed being able to resolve the actual volcanic craters.  If I hit the lottery, I think my ideal set up would be a dedicated dome housing a custom made 10 or 12 inch long focus (F8 or greater) Equatorial Newtonian Reflector. (Gee, Donald Parker, are you selling any old gear cheap??).  Speaking of telescopes, realistically speaking, I will not be satisfied with performance less than that of my 6" F8 Reflector.  Cost and SPACE is an issue, but I'm thinking for quick, decent at-the-eyepiece observing, I should be looking at a 120mm Refractor or maybe a Mak of at least 5" aperture (6 or 8 inches would be better).  Any feedback on this debate would be appreciated.  By the way, I cruise the forums on a fairly regular basis, and my hat is off to all you guys that are experienced observers and take the time to answer all the "Newbie Needs Help selecting a scope" questions in a professional and patient manor.  All I can say is you guys have the patience of Saints!!  This is my first post in a long time, so only reply if you wish--if you just read and enjoy it, "it won't hurt my feelings none" (I think Emeril said that)!!

Dark skies, and I'm missin' my scope! 

Eric (MoonDog1)

Well, I have a OIII and UHC filter now, hot off the UPS truck, and the forecast is mostly cloudy with 30% humidity tonight, partly cloudy tomorrow night.  Figures.

 Good thing I didn't go insane and buy a 11" SCT.  I probably wouldn't be able to see the sky for a year.

sbbbugsy:

 Are there any plans to make dark sky preserves in the United States?