Hi all,

 I viewed the Ring Nebula (M57) for the first time last night using a Celestron 6si goto SCT.  Really cool!  Really small.  Man, do I need more aperature

 Tim

Hello,

I own a 6" Celestron SCT too and the Ring Nebula has been a fovorite of mine for many years.  What magnification were you using?  The view through my 6" scope is very pleasing at around 250x on a steady night with my narrow band LP filter and is comparable to my 8" Newt at around 220x.

Planetary nebulae are fascinating to view but they all tend to be tiny and they are certainly a class of object where magnification is important.

L

Hi Tim, that's one of my favorite views also - easy to catch aperature fever.

Clear skies,

George

Hi Leo,

Regarding the magnification, I was using a 20mm EP (75x).  The air was not steady enough for my 9mm EP (166x), just could not get it focused, too jumpy.  Ah, another night should be better.

 Tim

 Hi tim_r - As you can tell from my avitar, the ring is also one of my favorite DSOs. I first observed it with a 4" newt and in later years a 10" newt. Some nights I think I can detect some bluish-green tint but with a 10", I'm sure it's only imagination on my part. I also thought I caught a glimpse of the central star several times but again, not sure if I did.

  It's true that most bright planetaries are very small and larger ones are fainter due to their light being spread out over a larger area but some do appear in the middle of this range. I think M1 (Crab) is an example of this. It's easy to locate and under fairly dark skies it does show some filanentary structure with averted vision in my 10".

   When near the zenith, try M27 (Dumbell Nebula). It's ghostly hourglass shape is easily detected in most medium sized scopes. Several times I have seen a slight bluish-gray color in it with a 10".

   Hope these examples will keep you interested in PNs, since there are many in the sky worthy of observing. Mr Q
 

Hi Tim,

Yes at 70x the ring will be tiny.  But the beauty of this planetary is that it shows up well even at low power and even in a 60mm refractor. 

Just for clarity the Crab Nebula is actually a supernova remnant and not a planetary.  It is still well worthwhile of course.  The Dumbell is quite interesting as well though in marginal conditions it looks more like a brick to me than a dumbell!

Keep looking up!

L

The Ring Nebula was the first nebula I saw with my 10" Classic and one of my favorites(til I get wowed  viewing another nebula :P). Dumbbell  nebula looks  great also :) Good choices you picked for viewing!

 I spent most of the weekend viewing it and some others, but it's one of my favorites. I thought it was my eyes also but I sure thought I picked up a hint of some blue-green tint from my 8 inch which it's actually clser to 9" Zhumell. The moon was rising as the dumbell was coming into my view so haven't got to see it yet. I've been using a 12.5 Plossl and it looks good and doesn't drift very fast.

 Leo731 - Right you are wrong am I . It's a bad habit I picked up years ago and I have to keep reminding myself the letters SNR for such objects.

  Scotter60 - I also have seen what I call a pale bluish-gray tint in the Ring on nights with very good seeing and when it's near the zenith. Thought I was crazy thinking this but now I see I have some company .  Mr Q
 

Was observing a few double stars in Lyra last night in my 10" Meade LX90 with the 17mm Nagler (about 147x magnification), so I took a look at M-57.  Really great at this magnification, but couldn't discern any color.  Inserted the 2x Barlow - the ring almost fills the fov, but the increased magnification (now about 294x) dims the intensity - again no color, but certainly an impressive sight.