I've received some great feedback recently on here regarding my doubts on seeing the above objects with my new 8" reflector....while many of the issues I can't control in the short term (light pollution/ weather) I receieved some feedback to upgrade my stock EP. How much of a difference will this make? Is it worth upgrading my stock 10 and 25mm ep?

A good dark sky site will make more positive than any other thing that you may try & clusters will show up great in an 8 inch scope as will the nebulae . Personally , I would invest in a narrow band nebula filter .

I agree with Astronig.  If your eyepieces are Plossls they are probably more than adequate for your use right now. 

 The light pollution at my home site has increased steadily over the years and without an LP Filter many nebulae would be quite invisible to me.  With the filters I can see quite a few of my old favorites without going out to a dark site.  This is not a complete panacea of course as the filters don't help with galaxies and they dim the stars as well but it is a great improvement.   Since you have an 8" scope the narrowband type would increase the contrast considerably.

L

flag8r77:

while many of the issues I can't control in the short term (light pollution/ weather) I receieved some feedback to upgrade my stock EP.

That was probably me.  I don't mean the EP's you have are junk.  If they are, then I own junk myself!  I don't have a problem with my huge collection of EP's(two, just like you).  I was just meaning that by upgrading my EP's in the future, it will lead to better viewing in regards to better eye relief, wider FOV's, and a better selection of magnifications.

I believe I also stated I really needed to add a few filters to my equipment case.

For now, I'll use the right oar and you use the left one because we're in the same boat.

Dark skies is what will make a world of difference. With clear dark skies your standard plössl eyepieces are suitable for general use.

With that said, however, Of course upgrading to superior eyepieces is going to make a huge difference. Even then you still want dark skies.

If you have a telescope that cost you $500.00 you would expect $500.00 views. However, if you put a $10.00 eyepiece in that $500.00 telescope you will get a view that is only worth $10.00. 
in essence you get what you pay for. 
You can take a $100.00 telescope and get $500.00 views with a good eyepiece in the focuser.
If you want to get the more from your telescope you want the best glass(EPs) you can afford.  But you're still going to be limited by sky conditions no matter what you do.



Have A Nice _________

 I agree with Tim. You need reasonably dark skies (visual limiting magnitude at the zenith at least to 5th magnitude) for most nebulae ,and clusters are even easier to detect in slightly worse skies. Of course, trying to detect them low in the sky (more than 40 degrees from the zenith) will greatly increase the chances of failure.

 I assume you are pointing the scope at the right spot (if using a go-to, is it aligned properly?) and can't detect these objects. If so, it's light pollution keeping them from being seen. If you are only a tiny bit off in positioning, you won't see the object in most cases. 

  In the next couple of weeks the Moon will be rising late enough to allow you to try for some objects that are nearly overhead (in Hercules, Lyra, Cygnus and later on Perseus and Andromeda) despite your light pollution, if it's not too severe.  Don't give up and keep trying. Locating objects in the sky takes a while to master, especially in light polluted skies.

 Mr Q