Post by @dpnash@c.im

2026-03-03 17:31 UTC

@jkanev@fediscience.org @paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange @W6KME@mastodon.radio @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org I have, from a very dark sky with a 10” scope some years back. With a 6” it should be possible to see all the Messier catalog galaxies, but you’ll need a dark sky to have a reasonable chance at it. Galaxies are, without a doubt, *the* toughest things to see with significant light pollution. You can snag fairly faint stars by cranking up the magnification a bit, and many nebulas can be made more visible with narrowband color filters, but galaxies are only visible when the sky background light level is low enough.

Replies (2)

@ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org 2026-03-03 17:51

@dpnash@c.im @jkanev@fediscience.org @paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange @W6KME@mastodon.radio One year, I accidentally ended up at Death Valley during the "Dark Sky" festival, where there were a whole array of massive telescopes set up and I got to see so many things!!! (Off topic, we had set up a "Star Wars" themed outing there to get some scouts enthusiastic about going to Death Valley, and it was ENTIRELY SERENDIPITY that it was the same weekend as the festival.. We also walked into the Visitor's Center very quickly and the only reason we knew about the festival, was an off-duty NPS ranger from our local park recognized me and told me to take all the scouts to the airport in the evening. IT WAS AWESOME)

Open ##2268903
@dpnash@c.im 2026-03-04 01:59

@jkanev@fediscience.org @paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange @W6KME@mastodon.radio @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org For context, Mr. Messier observed many of the 110 objects in the Messier catalog with a 4”/100 mm refractor. This is a reasonable starting point for seeing them distinctly under a completely dark sky, which he (and pretty much everyone else in the 18th century) had. Keep in mind that in many cases, what he saw was “faint fuzzy blob that looks kind of like a comet”. Seeing details in galaxies (in particular) requires a larger scope along with genuinely dark skies.

Open ##2268908