Charles Messier with a #395[ Star ]

Everybody knows that refractors are excellent tools to observe the Moon and planets, but also everybody uses to say that a refractor is not a ticket to deep-sky travels. I concede that, for example, a 12 inches reflector is an ideal deep-sky hunter, but the #395 can also render really beautiful sights of some deep-sky objects. You only need to know what deep sky objects to look for.

Also, I have received some e-mail messages asking me about "what can be seen with a #395". Well, to replay to this question, I went to Steve Waldee Web Page and downloaded a fine program called EYEPIECE-LE. The light version of this software is freeware, and with it, you can estimate the suitability of any telescope to view any Messier object. Also the program tells the user what eyepiece to use. So I asked Steve if I could use the results for the #395 on my page. No problem, he replied.

As stated in the May issue of Startimes on-line magazine: "Charles Massier was a French comet hunter back in the mid of 1700's. He got tired of mistaking troublesome nebulae for comets and so he made a list of objects that were not to be mistaken for comets. Ironically, this throw away list of over 100 objects contained galaxies, star clusters and gaseous nebulae that eventually became far more everlasting than any comet he ever found". A big subset of this catalogue is suitable to be observed with the Meade #395 scope.

 

M1, M2 and M3. Click here to see the complete Messier Catalog (191 Kb).

I like to imagine Charles Messier using a #395. In fact, the telescope used by Messier was several steps behind our telescope, but he had an enormous advantage. In 1700's there was not light pollution!

The results of using the program EYEPIECE-LE are showed in the following table. The columns in the table have the following means:

Messier #: Identification number of the Messier Catalogue
Observability: Suitability of the Meade #395 to observe that Messier object.
Ratings are as follow:
     VG: Very Good. The object is very easy to observe. Ideal for starters.
     VG-: Very Good, but usually the object is located near the horizon, so the image
     degrades a bit due to light absorption by the atmosphere. 
     G: Good. The object is relatively easy to find and observe in the sky.
     G-: Good, but usually the object is located near the horizon, so the image degrades
     a bit due to light absorption by the atmosphere.
     M: Marginal. The object represents a challenge to observers because it is rather faint.
     Try a trip to the countryside under really deep-black skies and/or a mountain located
     situation.
     M-: Same as before, but the conditions get worse because the object is located near the
     horizon, so the image degrades a bit due to light absorption by the atmosphere. Always
     try to view difficult faint objects at the highest elevation above local horizon for
     optimum results.
     P: Poor: The object is not a suitable one for the Meade #395 scope.
Eyepiece: Recommended eyepiece for that Messier object. Think of this figure only as a
guidelines as you don't need to buy ALL the eyepieces on the market. For example, 
Messier #9 is best viewed with a 26 mm. eyepiece, but if you use your supplied MA-25, you
will get almost the same results. Consult the "Eyepieces" section of this site.
Messier # Observability Eyepiece (mm) Messier # Observability Eyepiece (mm)
1 G 32 56 G 26
2 VG 30 57 VG 32
3 VG 30 58 M 22
4 VG- 32 59 M 22
5 VG 30 60 M 22
6 VG- 13 61 M 22
7 VG- 40 62 VG- 30
8 G- 42 63 M 22
9 G 26 64 M 22
10 VG 30 65 M 22
11 VG 12 66 M 22
12 VG 30 67 VG 16
13 VG 30 68 G- 30
14 VG 26 69 VG- 26
15 VG 30 70 G- 26
16 G 42 71 G 26
17 G 42 72 G 26
18 VG 6.5 73 G 5
19 VG- 30 74 M 22
20 G- 36 75 G- 26
21 VG- 6.7 76 G 42
22 VG- 30 77 M 22
23 VG 14 78 G 32
24 VG 40 79 M- 26
25 VG 26 80 VG- 26
26 G 5 81 G 22
27 G 42 82 M 22
28 VG- 26 83 G- 22
29 VG 7 84 M 22
30 VG- 26 85 M 22
31 G 40 86 M 22
32 G 22 87 M 22
33 G 40 88 M 22
34 VG 42 89 G 22
35 VG 24 90 M 22
36 VG 10 91 M 22
37 VG 16 92 VG 26
38 VG 18 93 VG- 13
39 VG 26 94 M 22
40 G 10 95 M 22
41 VG 24.5 96 M 22
42 G 42 97 G 42
43 M 36 98 M 22
44 VG 40 99 M 22
45 VG 42 100 M 22
46 VG 14 101 G 22
47 VG 16 102 G 22
48 VG 40 103 VG 5
49 M 22 104 G 22
50 VG 9 105 M 22
51 M 22 106 G 22
52 VG 6.7 107 G 26
53 VG 30 108 M 22
54 VG- 26 109 M 22
55 VG- 30 110 G 22

 

Do you want more information about the Messier list?. Astrophotos?, RA and Dec. figures?. Then go to the Messier Page. This site is the "de-facto" standard about Charles Messier on the Net.

Return to main Meade #395 Web Page, by Luis Argüelles.