Some more questions from a novice... As I have begun looking at the sky from South Jordan, with no moon, in the light polluted Salt Lake Valley, I seem to be able to see: - Mag. 4.15 - with the unaided eye, I can see the dim star of Cassiopeia - N2599. (I haven't been able to see the dim star of the little dipper HP79822 Mag. 4.95) - Mag. 9.5 - with my 300mm Nikon telephoto (cheap optics version with noticeable chromatic aberration) - via an up to 20 sec. exposure on my digital camera and a barn door tracker. So a few questions: - Do the above 4.15 & 9.5 Magnitudes sound in the ballpark? - What would be an expected 'seeable' Magnitude? for dark sky unaided eye ... If I went to some good Southern Utah spot. - What Magnitude should expect I be able to see with a 8" Schmidt-Cass. in town? All the planets? (Pluto is 14.9). I just borrowed a Celestron C8 from a friend who was letting his collect dust. I'm dusting it for him for the next couple months. - And, what kind of difference will I get with the C8 if I go to a dark sky site? On my first night out with the scope last weekend (in the moonlight), I had a difficult time finding things. I could find the Orion Nebula. I couldn't find the Andromeda Galaxy, there were no eyeball visible stars close enough for me to successfully to hop from. Also the upside-down & left-to-right reversed guide scope was different than the upside-right but left-to-right reversed main scope, which continually confused me about which direction I was moving as I switched between them. I am wondering if getting a guide scope that reverses things (or not) in the same way as your main scope would help. And/or perhaps a lower power main eyepiece for finding things, then switching to a higher power eyepiece. - Anyone have preferred methods/techniques they would pass along? I figure I will continue in my backyard until I can find more objects. Then maybe go to the (5 Mile Canyon) close-by area mentioned in another thread for an evening with a little more darkness after I believe I can better find my way in the dark. It looks like a should have a list before I go out away from home in the dark, so I'm not fumbling for "what do I look at now, and where is it?" This is great fun. Gary Logan - Gary@The-Logans.net <mailto:Gary@The-Logans.net> _____