I, a beginner, want a scope that can be used for smaller, planetary nebulae, and maybe some smaller apparent size galaxies. I’ve seen many mixed things about this topic, as I’ve seen good photos with it, while others say it would be hard. I am willing to be annoyed, though.
Can the Skymax 180 be used for planetary nebulae imaging?
It can certainly work but it will be very challenging. You really will need excellent seeing, a very solid mount, excellent guiding, long integrations and lots of experience. If you have all of that and you can be productive. If you don’t it will be an exercise in frustration.
I have been using an older Orion version for 6 months, primarily for planets, lunar and globular clusters, with an OSC setup and a decent mount. I managed to capture this bright planetary nebula (NGC 6781) and the Ring Nebula in relatively short exposures, so it is possible, but as Tony said it can also generate frustration. As a beginner you might find a setup which is faster, such as an 8” SCT , perhaps with a reducer as an option, to give you more potential with planetary nebulas.
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Anything can be used but you'd best served with very large pixels (either directly or by binning) so to match you expected seeing. I'd say 9-12 microns would do the trick for most of us.
Kathleen Jordan:
I, a beginner, want a scope that can be used for smaller, planetary nebulae, and maybe some smaller apparent size galaxies. I’ve seen many mixed things about this topic, as I’ve seen good photos with it, while others say it would be hard. I am willing to be annoyed, though.
I've been trying to image with 1660 f11 celestron C6 for about a year.
It is frustrating, but if you're willing to put up with the frustration, it very rewarding when it "works".
Relatively, I'm very much a beginner, and did practice for a year at 400mm which helped.
Couldn't find a pn my phone but this should give you a rough idea. 1h20m bottle 6
Indeed, here’s an Ir L frame from a NGC-2683 project I’m currently working on. This is at 1581mm with a 150mm aperture. Pixel scale is 0.38”. As you said, when it works, it works. Of course this image isn’t nearly as challenging as it would have been at 2700mm.
📷 result_IR_22980s bx vls_graxpert_denoised abe hs.jpg
Kathleen Jordan · Jan 19, 2026, 12:11 AM
I, a beginner, want a scope that can be used for smaller, planetary nebulae, and maybe some smaller apparent size galaxies. I’ve seen many mixed things about this topic, as I’ve seen good photos with it, while others say it would be hard. I am willing to be annoyed, though.
I am willing to be annoyed, though.
Then go ahead. 🥶With patience and a lot of time you will be rewarded.
I am imaging those things from a Bortle 7 place. Like this one at 3200mm focal length but I started >25 years ago. It is not an IOTD or APOD image but it satisfies me and that is the most important in this hobby that it pleases you.
https://app.astrobin.com/u/NHSA_Observatory?i=8gffrp#gallery
Any idea of the mount you are going to buy, as well as all other equipment, like camera OAG, etc.?
Where are you located?
Rainer Ehlert · Jan 19, 2026, 07:58 PM
Kathleen Jordan · Jan 19, 2026, 12:11 AM
I, a beginner, want a scope that can be used for smaller, planetary nebulae, and maybe some smaller apparent size galaxies. I’ve seen many mixed things about this topic, as I’ve seen good photos with it, while others say it would be hard. I am willing to be annoyed, though.
I am willing to be annoyed, though.
Then go ahead. 🥶With patience and a lot of time you will be rewarded.
I am imaging those things from a Bortle 7 place. Like this one at 3200mm focal length but I started >25 years ago. It is not an IOTD or APOD image but it satisfies me and that is the most important in this hobby that it pleases you.
https://app.astrobin.com/u/NHSA_Observatory?i=8gffrp#gallery
Any idea of the mount you are going to buy, as well as all other equipment, like camera OAG, etc.?
Where are you located?
I forgot to say that I have a permanent setup in the garden of my house. The observatory houses 2 piers each with a weight of about 7 tons (7000 kg ~ 15400 lbs) and the floor of the cold room does not touch the piers.
On the left side the warm room and on the right side the cold room with the ROR.
📷 Pano-99.jpg