What are your top 5 ____?

[JoshH]

[Moderators: Please move this if it would be more appropriate in the Observing Forum] 

The idea for this was brought up in another thread (by @ronin) and I thought it might make for an interesting discussion. What are your favorite 5 objects from each class? Mine mostly came from the top of my head and I am sure I have forgotten some great ones. Perhaps the end result will make for a good SGL recommended viewing list. 

Because we all  have different telescopes and locations, I'll add that my list was observed with an 10" Dob at 33 N latitude. 

Solar System

Moon

Current Comets

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus (I could have opted for Mars instead, but there is a chilling and remote quality to Uranus that I find captivating)

Galaxies (This one was physically painful to leave at only 5)

M31

M81/82

M51

NGC 4631/4656

NGC 253

Diffuse Nebula + SNR (Filters may help)

M42

M17

M8

NGC 6960, 6979, 6992/5 (Veil)

NGC 2237-9 (Rosette)

Planetary Nebula

M57

M27

NGC 7293

NGC 6543

NGC 3242

Open Clusters (This category was also very difficult, could have easily included a dozen others)

M37

M11

M67

NGC 7789

NGC 869/884 (Double Cluster)

Globular Clusters

NGC 5139 (if this is too much of an outlier declination-wise, I'll substitute M15)

M13

M5

M3

M22

Doubles

Almach

Izar

Iota Cancri

h3945

Albireo

Misc.

Milky Way

3C 273 (not too much to look at, but mind-blowing nonetheless)

B86 + NGC 6520 (Yin-yang)

B92/3

Current Supernovae (I've only observed a few of these, but they are quite interesting)

[dick_dangerous]

Nice idea - could be useful as a reference for beginners wanting to know where to point their telescopes to get good results?

I have a few favourites of each class of object, although under the Light Pollution I probably wouldn't make it up to 5 on some of them. These would be my picks with a 6'' reflector from an urban setting:

Open Clusters

Pleiades - Using binoculars or my ST80 'frac

Double Cluster

M11 (Wild Ducks)

M67

M6 (Butterfly Cluster) - Just showing off that I can see it from London but it is one of those objects that looks like its name

Globular Clusters

M13 - Probably the best, easiest cluster to find and to view from the Northern Hemisphere

M22

M3

M92

M80

Nebulae (Emission and SNR)

M42 (Orion Nebula) - Peerless

M17 (Omega Nebula) - My favourite summer nebula

M8 (Lagoon Nebula)

M20 (Trifid Nebula)

M1 (Crab Nebula) - Nebulae aren't the best from London, so this is pretty much a list of nebulae I've spotted from the park...

Planetary Nebulae

M57 (Ring Nebula) - Responds incredibly well to LP and is another of the easy ones to actually locate

M27 (Dumbbell Nebula) - Again shows up so easily

NGC2392 (Eskimo Nebula)

NGC6826 (Blinking Planetary)

M97 (Owl Nebula) - I've never tried this from the park but it was lovely from Cornwall

Galaxies

M31 (Andromeda Galaxy)

M81 (Bode's Galaxy)

M82 (Cigar Galaxy)

M94 - Really bright, really easy even in London

M65, M66 and NGC3628 (Leo Triplet) - Alright, that's three, but they appear in the same FoV

Doubles

Alberio

Epsilon Lyrae - Really needs the 6''

Cor Caroli

Izar

Polaris

And there you have it!

DD

[stevend]

Epsilon Lyrae - Really needs the 6''

I can split the double/double quite easily with 5" and 188x.

[glynnlondon]

Good thread a few new targets for tonight weather permitting 

[dick_dangerous]

I can split the double/double quite easily with 5" and 188x.

My other scope is an ST80 which, frankly, struggles!

DD

[John]

I can split the double/double quite easily with 5" and 188x.

The ED80's that I've owned could all split Epsilon Lyrae too. It's a really lovely pair of binary stars and worthy of being in a "Top 5" list but it's not exceptionally challenging to split.

[ronin]

The only catch here is people are picking challenging, but interesting, ones not therefore ones that a beginner would consider.

Seems little point picking ones that need a 10" scope and pristine dark skies when most will have a 130P and suburban light pollution.

Does make selection a slightly more thoughtful exercise - Mizar/Alcor is easy whereas Algol is difficult which do you throw in??

[stevend]

The only catch here is people are picking challenging, but interesting, ones not therefore ones that a beginner would consider.

Seems little point picking ones that need a 10" scope and pristine dark skies when most will have a 130P and suburban light pollution.

Does make selection a slightly more thoughtful exercise - Mizar/Alcor is easy whereas Algol is difficult which do you throw in??

It is difficult to define beginner, some start with small scopes but others go straight to 8". For a beginner I think the focus should be on inrteresting. IMO the important thing is that when members make suggestions that they state what size scope they are using or what is required and Josh & D_D both did that.

[dick_dangerous]

Possibly this isn't a topic for "Getting Started with Observing." For one thing I'm not a beginner! All of mine are pretty easy though because of my observing situation - admittedly some are more difficult in terms of locating, but all of those bar M97 I've seen from Zone 6 under heavy light pollution with the 6'' and most of them I've caught with the 3'' (A couple of those planetary nebulae and the Leo Triplet excluded).

A beginner would probably want to trawl through the most obvious sights of the sky for each class, preferably naked eye visible under good conditions or at least visible in the finder. In which case may I suggest the following absolute highlights for the absolute novice with their first telescope:

• Open Cluster - Double Cluster
• Globular Cluster - M13, naturally - it requires a little sky knowledge but is easily visible in binoculars and finderscope from London
• Nebula - M42 - Naked eye visible in Bushy Park
• Planetary Nebula - M57 - the Ring being between two very bright stars is exceptionally easy to locate although, again, it can be tricky the first time. I never found it until I rediscovered the hobby last year.
• Galaxy - M31, even if my wife was underwhelmed by it, let's face it, it's pretty cool
• Double Star - Alberio
• The Moon
• Jupiter
• Saturn

I found all of those with my Tal when I was 14, except for M57 but that was only because I didn't realise how small it is!

DD

[Paul73]

A few that I have enjoyed as well as those already mentioned:

Solar System

Jupiter shadow transits

Saturn's moons (lots of people don't get past the rings)

Jupiter GRS

Galaxies

Leo - M95,96,107 group

Virgo - Markarian chain

Virgo - M49 group

Coma - M64 Black Eye

Diffuse Nebula + SNR

Yes nowt to add

Planetary Nebula

M97 Owl

Open Clusters

m35

Sagittarius Star Cloud

Globular Clusters

Coma - M53

Doubles

Hoping for some ideas (new to these)

Misc.

Owl Cluster asterism

Paul

[bingevader]

If JoshH were able to edit his first post, so that he can update his list to add the most popular 5 in each section as more people contribute, might be worthy of a sticky! 

Oops, forgot to add mine, I'll have a think first. 

[JoshH]

Nice idea - could be useful as a reference for beginners wanting to know where to point their telescopes to get good results?

I have a few favourites of each class of object, although under the Light Pollution I probably wouldn't make it up to 5 on some of them. These would be my picks with a 6'' reflector from an urban setting:

[Edited for post length]

And there you have it!

DD

Thanks DD! M92 is definitely a favorite that gets overlooked due to its more famous neighbor. I really debated about including it in my list (also M10, M2). NGC 2392 is a terrific object. I really had a tough choice between it and NGC 3242. I think M94 is an excellent choice. It was the first galaxy I ever saw and it was from heavy light pollution. Also the double-double is a great pick!

A few that I have enjoyed as well as those already mentioned:

Solar System

Jupiter shadow transits

Saturn's moons (lots of people don't get past the rings)

Jupiter GRS

Galaxies

Leo - M95,96,107 group

Virgo - Markarian chain

Virgo - M49 group

Coma - M64 Black Eye

Diffuse Nebula + SNR

Yes nowt to add

Planetary Nebula

M97 Owl

Open Clusters

m35

Sagittarius Star Cloud

Globular Clusters

Coma - M53

Doubles

Hoping for some ideas (new to these)

Misc.

Owl Cluster asterism

Paul

Paul, thanks for the ideas! I have never seen a shadow transit and you can bet it is now on my list! Markarian's Chain is also an excellent choice. I found it somewhat difficult to navigate to my first time, but it was well worth the effort. What a truly amazing sight it is once you get there! My first list had M24 on it, but decided to include the whole Milky Way instead. If relegated to one section of the MW, it would certainly be the Sagittarius Star Cloud.

If JoshH were able to edit his first post, so that he can update his list to add the most popular 5 in each section as more people contribute, might be worthy of a sticky! 

Oops, forgot to add mine, I'll have a think first. 

I need to post more to be granted that privilege, but I will certainly do so. I'll be excited to see what you come up with. I found it a fun exercise and hope you do also.

And to the general point about criteria, I struggled with which forum to post in (hence my first suggestion to the mods) and hopefully made the right choice. I still am very much open to this being moved if it would be more appropriate elsewhere. I tried to include objects that show up well in a medium-sized scope. I gave preference to bright objects as well as objects that show some detail. If this thread gather enough entries, I will (when I am able) edit my first post to highlight different objects chosen for different scopes.

Thanks everyone for your ideas!

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'm too lazy to cut and paste or even type much, so here are a few of my favourites,in no particular order:

1/ Jupiter, and watching its moons dance around it over an extended period of time (you'll need to pull an all nighter for this or at least spend 5 hrs observing it).

2/ Saturn (need i say more).

3/ The Rosette Nebula.

4/ M44 (The Beehive) when using bins.

5/ Auriga (its an area full of lovely treats).

6/ The Black Eye Galaxy.

7/ The Ring Nebula.

8/ The Leo Triplet.

9/ M42 (its on everyone's list,right?).

10/ M45 (when using bins).

11/ The double cluster in Hercules.

12/ Cassiopeia (its a very distinct shape and a good marker for finding Andromeda galaxy).

13/ The Lunar Terminator.

14/ Iridium Flares (really cool to see those)

15/ The Geminid Meteor Shower in Mid-December (if it is a particularly good one and the weather plays ball).

16/ Orion (He's my oldest friend in the night sky and i look forward every autumn to seeing him again).

17/ Anything else i forgot to mention (basically anything you can see on a clear night). 

[Lemzo]

Lots of great lists here for a newbie to work through!