What to look at tonight?

[szymon]

Well, but the bullet and bought myself a set of 10x50 binoculars (Olympus DPS-1), to look at the sky with my son (almost 12, this was his idea, I'm just facilitating). According to clearoutside.com it'll be clear outside tonight where I am -- northwest London. Being in the city I'm not expecting miracles, but since my back garden looks out over an old folks home which is dark at night, we do actually get a reasonable-all-things-considered view of the night sky without magnification. My plan is to stare at the moon, then just point up and look around. I have a copy of stellarium installed and might use that to try and find interesting things...but some guidance would be nice.

So -- what should we look at? :-)

(I may try taking some photos -- the moon via Canon 6d + 70-300 f/4-5.6 L IS USM + red snapper tripod might be achievable?).

[ronin]

Before I or anyone else starts to give ideas, what constellations do you know?

Plough? Cygnus?, Casseiopia?

Can you get from Casseiopia to Perseus?

[ScottS]

I don't think you're going to get the moon tonight. Not after sunset anyway.

[szymon]

I can find the plough, Orion when he's around, Cassiopeia...but not much else. Pity if the moon won't be out :-|

[szymon]

Oh, and I can usually get from Ursa Major to Polaris, from needing to navigate by it in the Boy Scouts :-)

[Davey-T]

Start from Vega, drop down and you may spot M57 the Ring Nebula, over to Albireo, down to Collinder 399 Brocchis cluster then across to Corona Borealis.

The Sky at Night mag has binocular tours every month.

You'll need something to rest bins on, maybe chair to lay back in, star gazing is harder than daytime viewing.

Dave

[ronin]

Plough: Show son the pointers and how to find Polaris. Polaris should just about be visible but not the rest of Ursa Minor.

Plough: Middle star of the handle is a double, easy to seperate in binoculars - Mizar+Alcor.

Plough: Follow the handle round in a arc and you bump into a red star - Arcturus.

Plough: The pointers again, go the other way and they point to Leo. Actually both sides of the plough point to Leo, Leo is where the 2 projected lines meet. May not be visible, just not sure.

Casseiopia: It is a "W", the first "V" is shallow, second "V" is steep.

Using the "steep" V as an arrow head it points towards Andromeda, not that far away from the tip. Andromeda is easier to find in binoculars then anything else. But it still is not easy/simple - it is a faint fuzzy grey patch.

Shallow "V", Using the 2nd and 3rd stars, project a line from the 3rd back the the 2nd and out from Casseiopia and about the same distance as seperates the 2 stars is the double cluster in Perseus.

If I recall the middle star in the W of Casseiopia is a coloured double. Slight problem is I am not sure and could be talking rubbish - happens quite often. Still try it and see.

Casseiopia has a few clusters in it but I do not think they are prominent.

Best idea is to learn the constellations.

Try for Cygnus and Lyra.

Both are high up so cricking your neck is a possibility.

[szymon]

You guys are wonderful! My plan is for us to lie down on a rug on the grass and just look up - I now know what to aim for :-). Many thanks!

[mdstuart]

Try and spot the faint fuzzy glow of the andromda galaxy below and right of the W of Cassiopeia

[szymon]

Well, what a wonderful evening.  My son Andy and I had a great time looking at constellations in Stellarium (what a great piece of free software) and finding them in the sky.  We found the plough and Polaris (which was quite faint -- as a child I was always taught it would be the brightest star in the sky, making it easy to navigate at night - but I guess those were just stories!).  Andy proudly discovered the double star in the middle of the handle, and together we found the red star Arcturus (a very slight tinge of red but it was there).  We found Cassiopeia and I *think* we found Andromeda, although by this time young Andy was getting tired.  We spent some time staring into the southern sky, and Andy observed how amazing it is that all we see is one star shining brightly until we look through the binos and suddenly there are thousands in the same "empty" spot.  All in all, a great introduction for both of us, many thanks for all of your help!

-simon

[Jim Steele]

Sounds like a great night for you and your son. Might I recommend the website binocularsky.com, it has a free monthly guide and is written by a SGLer. Good tips on what to look for and how to find it.

Good luck and clear skies

[RichM63]

You have found a great way to get started.

I too had the binoculars out last night/this morning.

@Ronin, nice directions and description, easy to follow and understand. ++