Favourite globs - A southerner's perspective

[southernman]

Had the 10" SW dob out a couple of nights ago in the company of my very understanding girlfriend . She has very limited vision ( technically she is legally blind ) but is able to view objects with some success through the eyepiece .

During the course of the evening Karen asked what my favourite globular clusters were. I replied " let me show you my top five".

This list is very easy to pick - Omega Centauri , 47 Tucanae , M22 , NGC6752 in Pavo and NGC6397 in Ara. All are large , bright and well resolved in the 10" even in my light polluted back yard and with her poor sight.

Whilst some Northern observers would be familiar with M22 and have read about Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae ( or have travelled South and observed them ) the remaining two are nearly as spectacular as M22 and worthy of attention to those whose horizon is low enough to the South.

So what are other Southern ( or not to far North ) observers top 5 globular clusters?

Peter

[MG1962]

Having had the extreme pleasure of observing in both hemispheres I will offer the following

47 Tucanae

Omega Cent

M13

M22

M4 - Not all that spectacular, just an old friend

[southernman]

I like your avatar. It looks very 'southern hemisphere'.

As a matter of interest what is the difference in terms of brightness/resolution between M22 and M13 visually?

Peter

[swamp thing]

Visually M22 is easier to resolve than M13, it's bigger and the individual stars are brighter. M13 needs a bit of aperture to start to show its nature, M22 almost starts to resolve in a finder.