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Moon, Orion & Jupiter - what next? (something easy pref)


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If your site is reasonably dark, you can 'see' M 31 naked eye but it is quite a large object, so a nice widefield, low power eyepiece is handy. The main problem, however, is the time you can start observing. Even if you're out around 19.00 UTC, Andromeda is already quite low towards the western horizon, so won't make for optimal viewing. Personally, I'd leave M 31 for another season.

I'd be visiting Jupiter and Orion on every occassion I could, even if it was just to say hello and if the hour were right, I'd also visit the open clusters in Auriga, Gemini and Canis Major, noting that there's even a few planetary nebulae worth checking out in the latter two constellations. I'd plan my evening session by checking out my star atlas and just giving anything that tweaked my fancy a go. Doubles would also be included, for there are some gorgeous binary stars in this area.  

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Thanks all for your responses so far - I should state that I'm in the UK :) so Andromeda was almost directly above me.

Haha Ronin - sorry if my message came across that those were hard to find - those were easy :) but just wondering if there is something as easy to see/find as those :)

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Can't comment on how easy things are with a 10" (I can only dream...) but the 'objects' that I have a lot of pleasure revisiting with my 6" are the Pleiades & Hyades - just endlessly breathtaking, M44 the Beehive, Mirphak and it's surrounding stars (forget their Melotte number), Sigma Orionis (a little doubles treat I've fallen in love with), just looking around Auriga & Cassiopeia and my 'go to' constellation of Lyra - double-double, M57, Vega itself - so much to observe!

What I am presently taken with though, is the Moon - as you say, dead easy to find and look at, but where it rewards utterly is prolonged study....so rather than just observe it, I'm now attempting to learn crater names, rilles, Montes etc and learn about them, see how their detail changes or is highlighted across the phases. Same re M42 - the more I look, the more I see, the more I realise how much I have left to understand about nebulae, star formation and so on....and, importantly, there's a lot to be said for just 'wandering' with my eyepiece, finding something delicious then looking it up to confirm, inform and enhance my, er, viewing pleasure for next time...

Better than any ASBO -keeps me off the streets :D

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If you want to try for some galaxies I'd suggest Messier 81 and 82 in Ursa Major. They are relatively easy to find, look interesting even in smallish scopes (I first found them with a 60mm refractor) and you should be able to see both of them in the same field of view with the 28mm eyepiece. M81 is also known as Bodes Galaxy and M82 the Cigar Galaxy for reasons which will become clear when you see it !

Heres how to find them:

http://www.space.com/6889-starhopping-find-pair-galaxies.html

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I think that a different approach can almost be taken here - rather than looking for "wow" targets, you could spend sessions looking around a particular constellation just to see what you can find, then identifying them (either from memory and a good reference book/star atlas), or by sketching? Might be particularly suitable for a Dob, and that way you might find your own wonders of the sky? I'm thinking in particular of the amateur astronomer Father Lucien Kemble who identified Kemble's Cascade among other things during his lifetime?

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Had similar query, M45 was THE outstanding find for me. Splitting the double star in Gemini (sorry cant remember which star it was, one of the two bright ones) was cool too

If you have The Works nearby the Deep Sky Observers Guide is well worth £2.99 

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Had similar query, M45 was THE outstanding find for me. Splitting the double star in Gemini (sorry cant remember which star it was, one of the two bright ones) was cool too

If you have The Works nearby the Deep Sky Observers Guide is well worth £2.99 

That'll be Castor the top one of the two.

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I used to have a 10" dob. I loved to just put in my widest eyepiece and sweep the sky. I could spend hours doing this, and evey once in a while I would hit a galaxy or cluster. Then I would take a look at what constellation I was in, go get the computer, and figure out what I had found.

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As others have said Turn Left at Orion is a great guide. Roaming a constellation is also fun. Recently I had a great hour or more in and around Orion with my 6" SW 150PL. Also do not ignore the moon - endlessly fascinating. Observing the Moon is to my mind really good book, link to it on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Observing-Moon-Modern-Astronomers-Guide/dp/110768871X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423299727&sr=1-1&keywords=observing+the+moon

There is a map in the book which is oriented as through a Newtonian reflector which is really helpful for finding your way around and checking what you have found or fancy finding. Yes, at higher power you can get lost on the moon!

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M31, Andromeda a Galaxy should be easily visible with your 28mm EP. If you have some binoculars handy try to find it first with those which will give you a better idea of the star hop. Personally, I think M51, Whirlwind Galaxy with its companion is a far better target and is dead easy to find close to a naked eye star fora very short star hop. Turn left at Orion is a very good suggestion along with a good star chart.

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