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What to see in the night sky

RohunA

By RohunA
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RohunA

RohunA

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Hello everybody! I'm a new stargazer's lounge member, and this is my first post, however I have been looking at many other posts the past few years. I've been interested in astronomy for the past 2 years or so, and I have 2 optical instruments. I have a pair of Celestron binoculars, the 15x70 ones, as well as the Orion xt8i dobsonian. I have several 1.25 inch eyepieces as well, including an 8mm-24mm zoom eyepiece and a 3x Barlow, in addition to the 10mm and 25mm eyepieces that Orion supplied with my scope. In addition to those, I also have 3 of Orion's filters. The 13% transmission moon filter, the Orion ultra lock narrowband filter, along with Orion's basic set of 4 color filters. Now to my question(s). I live in the San Diego area, and was wondering what are some easy yet rewarding objects to see this time of year? I don't have experience with summer stargazing because last year there was an onset of clouds that ruined almost every night. I have already looked at Saturn, m57 or the Ring nebula, and m22, the globular cluster in Sagittarius. I'm aware of several other nebulae in Sagittarius, including the omega, triffid, and lagoon, as well as the eagle in Serpens. Will I be able to see these clearly with my scope and accessories in moderate light pollution? What details will be seen through my scope? What is a good magnification for each of those objects? Also, when the season is right, which galaxies will I be able to see, and how much detail on each one? Any help appreciated, thanks!

Clear Skies-

Rohun

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baggywrinkle

baggywrinkle

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Welcome to SGL.

If you have not already seen it have a look at Tutn Left at Orion. A superb book with plenty of targets for bot 'bins and scopes. It grades them and also has locational drawings as well as sketches of what you can expect to see.

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ronin

ronin

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The one aspect that is usually slightly overlooked is once the obvious targets are observed the observer has to start  doing a little homework. It is then dificult to say what to go look at as saying "Try the double cluster between Cassiopeia and Perseus" can be met with "Between What and What???"

Guessing you know a number of the constellations, a couple of years and 15x binoculars tends to suggest that.

A big list of target lists is in this set of lists,

Another option for you is The Astro League they have Programs and certificates for the assorted range of targets.

Yopu can always do the Messier Marathon, in which case enter "list of maeesier objects" into google and go to the Wiki entry, they have a good table and the table can be rearranged by Type, Magnitude, Constellation etc. Allows you to work through say a constellation one night, or extract a sub set of say all planetary nebula.

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Scooot

Scooot

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Hi welcome to the forum,

As you have an Orion 8Xti I guess you don't have trouble finding anything.

Here is a snapshot of your night sky tonight. I don't know how bad your light pollution is but there's quite a lot of Messiers at a decent height in the south. I'd try sone of the globular clusters first , m13, m3, m14, m2, m15.

Good luck!

post-20507-0-87672800-1438672595_thumb.j

Sorry just noticed you've looked at the globulars, I'll have a look for some others

Heres some of the RASCs finest summer targets

post-20507-0-31402300-1438673384_thumb.j

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swag72

swag72

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Hi and welcome to SGL - Glad that you found us and hope that you enjoy your time here.

One way to get a realistic idea of what you will be able to see is to looking the sketching section - There's also a long thread somewhere about what you can relaistically expect to see, but I cant find it at the moment.

Look forward to seeing you around :)

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Rohun and welcome to SGL. A comprehensive guide as to what can be seen in the Constellations, with a variety of scope apertures, is given in the publication "Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders" Very similar to the popular Turn Left At Orion but far more extensive in material for you to find and observe. Enjoy the forum :) 

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RohunA

RohunA

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Hi everybody, and thanks for all the kind and helpful replies. I am definetely going to purchase Turn Left at Orion as it seems like a phenomenal astronomy resource. All these links you guys have given me will keep me busy for a while! Thanks again!

Clear Skies-

Rohun

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MarsG76

MarsG76

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Welcome to star gazers lounge....

Observational astronomy get better with time.. The more you practice the more you will be able to see. To answer your questions, the nebulae will be visible, but not as clear and defined as you see in some images.... More like grey fuzz that you pick out certain details the more you look at them... Of course how much you see will depend on your seeing conditions... Light pollution will be a handicap but as seeing is concerned some nights will be better then others....all you can do is persevere and experiment with various light pollution filters... I recommend getting your eyes as night adapted as possible, getting a OIII, UHC and neodymium filter... I found baader and lumicon to be the best... You might also need to use averted vision.....

I could write pages of methods of observing but the best way as with everything is practice, practice and more practice.... And see what works best for you.

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