Two for One deal on DSO's

[John]

I've just been cruising around the sky with my 10" Orion Optics newtonian having a look at some nice DSO pairings, those where at least 2 objects fit into the single field of view. In no particular order I've picked out:

- The galaxies M81 and M82 in Ursa Major (of course )

- M97 the Owl Nebula and galaxy M108 in Ursa Major.

- The galaxies M51 and NGC5195 also in Ursa Major.

- The double cluster in Perseus comprising NGC884 and NGC869.

- The great cluster M35 in Gemini apparently cradling the fainter cluster NCG2158 in it's outer reaches.

- The great Orion nebula M42 and it's immediate neighbour M43.

Having multiple DSO's in the same field of view is a wonderful sight on a dark night with a decent aperture scope and a nice way to spend an hour following the "Stargazing Live" programme

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice pairs. M81 and M82 also have NGC 3077 nearby. You can fit that into one FOV quite readily. BTW, M51 and NGC5195 are in Canes Venatici, rather than Ursa Major. Granted, they are more easily found from UMa.

[kenmyers]

M42 and M43 looked beautiful last night. I kidnapped a friend who has never seen through a scope last night for a good two hour session. He was gobsmacked by the detail in orion nebula, he couldnt believe what he was seeing! Best view I have ever had of them. What a fabulous night. I showed him jupiter, he says he saw 6 bands and I could see 8 bands. Anyone notice two moons nearly touching each other? looked like one moon till I upped the power and easily split them with a 20mm, but looked epic with the 6mm.

happy viewing and thanks for the new targets, Ive never found anything in ursa major yet.

[John]

Nice pairs. M81 and M82 also have NGC 3077 nearby. You can fit that into one FOV quite readily. BTW, M51 and NGC5195 are in Canes Venatici, rather than Ursa Major. Granted, they are more easily found from UMa.

Thanks Michael - good point on M51 / NGC5195 - I do find my way there from UMa

I'll put the Nagler 31 in next time and see how many "threesomes" I can pick up. I was too tired to wait for Leo to fully rise last night otherwise my list would have been longer

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Thanks Michael - good point on M51 / NGC5195 - I do find my way there from UMa

I'll put the Nagler 31 in next time and see how many "threesomes" I can pick up. I was too tired to wait for Leo to fully rise last night otherwise my list would have been longer

I got the threesome in UMa with my old 6" F/8 with 25mm Circle-T Ortho, so 48x magnification and about 1.04 deg FOV.