Could Someone Tell Me Where To Point My Scope?

[SpaceDawg]

I am still very new to all this telescope malarkey and will eventually get round to reading Turn Left at Orion (I already have it) but don't have time to do so before the next time I get the scope out...in five hours! I'm about to go to work and will get back at about 1:30am with just enough time to quickly (sort of) get the scope out and have a look around.

On my previous sessions I have spent time observing Jupiter (as it's easy to find) and Pleiades (also pretty easy) but I was wondering if anyone could give me directions to some other bits I can easily find tonight (I feel like the lazy jock trying to bully the nerd into doing his homework for him...except I'm not in the least bit jock-like!)

Anyway, must dash to work now. Thanks in advance!

P.S My scope is a Skywatcher 200p with the kit eyepieces.

[dtr42]

were to start [stellarium free download ] ok orion nebula will be up, below the belt in orion very nice nebula and then theres always the leonids meteor shower early am ,

[Qualia]

If I was out at 1.30 am and had the view, I'd be working with Orion and NGC 2244 & NGC 2246 etc in Monoceros. Gorgeous showpieces of the winter sky.

[ItIsOnlyMe]

Orion will be due south at 1:30 and will give you a great chance to look at M42/43, this is visible to the naked eye so is an easy find and is almost a right of passage IMHO to find it and be blown away with this amazing bit of sky.

[gcraib]

UP!!

[ronin]

Isn't the the natural conclusion to this to give the scope to someone then they can work out what to look at, do the pointing and the looking then email you what they saw and how good or bad it was.

[Rockrae78]

Check out my thread 'Calling all Newbies' ... There are numerous lists mentioned, all of which will tell you what's going on in the sky at the moment.

hope this helps and the skies remain clear!

[bendiddley]

The andromeda galaxy is nice to look at and is fairly easy to find. Here's a star map for it which you can print out and might find useful. Have a good night!M31.pdf

[perrin6]

The scope will need an hour outside to reach thermal equilibrium else stars and detail on moon & planets will be fuzzy (although sometimes the atmosphere itself will make objects fuzzy anyway).

An 8 inch is a great scope ! Highlights at present are:-

Jupiter

The moon

The Orion nebula (M42),

The eskimo nebula in Gemini

M35 and the much more distant cluster NGC 2158 in Gemini

Andromeda galaxy & it's 2 neighbouring smaller galaxies

The double cluster and immediate surrounding area, in Perseus

Rigel and it's companion star in Orion

Castor a multiple star & Gemini's second brightest star

The milky way in the constellation of Monoceros

Numerous pretty double stars, many of which are challenging to see the fainter companion stars

The milky way in Auriga with many bright clusters

[SpaceDawg]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I left work later than I thought and wasn't going to bother getting the scope out but then I drove across the Peak District, saw the sky and couldn't help myself! I looked in on my old faithful (Jupiter, nice and clear tonight!) and also spotted the Orion Nebula. Couldn't find Andromeda because the sky looked quite dull over that way. It was only when I went back to Orion that I noticed the eyepiece on the finder scope had misted up! By that point I was getting too cold to stay out much longer so that can be something to look out for next time. Thanks again!

[bomberbaz]

The andromeda galaxy is nice to look at and is fairly easy to find. Here's a star map for it which you can print out and might find useful. Have a good night!M31.pdf

I was looking for this last night and couldnt see it, thanks for the map. Light is bad in my back garden though and think I might do better now spotting it. Actually, I think there should be a telrad map with it on that will help. More research to be done.

Feels like I am back at school again only enjoying myself this time, lol

[bomberbaz]

Didnt take long. http://www.solarius.net/assets/finder_charts/messier_31.pdf

The two maps together will be my next place to search. My experience will be limited due to the limitations in equipment (crappy stock EP's + mirror needing collimation) but once I find it, I shall know where to go back to once I upgrade and there is plenty more to look at other than andromeda in the area of sky.

Thanks for the map bendiddley

[bendiddley]

Glad to help but sorry you couldn't find it. Hopefully with the two you will. Once you've found it its easy to spot again. Good luck!

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Didnt take long. http://www.solarius..../messier_31.pdf

The two maps together will be my next place to search. My experience will be limited due to the limitations in equipment (crappy stock EP's + mirror needing collimation) but once I find it, I shall know where to go back to once I upgrade and there is plenty more to look at other than andromeda in the area of sky.

Thanks for the map bendiddley

M31 is pretty easy to find, so let us know how you get on. I have seen it a few time with the naked eye, and its easily visible in the finderscope and binos if you have any to get your bearings

Going on the earliest posts too. The Great Orion Nebula is just amazing. The way it is lit up is like no other.

[Letchy]

Good luck on the hunt, sir!

I was planning to see if I could spy the Orion nebula since I figured out what I had been looking at all night long last ngiht was Orion's belt, haha.... But the sky is being blocked by darn clouds right now; so I am waiting for a few hours to see if it clears up

I really want to see M31 and its neighboring galaxies... Truly spectacular!

[4lefts]

orion like everyone says.

double cluster in perseus.

don't think anyone has mentioned m36/37/38 - all nice open clusters in auriga. great in an 8" scope and nice for a compare and contrast. plus m35 as mentioned above.

maybe try some doubles? castor in gemini is cool, as is sigma orionis.

[northwalesparry]

up.......lol

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I'm not sure if ive ever seen M32 or M110. I think ive seen something there, but couldnt draw out the detail enough to be certain. Im also not sure which way round they would be.

[StuW]

Globulars are quite easy to see with good surface brightness. M13 might be a little low now, but M92 and M56 should be high enough.

[haitch]

I was looking for this last night and couldnt see it, thanks for the map. Light is bad in my back garden though and think I might do better now spotting it. Actually, I think there should be a telrad map with it on that will help. More research to be done.

Feels like I am back at school again only enjoying myself this time, lol

Tha Andromeda galaxy is so big in the eyepiece you tend to look straight through it. I tend to find better views with something very low mag like an apo refractor with a wide fov EP or a set of bins.

[Mr Q]

The results of the "beginners' observing" poll in this forum should point you in the right direction.

[bomberbaz]

Tha Andromeda galaxy is so big in the eyepiece you tend to look straight through it. I tend to find better views with something very low mag like an apo refractor with a wide fov EP or a set of bins.

I have a 25 with an AFV of 2.9 degrees so I am told (cant remember how they work it out,. another thread coming up), however I am told andromeda is three degrees so maybe need another EP but not just yet, piggy banks almost empty.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

You will be able to see the core comfortably with any magnification. But the lower the mag but more of the Galaxy you will see, and more detail, although just the core is bright, although through a friends 12" we did think we could hint dust lanes, although it could be eyes playing tricks.

[bomberbaz]

It is amazing to think that those "dust Lanes" probably contain a few million stars and maybe even a solar system similar to ours, truly amazing what you are viewing when you really think about it.....

[haitch]

It is amazing to think that those "dust Lanes" probably contain a few million stars and maybe even a solar system similar to ours, truly amazing what you are viewing when you really think about it.....

That's what it's all about for me - the thoughts that the viewing provokes. Like how long those photons took to get here.

Images are nice but they seem, to me, to be more about being stuck in front of a computer screen than anything (the last thing I want when I spend all my working day at one). Much nicer to be standing out there catching those photons with my eye rather than them being wasted hitting the ground.