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JamesF

By JamesF
in Observing - Reports

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JamesF

JamesF

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Tonight was the first passably clear night here for seven weeks and six days (yes, I am counting :) Most of my plans were imaging-related, but I couldn't pass up a rare opportunity with Lepus visible to track down M79.

As it's not even making 15 degrees above the horizon I had to get out into the fields away from trees and buildings, so I stuffed a few eyepieces in my pockets, put the ST120 on the AZ3 over one shoulder and wandered out. It's not exactly a difficult star-hop -- about the same distance below Nihal as Arneb is above it and a touch east of a line through the pair of them and I caught site of a fuzzy blob in my 32mm ep within about ten seconds. Swapping to a 13mm Nagler gave a better view of a fairly dense cluster, but contrast so close to the horizon was hard to find and I really couldn't make out any significant detail. I did try with a 5mm Nagler to try to get more contrast but in fact the view was worse. By that time I think I was just magnifying the poor seeing conditions so low down. If we get another clear night soon and I'm planning on a bit more visual time I might drag the dob out to see how it responds to that.

So, on the one hand a bit disappointing as it looks like it could be quite a nice cluster to see and will probably have to go on the "things to look for whilst further south" list. But on the other, it's my 109th Messier object, just leaving me with M83 to find. I think that could be somewhat more tricky...

James

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Mike73

Mike73

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So I guess your in the same boat as me and have to wait for a few months yet to finish all 110?

With the 'great' weather we've been having recently I was starting to think M79 and M93 would have to wait for next winter so its good to tick them off and get more sketches in the bag. :)

M79 was only 14˚ up when I sketched it, some resolvable patterns on the outside but the centre was still a big fuzzball and that was in my 16" at VLM 6.2.

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Double Kick Drum

Double Kick Drum

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Congratulations - almost there.

I think M79 is the most Southerly Messier I have seen to date, although I still have some of the more Southerly objects of Scorpius, Sagittarius, Hydra and Ophiuchus to go.

M83 sounds like a tough nut to crack. Four degrees of elevation will make finding it difficult but at least it has a reasonable surface brightness for a galaxy.

Happy hunting!

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JamesF

JamesF

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Well worth the little trek for M79 James - M83 will be a challenge for most of us away from the south coast.

It will indeed. I don't know if we'll have a trip to France this summer, but if we do there'll definitely be a scope or two in the car. I've had M83 bang in the middle of the field of view from here before now, but I only know that because I could match up the patterns of stars around it. I couldn't actually see the galaxy itself at all. It's not that dim a target and higher in the sky would probably be quite easy, but dark as it is here, through all that atmosphere and the inevitable lightening of the sky on the horizons it's very tough. Observing from a site with a clear expanse of water to the south does seem to be the best way to improve ones chances of seeing it from the UK.

James

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JamesF

JamesF

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So I guess your in the same boat as me and have to wait for a few months yet to finish all 110?

With the 'great' weather we've been having recently I was starting to think M79 and M93 would have to wait for next winter so its good to tick them off and get more sketches in the bag. :)

Given the weather I think you've shown exceptional dedication to get as far as you have, Mike.

I was experimenting with Stellarium last night. I reckon M83 could be possible even now, given a moonless sky. I was half-tempted to push myself to stay up for it last night, as it's not that far from Saturn and I could have had my first look for this apparition. Unfortunately not only did it start to cloud over, but the Moon is also within a few degrees of it at the moment so it was a complete non-starter.

James

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Mark at Beaufort

Mark at Beaufort

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Well done James getting to 109 Messiers. Some of these low 'dec' messiers can be really difficult from the UK as you have already stated. It took me years to view M70 which at -32 dec is low from Hereford.

As regards M83 it is faint because of its low position. As you say you can find the position of these objects because of the surrounding star fields but seeing the DSO can be a problem.

Hope you are successful in the next few weeks. Once you collect the Messier badge you then start on the next collection of DSOs.

Mark

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JamesF

JamesF

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So are you planning to start another observing list?

At the moment I really don't have a clue. Having a list of targets to attempt does work for me because it keeps me focused rather than sitting at the eyepiece wondering what to do next. The obvious choices are the Caldwell and Herschel lists I guess, or at least the ones visible from my latitude, but I quite fancy spending some time trying to observe binary and multiple stars, especially those where the stars are different colours. And of course I started my own personal "Messier marathon" with nothing more than an ST80 and over time moved up to an ST102 and then an ST120, so it's quite fun to go back and revisit those I found first with the 10" dob.

James

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Mike73

Mike73

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James, the rules were changed. :mad:

It now ONLY counts if you observe each by numerical order. You have to start at 1 then 2, 3, 4, etc. :eek:

Sorry you are going to have to start all over again. :grin: :grin: :grin:

Anyone know how long it would actually take to observe all the Messiers in numerical order??

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KevUU

KevUU

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Well done James, that's impressive stuff :D

As far as "beyond Messier" goals go, I have an observing guide book "Objects In The Heavens" which lists all N hemisphere DSOs up to 10th mag - 600+ of them! I'm tempted to make that my long-term goal... Don't know if that's of interest to anyone else.

K

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Mark at Beaufort

Mark at Beaufort

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After I completed the Messier list I looked for an alternative catalogue and decided on Caldwell. Although there are some great objects I think the most enjoyable group I have followed is the Herschel 400. Of course you could be really be keen and follow Herschel's original catalogue of 2500 entries. In 1976 James Mullaney wrote to the Sky and Telescope magazine and suggested a new list, taken from Herschels catalogue, which contained 615 objects. Observing groups in the States reduced this down to 400.

I have now nearly completed the Herschel 400 list and have been looking for other catalogues. The deepskywatch catalogue lists 666 of the best DSOs which includes the Messier objects. Although I have completed the Messier list its still great to revisit these objects.

I am sure that there are other great catalogues and I have bookmarked many on my computer. Here are some to go on with.

http://www.deepskywatch.com/deepsky-guide.html

http://www.ngc891.com/index.php

http://messier.seds.org/xtra/similar/rasc-ngc.html

http://faintfuzzies.com/DownloadableObservingGuides2.html

Mark

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KevUU

KevUU

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That's an interesting idea, not to mention quite a challenge :) Is it this one?

http://www.amazon.co...n/dp/155369662X

That's the one. My current copy is borrowed, but I just ordered the last one from Amazon UK yesterday (the borrowed one is signed by the author, so I better give it back before I wreck it...)

I don't think I'd want to just do the Ms, I always get distracted by other things shown close by.

That's why Chris (cplee42) recommended this book and lent me his when I weened of the iPad and got PSA - it shows all the main doubles, galaxies, clusters, nebulae, interesting stars etc per constellation, with ratings and brief descriptions. I find I plan on that then navigate with PSA once I've decided what to go for.

Numbers for anyone considering it as a super-list:

717 DSOs - everything up to mag 10 and down to dec -40*, some brighter objects down to -45*

792 - including objects to mag 10.5 where space allows

1023 - including stars (notable, red super giant, variable carbon and double)

Hmmm, maybe that's quite a tall order!

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Naemeth

Naemeth

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Interesting book. Note, however that you can go WAY deeper than mag 10 with even a modest scope.

Agreed. The limit at 25x (lowest power eyepiece) is 11 for my scope (in a very light polluted area!), and 13.8 at high power. Although, below Mag 10 will usually be easier to find, and makes the list much smaller!

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