DSO advice

[Ally8446]

I have it on good authority that tomorrow night will be clear as a bell (yes we've all heard that before). So with that in mind I'd like maybe five DSOs to look for in a 5 inch scope, except M42 & M45 please. Any suggestions would be great. Clear Skies folks

[swamp thing]

Righty ho!

The moon is getting brighter now, so open clusters are a good bet as they aren't as badly effected by light pollution.

Try some of the winters open clusters, M41, M39,M44, M36, M37 & M38 why not have a bash at the globular M79 too?

[Stovetop]

I'm still very new to this hobby, but I found this web site that has the Messier catalog. It has a good description and the best way to observe these objects. I found it very interesting.

http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-messier.html

[rory]

as steve rightly says,with the moon brightening up the sky,the fainter objects will suffer .so open clusters are your best bet.

[Ally8446]

This is great stuff guys, and the link to Messier catalogue will come in very handy. Will let you know how I get on. Clear skies. Al

[ronin]

Another list of Messier objects is on Wikipedia:

Wiki

It is presented as a table initially oredered by number, however by clicking on the top of one of the column it can be reordered by Type - groups all Galaxies, Open Clusters etc together, by magnitude - identify those that are brightest, by Constellation - go out and work through all in one constellation.

The latter is useful as you can find out all thoise in say Leo and when Leo is high and easy to view get all that are in there.

[Stovetop]

Ronin: Thanks for listing the wiki page. It will make star searching much easier.