What can you see from your garden?

[KevUU]

Following on from a current post in Observing - Reports, I'm wondering what sort of quality of sky people have from their back gardens and what they can see?

Just thought it might be interesting to compare notes, and give us juniors a feel for what we might be able to do without a trek

If you know a rough naked-eye limiting magnitude (NELM) that's be useful as a guideline, and what can you see naked eye and with your scope?

For me:

- Approx NELM is usually 4.8 to 5.0.

- On a reasonable night I can see the double cluster naked eye without much trouble.

- With the 200p I can make out the cores of M51 and NGC 5195, but entirely no detail beyond a fuzz. Similarly M81/M82 I can see the shapes but poorly defined. I haven't tried for any really faint stuff yet.

- Of my 75-ish DSOs to date, probably 50-ish were from the garden.

Anyone else care to share?

[Siriusmeg]

Not sure of the NELM (how would I judge this?) but on a night of good seeing I have seen the Crab nebula and Leo triplet clearly through the 150p dob. Last week I got a decent view of M51, clearly 2 distinct cores with nebulosity around - that was with the 200p. Again on a good night I can clearly see the line of the Milky Way.

[Stargazer_00]

I've attached a picture of the light pollution of the UK. I live inside the ring, inside the middle of the town that marks that red spot (i'm geniunly surprised my town shows as red to be honest).

And here is a list of targets I viewed from my back garden last weekend:

http://stargazerslou...azing-marathon/

I only use a 10" as well. I have an absolutely pitch black garden with no lights spilling onto it at all and I think that makes a big difference. The lights in the town go off after midnight but the LP is still there as the main roads and roundabouts are all lit still.

You can see pretty much everything from your garden on the right night in my experience. I can't imagine how much better it must be from a truly dark site.

I'm going to one of the darkest places in the country later in the year and taking a 6" with me. Just hope that week isn't clouded out i'll be so disappointed. I expect the 6" there to work as well as my 10" does in my garden or possibly even better.

edited picture to show where im going on holiday. green ring

really need them clear skies!

[JamesF]

I estimate NELM for home from the number of stars I can see in Ursa Minor. I wrote a short bit about it (including a link to the site with the map I use) here:

http://www.tanstaafl.co.uk/2012/03/measuring-naked-eye-limiting-magnitude/

The best I've seen from home is about 5.7 and on such nights M31 is clear with direct vision, as are the double cluster, M44, M36, M37 and M38. The Milky Way is often clear. Thus far I've seen all but one Messier object from home, mostly with the ST102 and ST120.

James

[Siriusmeg]

Thanks for that, will try it next time it's clear here.

[KevUU]

I use a fairly crude method for guesstimating NELM, I look in the area I'm observing, and try to find a star that I can barely see, scribble down it's location and look up its magnitude later - I figure if it's on the limit of my vision then it must be close to the limiting magnitude...

On a good night I can just make out the Milky Way; I'm a little jealous of James and SiriusMeg Thanks for the map Graham, interesting to nose around. I think my town is lost in the edges of the Bristol blob on there, but it's not actually too bad here.

[Andy_E]

I use a similar method Kev. Best I can get is down to about 5.8 looking S/W (about 50deg). However, N/E I can only get about mag 5 (according to my logs I've had 5.2) as that faces more towards a town. I hear a few folks use the pliades as well. As for what's visible I'm more restricted with obstructions that LP... fortunately quite clear in the S/W . From what you say it sounds like we have fairly similar viewing conditions. M31 and double cluster are naked eye jobs (not stunning, but visible), and some of the dust lanes in the milky way are JUST visible (I imagine a bit of imagination has some part to play there too!). Annoyingly, M101 (and others like it) are literally invisible

[Stargazer_00]

I find the stars above and below M44 are pretty much the limit for naked eye for me. I only see them with averted vision. Occasionally when the seeing is better I can also see M44 but on a normal night before midnight when the lights go off, these stars in cancer at about the limit of the sky for me.

I see these listed as Mag +4. So the sky isn't that great. After the lights go off I get maybe a +5 at this angle. I get +5 at zenith all the time. I'll have to see if +6 is possible by picking a target before I go out.

[marc69]

well i bought my telescope 9 days ago now !!! and 7 days of clouds here in blackpool

ive seen jupiter last wednesday , but thats all ive seen from my back garden to date .

[Bart]

My NELM is about 5.6 or 5.7

Milky Way is quite clear from about 15* above horizon. My western horizon is pretty bad with LP. M31 is visible naked eye, M33 definitely not!

Barry

[KevUU]

My NELM is about 5.6 or 5.7

Milky Way is quite clear from about 15* above horizon. My western horizon is pretty bad with LP. M31 is visible naked eye, M33 definitely not!

Wow, I'm properly jealous of that! Do you want a lodger?

[Bart]

Wow, I'm properly jealous of that! Do you want a lodger?

That depends Kev, do you come with clear skies?

[rory]

CLOUDS

[KevUU]

That depends Kev, do you come with clear skies?

On current evidence, resolutely not

[LukeSkywatcher]

M31 is a naked eye object from my garden on most good clear nights.

[laser_jock99]

View south

View North (limited by hills)

Very lucky compared to most.

[nameunknown]

The back of a chinese-chippy and Kebab shop and the underside of a tree. Which is why I went for an attic obsy.

The attic obsy is well above the street lamps and gives me an almost 360 horizon apart from a few chimneys which cover very small parts of the sky fairly low down. There was initially a minor problem (oversight on my part) that the reflector of a neighbours TV yagi was placed right in front of Polaris, but that ariel managed to get tangled in a retired rock-climbing rope that for some reason was swinging around with a CLOG on the end of it during a high wind before being replaced elsewhere by a "helpful neighbour".

Perhaps if the chip-shop suffered an outbreak of food poisoning and then collapsed through dry rot and the tree got Dutch Elm disease I might be able to go for a ground level obsy....but as I once studied microbiology that might lead to gossip.

P

[KevUU]

Wow, I tend to count myself lucky with the views from my garden compared to the city folk, but some of you guys are making me pretty jealous

[ollypenrice]

My naked eye limit is Mag 6 but I've had a guest here who proved he was getting to Mag 7 on the zenith. He's very good though!

Horsehead possible in the 20 inch. A dark notch out of a not quite dark background...

Rosette easy in 8x42 binoculars, the entire Veil in a 70mm Pronto.

I'm cheating, though, since I bought this house specifically for astronomy! Nearest chip shop - around 600 miles!

Olly

[Charon]

I have good dark skies, very little light pollution, no neighbours either which is a bonus.

[KevUU]

Wow, I hope you realise how lucky you are

Mind you, we all make our choices, and I could make a different one if I chose, so no complaints really.

...

...which doesn't prevent the occasional bout of jealousy