What to spot in the south-western sky?

[theironduck]

My garden is surrounded on three sides by three storey houses so my views north and east are pretty non-existent. North westish there's a gap, where I can see the moon at the moment, but to look there I have to peer straight into a street light so it's not ideal. My best vista is to the west / south west taking in Leo, Crater, Corvus and Virgo. My problem is that there doesn't seem to be much to watch in that direction right now. Saturn's good at the moment but I've already spent a few nights on it recently. I've also taken in the beehive, M67 and M3 but most galaxies and globular clusters seem to be below the horizon or behind the houses. Any good targets?

[Matt Scunthorpe]

There are bazillions of galaxies in Leo and Virgo.

Download Stellarium if you haven't already. It will show you what is visible in hat direction from your location.

[bingevader]

What he said, with nobs on.

But it's a difficult area a the mo, because it doesn't get really dark until late.

Cheers

[theironduck]

Thanks Matt. I should've mentioned that I've got a 5" SCT - TLaO shows those galaxies as "one telescope" objects. I might give them a go although I suspect I will just end up with aperture envy!

I've just noticed that there are some "three telescope" double stars in Bootes which might be worth a stab.

[Mattscar]

One telescope? Three telescope? To my un-educated eyes it would appear your suggest I need three scopes to see these objects. Should I put them side by side or one in front of the other?

As for things to see, find a list of double stars and have a go at splitting them, if you have a smartphone there are apps for it, if not Im sure two minutes on google will find you enough to keep you busy for months.

ps, if someone could quickly educate me it would be much appreciated.

[theironduck]

Turn Left at Orion gives objects a mark out of four - instead of stars the mark is expressed in numbers of telescopes. HTH.

I normally use GoSkyWatch on the iPhone which is good for planets, comets and brighter Messier objects but doesn't show double stars as far as I can see. Maybe I need to buy yet another astro app!

[Mattscar]

Double Stars. It comes with a 'point it this way at this angle' kind of feature, but I find it more useful as a list of things I can find which I can then look up on Stellarium to guide me closer to it.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I would of thought with a 5' you can get most of the Messiers (dont quote me on that though). It may be worth trying to find a dark site near yourself. Thats the trouble with gardens, limit views. Its the same in my garden :/

[LukeSkywatcher]

Thanks Matt. I should've mentioned that I've got a 5" SCT - TLaO shows those galaxies as "one telescope" objects. I might give them a go although I suspect I will just end up with aperture envy!

I've just noticed that there are some "three telescope" double stars in Bootes which might be worth a stab.

Ive seen the Leo triplet with a 5" scope.

I have also seen the Ring Nebula (in Lyra) with the same scope, the Black Eye galaxy, but to name a few objects.

Granted they are not all in your observing area, but a 5" scope can show such objects (albeit in very small scale).

[Mattscar]

I have of course now realised that I was technically asking someone to explain a book I have in my signature. I just wish to put my case that I'm still reading a different book and have only flicked through it. When you explain it I had a proper 'duuhhhhh' moment.

[bingevader]

5" is loads!

I know I do most of my observing from my back garden too, but there's not a little patch close by that you can pop out to is there?

Failing that, how about a local club?

Just spotted your duck, a bit scarier than mine!

Cheers

[andrew63]

Your light pollution does not help and even with a much bigger telescope it will be a struggle to see them. Theres some nice globulars to see in ophiuchus and hercules and later on some lovely planetary nebula m57 and M27. Scorpio and sagittarius have some glorious objects but not sure how good your southern horizon is?

The best of all is, you have a really compact telescope which is easy to transport and when you get a chance you will see much more with it from a better location - enjoy the views !

andrew

[theironduck]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! I had my scope out last night but it was rather hazy so I thought it probably wouldn't be worth hunting for fuzzies (although I managed to find M3 quite easily just before I packed up) so spent a long time on the moon instead, looking for the Apollo landing sites. Despite my earlier protestations I also couldn't resist some time on Saturn. I was looking through my barlowed 7mm HuTech when a jet flew through the fov just as my wife opened the back door - gave me the fright of my life!

I'd love to find a nice dark(er) site but I do most of my observing on the evenings when my wife's out which ties me down as I can't leave the kids home alone. One day...