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Top/favourite objects of the night sky?

MYLUCKYSTARS

By MYLUCKYSTARS
in Observing - Discussion

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Crebles

Crebles

Posted
Posted

I have a love-hate thing going on with M101. Infuriating. Elusive. Capricious. Beautiful.  :embarrassed:

I always have to have a try at it. It's becoming a bit of a yardstick for light pollution and transparency for me.

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omahaastro

omahaastro

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M-81/M-82 are a lovely sight in the 1.2° field my 18" provides... M-51 is probably one of the closer 'textbook' views... any bright globular... M-57 is always a treat... so many to choose from.

I also really enjoy interesting pairings of objects... example, the little planetary superimposed in M-46 is a wonderful sight to behold.

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dick_dangerous

dick_dangerous

Posted
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I have a love-hate thing going on with M101. Infuriating. Elusive. Capricious. Beautiful.  :embarrassed:

I always have to have a try at it. It's becoming a bit of a yardstick for light pollution and transparency for me.

I saw M101 once, in Pembrokeshire. I don't even bother trying in London.

Favourite object is quite hard to quantify - many true words said here. It's the latest elusive thing I've managed to hunt down, it changes with the season, there are too many to list...

If I had to choose an object for every season it might look a little like this:

  • Spring - M13, bit of a no brainer really.
  • Summer - M27, never ceases to impress. I was going to be slightly obscurer and say M22, but it's rare that the southern horizon is clear enough!
  • Autumn - M33, but if I'm here in London then realistically M31
  • Winter - M42, which is incomparable.

As for the solar system, I'd probably say that Jupiter has the edge over Saturn for me, and I'm having some good times getting in to the moon.

DD

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Ccolvin968

Ccolvin968

Posted
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I never really thought about it until now...

1. M-45. Pleiades Star Cluster. This cluster got me hooked on astronomy when I decided to take a look through binos.

2. The moon. So much detail and it's a nice bit of relief after a stressful day if you don't want to chase DSO's.

3. Open clusters are fun, but NGC 457 is a cool one since it looks like it has eyes and it only gets better the longer you look.

4. M-31. The andromeda galaxy. It was my first galaxy ever spotted... The first time being 6 hours ago.

5. Not a specific object, but meteor showers. They are just breath taking to me.

And after 30 mins of thinking, typing, and deleting, then typing again, I have finished my top 5.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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 Started out hunting globs but have since preferred the more nuanced OCs. Have also learned to appreciate M 31 once I learned to settle down and discern its two dust lanes. Have a long way to go.

It's funny you should say this as I have only recently started to appreciate the different open clusters all over the sky with so many NGCs it gets ridiculous. seeing (and now sketching) a few new ones each session really brings a sense of reward.

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Ccolvin968

Ccolvin968

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It's funny you should say this as I have only recently started to appreciate the different open clusters all over the sky with so many NGCs it gets ridiculous. seeing (and now sketching) a few new ones each session really brings a sense of reward.

If you get the chance, hang around Cassiopeia for a while. NGC457 is a neat one, I did that for a bit tonight and hit the three open clusters, NGC663, NGC457, and M-103. All of the three were fairly easy targets, but NGC457 was my favorite.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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absolutely. these are three excellent clusters and I have seen all of the NGC clusters around Cass listed in the Sky & Telescope atlas. Stock 23 (Pazmino's cluster) in Camelopardalis is also great and I am finding the each one has its own beauty. some response well to more magnification and sometimes need it to see the patterns more clearly. NGC 1545 has a wonderfully bright orange supergiant and a colourful orange / blue grey double

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Special K

Special K

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oooops!  Let me continue....

2)  The Double Cluster (vs the Beehive......hmmmm)

3)  M81 and M82 for sure.   Great to get them together and ponder the expanse of the universe!  Got to see these from somewhere really dark for once!

4)  Anything red!   Mars, Betelgeuse, Antares, Albireo.    Just simply STUNNING!

5)  (let you know when I find it!)   :grin:

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laowho

laowho

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It's funny you should say this as I have only recently started to appreciate the different open clusters all over the sky with so many NGCs it gets ridiculous. seeing (and now sketching) a few new ones each session really brings a sense of reward.

It might have been reinforced by our two years with no scope, only binoculars. If I show my wife some other galaxy now, she'll say "oOohhh...that's nice..." (emphasis on ... and ... ). But show her a cluster and she's renaming the entire catalogue and hogging the eyepiece. I told her (only once), "Dear, this has a proper numerical designation, and an accepted nickname," to which she said, "It's a butterfly. I don't care. And I feel sorry for you."

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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It might have been reinforced by our two years with no scope, only binoculars. If I show my wife some other galaxy now, she'll say "oOohhh...that's nice..." (emphasis on ... and ... ). But show her a cluster and she's renaming the entire catalogue and hogging the eyepiece. I told her (only once), "Dear, this has a proper numerical designation, and an accepted nickname," to which she said, "It's a butterfly. I don't care. And I feel sorry for you."

at least she looks. I just get "I'ts cold" and "Yep". although she does on warmer nights like wide field scanning and almost without fail gets a meteor through the eyepiece.

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Crebles

Crebles

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at least she looks. I just get "I'ts cold" and "Yep". although she does on warmer nights like wide field scanning and almost without fail gets a meteor through the eyepiece.

Ouch - a meteor through the eyepiece? 

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