Top 5 targets for a small scope.

[Andy-T]

I have decided i need more structure to my observing sessions. Well i have been told i need more structure by a friend who is much more experienced than me  .

He came around and we got into the garden, set up and was ready to go. Then he pulled out his target list along with sketches and his planisphere. When asked what i was targeting i replied "whatever i find"! The look of confusion on his face was very funny.

Dont get me wrong i spend time reading, learning the sky and the constellations and have so far managed Andromeda, Albiero, Jupiter, Double Cluster and Orion Nebula.

So i have a week off work and want to target some objects this week. With a small scope like mine what would your Top 5 be?

Orion Nebula blew me away night before last, i couldnt believe what i managed to see in my scope, the detail using the 25mm stock lens was fantastic. Andromeda was amazing, especially when you research into what it is you are looking at, i had no idea until after i found it. Albiero was the first thing i found, i would like to find more doubles / clusters. I guess what i am saying is i love the planets, galaxies, doubles and nebula so dont want to fix myself targeting one aspect.

I just maybe need to focus on a few things rather than flying my scope around the sky to be more productive in the evenings. Its hard when its so exciting!

Andy

[Alien 13]

Have you got Stellarium its a free program that lets you view the sky from your location at any chosen time, very useful for planning sessions.

[CJ77]

Hi Andy,

I think from my own experience, brief though it is, that I personally find just star hopping and exploring things for myself equally as rewarding as other more structured sessions where I focus on just one or two objects. I imagine that this is why astronomy is such an inclusive hobby - there's an approach to suit everyone! I can spend hours trying to tease out surface detail on Jupiter, or a few minutes passing across as many clusters as I can find - it doesn't really matter as long as I'm enjoying it.

As for my top 5, I think I'll put up what I'd like my next 5 targets to be (time of year permitting!!)

1 - Saturn, including the Cassini division (probably next summer now....)

2 - Globular Cluster in Hercules

3 - More Lunar stuff

4 - Coathanger asterism

5 -  Orion nebula (my garden faces North, so I've got to find a south-facing site...  )

But the list could go on.....

Colin.

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Andy and welcome to the SGL mate.  A good way to start is to find out how dark your skies are and if you suffer with any light pollution - this is the real killer for most of us and will in turn, give you an idea of the objects to look for using Stellarium (free download) or any Apps on your Android phone (skyeye or Google Sky maps Both free)

I have quite bad light pollution, so tend to stick with the Messier objects.  Finding out the orientation of your finder would be a big help  -

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finderscope

Have a look at the link - this will help, with my last dob I bought a Right Angled Correct Image finder to use with a star atlas - what you see in the finder matches the Star Atlas.  If you have a Red Dot Finder and a good dark sky all the better.  If you can set up early evening try for M57 Lyra, M27 Vulpecula, M13 and M2 Pegasus, M31 Andromeda (would be better in your 10 x 50's)- here's a few to get you going and should be nice in your scope.  Also the Moon is about for the next few nights - this really brightens the sky - so the faint nebulae will be washed out until the moon moves into the early morning sky and Jupiter later on in the evening (spend along time just looking at Jupiter - nothing else - just Jupiter - in time - more detail will be visible.

Also use the Bino's to get a feel for the sky and they will help you locating targets as they give you a correct image - it may take a bit of getting used to swapping the views from the scope to the bino's but the more you practice - the better you become.

All the best Andy - the main thing is to ENJOY the night sky - if you can't find what your looking for - don't worry - ask your mate to show you

[Mike73]

Buy the book Turn left at Orion and follow that for a few months then make a start on the Messier list.

Oh and a small scope under dark skies will show more than a large scope under light polluted skies so a trip to a dark site is well worth the effort.

[bambuko]

Another book recommendation, coming from someone in exactly the same position as you

"From Casual Stargazer to Amateur Astronomer" by David Eagle (published by Springer), see: link

Worth every single penny to a newb who wants bit more structure to their stargazing.

BTW I also have (and like very much) TLAO

[Astro Imp]

Downloading Stellariuum is a must for helping you around the sky:- http://www.stellarium.org/

For the next few days the moon is going to wash out most of the faint fuzzies, not to worry there is still plenty of interest.

A lot of time time can be spent finding your way round the moon. Use you shortest focal length eyepiece for this and make the moon one of the last objects you view as it is so bright it ruins any night vision you have.

Take a trip around Cassiopeia, plenty of star clusters here together with a rich star field.

Double and multiple star systems are easily viewed when the moon is bright, a good starting point:- http://users.compaqnet.be/doublestars/

And last but not least the queen of planets, Jupiter.

Good luck and enjoy.

[ronin]

Get sneaky:

AstroLeague

Pick one or two of the easier/shorter programs, download the guide and set about it.

Seems to be a few new one's, don't recall The Universe Sampler.

Could confuse your friend by getting the Southern Sky Telescope Program :eek:

Had a quick look and they seem pretty long in some instances.

[brantuk]

"A lot of time time can be spent finding your way round the moon"

Sir P spent a lifetime looking at the moon and ended up knowing more about it than Nasa - to the extent they came to him for advice on where Buzz Aldrin should land his space ship on the first moon shot lol. It's a fascinating object that can be explored for years.

My suggestion would be to get Sky at Night and/or Astronomy Now magazines each month for a year. The center pages give you a map of the sky and a current list of all the interesting stuff that's available to observe. You'll gradually learn the movement of the constellations and gain a sound knowledge of what's up, where it is, and when it's available - without being overloaded with info and not knowing where or what to look at next.

[dick_dangerous]

Your small scope is twice the apeture of mine! Many, many things to be looking at - all excellent suggestions above.

Top 5 things for a beginner with a "Small" scope to look out for now could include:

1. The Moon - it's pretty darned obvious right now, and a bit of classic.
2. Jupiter - Rising above our street at 10.30pm in Gemini - close to Castor and "Mind how you say it."
3. M2 - Nice bright globular in Aquarius
4. M33 - if you can get somewhere dark enough. Use your lowest power.
5. Orion Nebula

Other than that, sky's your oyster really. M15 in Pegasus is a nice globular, the Auriga clusters M36 through to 38 are worth a look, as are M34 in Perseus and M35 in Gemini. Most of Cassiopeia is covered in NGC open clusters, many of which are visible in light pollution. And if you've got the week off, why not get up ridiculously early to try and find Comet ISON and vew Mars?

Tonnes of fun!

DD

[AlexB67]

FWIW, if not a bit late.

My top few starters, if there is such a thing for me, but that are relatively easy to find these days, and in no particular ranking order ( sorry I broke the rules >  5   )

Starting early M57, M27 and M13 if you can still get it reasonable height without too much Light pollution,

a bit later Double cluster NGC 884, NGC869, M45 ( Pleiades) easy spot naked eye, M31

Later on at night,  Orion Neb (M42,M43) also easy spot naked eye, Jupiter.

A perhaps somewhat random selection, but I think most would agree that in any scope these are classics, reveal a lot,  and will look great in pretty much any scope without being aperture hogs.  M57, M27 may be the trickiest challenges depending on your skies.  If you don't find them don't worry, there is always a next time   

[Reeny]

After easily finding the ring and dumbell nebula in the 200P dob, I tried it with the 3" reflector - and had success.

Your 150P should find them OK.

Don't worry about the lack of detail - they looks the same in the 200P.

The Double cluster is good at 30x magnification where you can get it all in the eyepiece in one go.

Plaiedes is another good-un to view with a wide angle EP.

and some of the tight clusters, wild duck / M2 / hercules etc

[Moonshane]

FWIW, if not a bit late.

My top few starters, if there is such a thing for me, but that are relatively easy to find these days, and in no particular ranking order ( sorry I broke the rules >  5   )

Starting early M57, M27 and M13 if you can still get it reasonable height without too much Light pollution,

a bit later Double cluster NGC 884, NGC869, M45 ( Pleiades) easy spot naked eye, M31

Later on at night,  Orion Neb (M42,M43) also easy spot naked eye, Jupiter.

A perhaps somewhat random selection, but I think most would agree that in any scope these are classics, reveal a lot,  and will look great in pretty much any scope without being aperture hogs.  M57, M27 may be the trickiest challenges depending on your skies.  If you don't find them don't worry, there is always a next time   

+1 to everything.

[ccfcbob]

Have you got Stellarium its a free program that lets you view the sky from your location at any chosen time, very useful for planning sessions.

Sorry if it sounds daft as I'm new to this. I have a program called the night sky on my tablet, is this a similar thing?

[Caldwell14]

At this time of year my top 5 targets for a small scope would be;

The Double Cluster (In Perseus)

Alberio (in Cygnus)

Jupiter

The pleiades

The double double (in Lyra)

The list could also easily include The Ring Nebular, The Orion Nebular, The Dumbell Nebular, M13, M15, M92.....plenty to keep you up all night.

[Alien 13]

Sorry if it sounds daft as I'm new to this. I have a program called the night sky on my tablet, is this a similar thing?

 

Im not sure ive never used that app.

[ccfcbob]

Im not sure ive never used that app.

Between the local council turning lights off in my area at midnight and that program its probably what 1st got me interested.

I have a samsung tab & have downloaded it, its also free. Worth a look at, help me a lot

[LouisJB]

M31 Andromeda

M42 Orion's nebula

M45 Pleiades

M27 Dumbbell

Double Cluster

and I suppose more locally

Moon

Sun

Jupiter

Saturn

Mars

[DennyT]

Have you got Stellarium its a free program that lets you view the sky from your location at any chosen time, very useful for planning sessions.

I've got this in laptop and Android flavours...awesome app and I use it a lot even if it's just to look with my Mk1 eyeball...! Easy to ID Stars/planets and with the laptop version it now shows Satellite passes and ISS ( if that's your thing...!). As I'm a returning budding Astronomer (with enthusiastic 6yr old in tow) I was wondering what the best/easiest objects are to find to show my lad just how awesome the sky can be...

D

[DennyT]

Forgot to mention I'm using a 900x70 refractor (freebie) with 20mm and 9mm eyepieces...

[Beulah]

In this month's Sky @ Night mag there's a small list of targets taken from the Caldwell catalogue - all of which can be viewed from a 4 inch refractor in a dark sky...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldwell_catalogue