Where to start my observation?

[Syed Saif Alam]

I have celestron astromaster 130. What all can i see ? I mean i am stuck to it for hours but i have the same monotonous targets everyday . I wanted to expand my experience till the limit . Guys please suggest me targets im in nothern hemisphere (India) . What are the limitations of my scope?

[Astro Imp]

Hi, your problem is a common one amongst newcomers to the hobby.

What you can see is largely dependent on the quality of your local skies, with reasonable conditions there is a great deal that can be seen with your scope. I assume that you want to observe some DSOs (deep sky objects), a good place to start is the Messier list. This is 110 objects of various types mainly put together by Messier as objects to avoid when looking for comets.

I would strongly advise that you read the sticky at the top of the beginners' observing forum "What can I expect to See" :- http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/

Hope this is of some help.

[ronin]

After buying a scope the time arrives for what is basically knowledge.

Not sure in India what constellations are easily visible, which makes it not so easy at this end.

I use the book "The Monthly Sky Guide" by Ridpath and Tirion.

Each month there is a prominent constellation and you can search through the constellation diagram for what is present in that constellation.

Another area is Double Stars, again not sure what is visible in your skies. Lyra+Albireo, Andromeda+Almaak etc,

A sort of subset of double stars are doubles of different colours, http://dvaa.org/AData/ADDoubles.html

The link is a useful little list, being a table you can reorder it to group by constellation.

Another option is to search for "List of Messier objects" go to the Wiki page.

The list there can be reordered by object type, hit the little button at the top of the Type column. Then you can work through Galaxies, Nebuls, Open Clusters, Globular Clusters or whatever you like.

The next step I find is governed by knowing which constellation is which - you cannot observe M13 unless you can find and identify Hercules, the same holds true for just about everthing.

Maybe not so interesting but why not - search for a simple list of Red Stars - Betelguese, Arcturus, Aldebaren, Antares etc. and tick then off.

More difficult as "Red Stars" are Carbon Stars, they take more effort, again search for "carbon stars" and locate a reasonable list of about 15-20, if there are that many.

What you do is have lists of the above available and do whichever takes your interest that night. I made myself short lists of all the above.

One "problem" is that all the stuff I have mentioned are based on the Northern Hemisphere and you must have some of the Southern Hemisphere objects in view, and few here will be able to suggest those as we do not see them.

[Qualia]

In terms of DSOs, there is plenty to see with a 5" scope However, much will depend on skill, patience and how dark your available skies are. As a general rule, you should be able to see all of Messier's wonders, countless open clusters, double stars, a few comets, solar system objects like Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, the Moon and with the appropriate filters in place, the Sun in white light.

It might be an idea to get yourself a decent finder and a good star atlas to orientate yourself in the field. The book Turn Left at Orion might also be a good idea, for it was written with small scopes in mind and will show you quite clearly how to find many wonders in the night sky. 

[hgjevans]

I would definitely start by downloading Stellarium, which is free. Set your location (I see Gwalior is in the database, so that's easy), and then have a play around to see what's in the sky at any given time. You can fast forward to later in the night, or to another time of year, or whatever. Toggle the view to show nebulae and that will give you a quick idea of some possible viewing targets. Drag the view around to look in different directions, or zoom in for a closer look, but bear in mind that will show up many more objects that are harder to see - the easiest ones will show up without much zooming. That should get you going.  For example, there are loads of fabulous DSOs in Sagitarius and Scorpius, which should provide great viewing, well up above the horizon from your latitude. You can also use it to locate objects you find in lists like the Messier catalogue.

Hope you get some clear skies! 

[pevsfreedom]

I use a free program called Stellarium. You can set limiting magnitudes of objects. Say the darkest thing you found was magntitude 10. Set the limiting magnitude in Stellarium to 10 and it will show you everything up to mag 10. You can use this to find what's "out there" and supplement Stellarium with a Star Chart/Atlas to find it. That's what I do at least. 

I live in LA where you can barely see the sky and have found probably 30 messier objects in my front yard with binoculars alone the last 6 months using this 'method'. 

[Piero]

In addition to what previous members already said, I would add to consider buying a magazine for amateur astronomers. Personally, I love Sky & Telescope, but there are others of course (e.g. Astronomy Now, Astronomy, etc). In all these magazines, there is a section showing the sky of the month and descriptions about targets to see. 

There are many things to learn in this hobby and that is a good thing, because there is always something new to discover and see. 

As Star Atlas, I suggest you the Sky & Telescope Pocket Star Atlas, and Turn Left at Orion. These are all what you need at the moment and will keep you busy for a long while.

My suggestion is to proceed gradually. It takes time to learn how to use your telescope, even more time to learn your eyepieces (and filters if any). I would not suggest you to start buying eyepieces unless you really know that you miss something and what you are actually missing. With time, what you need depending on your interests will become clear. 

The list of Messier objects is an excellent starting point and there are some Caldwell objects which are worth considering too. I would suggest you not to limit to DSO, but also to explore double stars, the Moon (our lovely satellite!), details in Jupiter, Saturn, and a bit of Mars and Venus too.

To avoid some frustration about high expectations or difficulty at locating objects, I also recommend Rob (Qualia)'s thread linked by the member Astro Imp above. It is an excellent reference very rich of information. Although it takes some time to master most of the insights in that post, that document is of fundamental importance for understanding and rebalancing your expectations. Plus, it is really well written. 

A bit more technical, I would suggest you to learn the concept of magnitude, and surface brightness. The former is more obvious, but can be misleading for DSO, and you might likely find that objects apparently accessible actually aren't at all. Here is a reference I like about surface brightness http://www.astrobuysell.com/paul/sb.htm. 

This forum is a great resource too. Drop a question if you do not know something. There are many talented people who likely have an answer or suggestion to your doubts.

Best, Piero

[Syed Saif Alam]

Yeah its been 2 years since i started my hobby ..starting with my small 3 inch scope ... yeah ill search more and more thank you all i have now started hunting down the messier obects !

[Syed Saif Alam]

I have stellarium but i have a big problem ..ilive in the middle of a city... and im in school right now so i am lacking time too .. im in love with astronomy i want to explore more !

[Syed Saif Alam]

I think the heavily light polluted skies are my enemies !

[Syed Saif Alam]

I use a free program called Stellarium. You can set limiting magnitudes of objects. Say the darkest thing you found was magntitude 10. Set the limiting magnitude in Stellarium to 10 and it will show you everything up to mag 10. You can use this to find what's "out there" and supplement Stellarium with a Star Chart/Atlas to find it. That's what I do at least. 

I live in LA where you can barely see the sky and have found probably 30 messier objects in my front yard with binoculars alone the last 6 months using this 'method'.

goodness me ! You could see messier objects in LA ! U have me fired up ... not sleeping tonight ! Thank you !

[Syed Saif Alam]

Thank you all for your support ill make sure i follow everything u said ! I too believe in the saying ... in astronomy patience is key !

[Syed Saif Alam]

I have almost memorised all the objects and constellations i can see point me a star and ill tell what it is ! In india getting magazines is not that easy .. ill love to have one but alas its not easy they dont sell em here..

[pevsfreedom]

goodness me ! You could see messier objects in LA ! U have me fired up ... not sleeping tonight ! Thank you !

Good to hear. Look up 'star hopping' as it will be your best friend in urban stargazing.

[farunj]

Hi Syed! I am also from India. Where do you live? If you live in the center of a city, it might be difficult for you to observe Messiers since you do not have much experience. However there are some techniques which you can learn which will help you observe better.

The most important technique is indeed star hopping. It is very important to learn how to navigate the night sky. You live in the city, so apart from the brighter stars, I do not think much is visible. So you need to learn how to get from a bright star to your target, and just moving the telescope randomly is of no use, as you will get lost. Use a large focal length eyepiece, so that you have a larger field of view, and locating stuff will be easier.

Another important tool is the technique of averted vision. Sometimes, you have the Messier exactly in the center of the EP, yet you cannot see it, because you are looking straight at it. Look up averted vision, it is very helpful.

You could also buy the book Turn Left at Orion. It contains good sketches of what one can hope to see of the messiers.

Do let me know if you need any more help!

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