What to view tonight?

[SteveBz]

Looks to be fine tonight on the South Coast.

However the moon is very full and i can't see a lot of stuff in the Southern skies. I thought I might try for Saturn or Mars last night, but I don't have a goto mount, so I rely on the finderscope. If I can't see it I can't find it and I couldn't see it!

What should I try for.

I have a small c114eq with me.

Regards,

Steve.

 

[FrenchyArnaud]

Hi Steve, 

I am in the same area, I have a 114 too - you don't need the goto to find saturn and mars. It's the brightest thing you can see and probably the first to appear in the sky, well before the sun sets. And with the 114, you will find them, and will see them. They will be very close to the moon but even so, Saturn and Mars are plain obvious. 

[SteveBz]

Well I looked last night but maybe not early enough.  What time did you see them? I was just blinded by the Moon.

[FrenchyArnaud]

yesterday both  were visible from 8.30/8.45pm when we arrived on site, all the way to 23.00 when we left. Stellarium would probably help you as it helps me, because I can't figure out what goes where either  but this one is really obvious, once you realize that this massive star next to the moon... is not a star. 

[Stu]

Just now, SteveBz said:

Well I looked last night but maybe not early enough.  What time did you see them? I was just blinded by the Moon.

I viewed them both from home last night, very easy to find although the view of Mars was quite wobbly. Saturn looked quite good despite the seeing conditions.

Have a look at Stellarium to familiarise yourself with the sky in that area, Mars in particular is hard to miss, bright and orange colour. Saturn is dimmer and higher up. They form a triangle with Antares. 9pm onwards is not a bad time to view them.

[BGazing]

moon is still not full, so try hunting the terminator line. i had a fantastic evening two nights ago.

you can work even on full moon. i sometimes get a filter out and scan from above...

 

[rockystar]

I was looking at saturn in the twilight a couple of nights ago, very easy to spot even when it's near a bright moon, look low down to the South /south-west just after sunset, as mentioned above, it'll be one of the first "stars" to appear. I also had a look at M39 & M29, open clusters in cygnus, you may be able to see them in your finder, but they are not too tricky a star hop, near a bright star.

[iapa]

I don't have an SQM, but, in a fairly clear night from September onwards Ursa Minor is clearly visible, and Mizar/Alcor are easily discernible as a double star.

Was considering getting one - so, which is best purchase, under £200, and easy to use (without doing to. Command line and running PERL or such?).

[SteveBz]

1 hour ago, rockystar said:

I was looking at saturn in the twilight a couple of nights ago, very easy to spot even when it's near a bright moon, look low down to the South /south-west just after sunset, as mentioned above, it'll be one of the first "stars" to appear. I also had a look at M39 & M29, open clusters in cygnus, you may be able to see them in your finder, but they are not too tricky a star hop, near a bright star.

Ah. I found just now. I had in my sights just before it dropped behind a bush!

I didn't realise it would set so early. Mars had already gone.

 

[rockystar]

yeah, mars is setting pretty early now. I got it for about 10 minutes at about 9:15 before it dropped behind a house. Have you got Stellarium, or some other planetarium software? really good for showing you when things will be visible in the sky.

[SteveBz]

I do have Stellarium plus a number of mobile apps.  Not all the mobile apps are equally good however and sometimes I get misinformation.  I had thought that Mars, Saturn and the Moon were a degree or two apart, but actually the Moon was more like 30 or 40 degrees away.

I should uninstall the less reliable ones!

[Stu]

9 minutes ago, SteveBz said:

I do have Stellarium plus a number of mobile apps.  Not all the mobile apps are equally good however and sometimes I get misinformation.  I had thought that Mars, Saturn and the Moon were a degree or two apart, but actually the Moon was more like 30 or 40 degrees away.

I should uninstall the less reliable ones!

Did you have the date set right? The moon moves across the sky each night so will change position dramatically vs the stars and planets during a lunar month.

[SteveBz]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

Did you have the date set right? The moon moves across the sky each night so will change position dramatically vs the stars and planets during a lunar month.

Ah. Maybe. My laptop is on Brazilian time but my phone is on uk time. The dates should, however, be correct.

It was an app called SkyView that I misunderstood.