Favorite things to observe

[Googinhiem]

I'm a beginner and I thought it would be fun to see what peoples favorite things to see in the night sky are.  So far mine are like this

Naked eye,  venus

Binoculars,  the plieades

Telescope,  Jupiter and the orion nebula 

Please share your experiences I would love to hear about them! 

[Galen Gilmore]

I am new to this thing called astronomy as well! 

naked eye: the Milky Way.

Binoculars: Pleadies, Hyades, Alpha Persei Cluster, Andromeda Galaxy. 

Telescope: Saturn, Jupiter, Orion Nebula, Ring Nebula, Epsilon Lyrae (Double-Double), Double Cluster, Owl cluster.

[Googinhiem]

7 minutes ago, Galen Gilmore said:

I am new to this thing called astronomy as well! 

naked eye: the Milky Way.

Binoculars: Pleadies, Hyades, Alpha Persei Cluster, Andromeda Galaxy. 

Telescope: Saturn, Jupiter, Orion Nebula, Ring Nebula, Epsilon Lyrae (Double-Double), Double Cluster, Owl cluster.

Lol I can't see the milky way from here to much light pollution I want to so bad though! 

[Galen Gilmore]

1 hour ago, Googinhiem said:

Lol I can't see the milky way from here to much light pollution I want to so bad though! 

I can't either, but I regularly go to a dedicated astronomy park that has significantly less light pollution. And if I drive a few hours I can stay at a state park that you can easily see the Triangulum Galaxy with your naked eye.

[Lance Bridwell]

Saturn, Jupiter and it's moons, Venus, Mars, and of course the Moon! I am a newbie and I love all of this.

Thanks for the opportunity to comment.

[Arbennek]

Another new guy here!

Naked eye: Mizar & Alcor, Hyades, and the constellations in general

Binoculars: M44, Pleaides, and not so good to look at in bins but impressive nonetheless the Crab Nebula

Telescope: I've only had the chance to use mine once, and the full moon was out, but I was impressed when splitting Rigel and Castor.

[cloudsweeper]

Dense clusters - love 'em - especially the Double Cluster C14 - also Globular Clusters like M3, M13, M5, M92, M15.  Globs can take a bit more effort to see and appreciate, but are well worth it!

Doug.

[Swoop1]

Naked eye- Pleaides and Moon.

Telescope- Pleadides, Moon, Venus, Andromeda Galaxy and top of the current chart- Orion Nebula.

[popeye85]

Naked eye- the night sky! (nothing like seeing it in its entirety!)

Binos- Pleaides, beehive cluster, Hyades

Telescope-Moon, Jupiter, M81/82, double cluster

[Nyctimene]

Naked eye: Orion; Canis Maior with Sirius (both will disappear in spring for six months); Pleiades; ashen moonlight; constellation Scorpius (early morning hours,  deep south)

Bins: Pleiades, Hyades; M44; the star field around Alpha Persei (Mirphak), Cassiopeias and Aurigas  open clusters (M 36/37/38); Kemble's cascade (asterism)

Scope: Orion nebula, Rosette nebula/cluster; in Gemini M35 with NGC 2158; the two Leo galaxies groups (M 95/96/105 and M 65/66/NGC 3628)

If you want a challenge, try the Virgo galaxy cluster in March/April; have a look at this:

Good luck with spotting them, and have fun!

Stephan

[John]

Markarian's Chain is superb with a decent aperture scope. I could see 10 galaxies in a single field of view with my 12" dob

The Veil Nebula is one of my most favourite deep sky objects. A huge and complex structure with multiple elements. With an O-III this really comes alive in a low power, wide field eyepiece

 

[nightfisher]

The Moon, Saturn, Jupiter mars, M42, M45, M31

[popeye85]

59 minutes ago, John said:

Markarian's Chain is superb with a decent aperture scope. I could see 10 galaxies in a single field of view with my 12" dob

What sort of views cod I expect to get with a 8" under moderate skies?

[Nyctimene]

2 hours ago, popeye85 said:

What sort of views cod I expect to get with a 8" under moderate skies?

You should be able to spot the brighter galaxies-M 84/86, NGC 4438, 4443, 4477, 4459-  without difficulties, giving you the impression of the "chain". The fainter galaxies close by, e.g. 4458 need a rather dark sky.

Feb. 25, under moderate skies, (NELM 5.5 mag (UMi), I spotted the brighter members with my 80/400 frac at V=50x, as well as M98/99/100, and M 87. All rather faint, but distinctive; so give it a try, good luck!

Stephan

[John]

2 hours ago, popeye85 said:

What sort of views cod I expect to get with a 8" under moderate skies?

As Stephan says, give it a go !

It's a great area of the sky to explore regardless

[N3ptune]

With the naked eye, pick #1: Constellations Orion, Taurus (Betelgeuse, Rigel), Canis Major (Sirius), Canis Minor (Proxyon) and Gemini (Polux and Castor). Facing all these at the same time is pure magic.

With the naked eye, pick #2:  Looking at Perseus and Auriga constellations, with the Milky Way passing by Perseus especially, there are many visible clusters and a lots of stars around!

Telescope pick #1: Orion's belt must be the most comforting place, with the nebula and the strong blue stars at low power.

Telescope pick #2:  in-between Cephus, Lacerta and Cygnus (Daneb), this place is packed with stars, it's a lovely place to look at with my 32mm eyepiece!