Advise on a new target.

[Scott Brown]

I have another night off tonight and im looking for advise on a couple really easy to find objects to look at. I dont know my way around the sky yet although i have a couple apps to help me. I was wanting to view Saturn but I'm sure it doesn't pop up above the horizon for me to see. The only object I have viewed is Jupiter and although i will watch him for an hour or so tonight I want to check some other things out to increase my knowledge around the night sky. So if you can think back to when you guys just started and give me a couple targets that a beginner should look out for. The andromeda galaxy was on top of my list but again it's to low for me to observe unless I'm reading my apps all wrong. Once again many thanks in Advance...... Scott

[furrysocks2]

15 minutes ago, Scott Brown said:

I have another night off tonight and im looking for advise on a couple really easy to find objects to look at. I dont know my way around the sky yet although i have a couple apps to help me. I was wanting to view Saturn but I'm sure it doesn't pop up above the horizon for me to see. The only object I have viewed is Jupiter and although i will watch him for an hour or so tonight I want to check some other things out to increase my knowledge around the night sky. So if you can think back to when you guys just started and give me a couple targets that a beginner should look out for. The andromeda galaxy was on top of my list but again it's to low for me to observe unless I'm reading my apps all wrong. Once again many thanks in Advance...... Scott

You could check out this month's Binocular Sky newsletter - the Deep Sky section has a few clusters I was looking at for the first time in the binos a couple of nights ago and intend to go back to them with the dob. All in the same part of the sky and nice and high.

From the Pleiades, go left through Taurus, Orion and on to Gemini - Castor and Pollux are the bright pair, go to the right foot of the right-hand twin and you've three there. Left of Gemini is Cancer, right in the middle is another cluster. Then trawl around Auriga which is up from Orion, plenty there. I'll let you find out the names of these yourself, if you go after them.

Edit: Vesta should be easy to spot, too.

[Scott Brown]

7 minutes ago, furrysocks2 said:

You could check out this month's Binocular Sky newsletter - the Deep Sky section has a few clusters I was looking at for the first time in the binos a couple of nights ago and intend to go back to them with the dob. All in the same part of the sky and nice and high.

From the Pleiades, go left through Taurus, Orion and on to Gemini - Castor and Pollux are the bright pair, go to the right foot of the right-hand twin and you've three there. Left of Gemini is Cancer, right in the middle is another cluster. Then trawl around Auriga which is up from Orion, plenty there. I'll let you find out the names of these yourself, if you go after them.

Edit: Vesta should be easy to spot, too.

Thanks furrysocks I'll give this a go and see how I get on. I think I will try Venus as well cos I'm sure I see her around 9ish for a while before she drops below the horizon.

[billyharris72]

Hi there. My suggestions would be:

• M42 (the Orion Nebula) is easy to find (middle sword in the belt) and still reasonably well placed.
• Pleiades in Taurus are also good and worth a look.
• M44 (beehive cluster in Cancer) is also good.

All of these three are visible to the naked eye (M44 less so depending on light pollution, but it has enough bright stars nearby to be findable).

If you want something more challenging (but easy to find in the sky) M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy in Ursa Major) is good, and straightforward enough in an 8 inch Dob under a decent sky. It's placed close to the last star in the handle of the Plough. Not a complete "beginner's" object (it will look faint and fuzzy, possibly hard to spot depending on how dark the sky is) but it should be good for a challenge and is a nice object. It's in an easy to find location and your scope is certainly well up to it.

Billy.

[Ricochet]

If you have good sight lines to the west and can get out in the early evening just after sunset Andromeda is probably still viable. If you can get out at that time the bright object in the west is Venus, it should show as a bright crescent through the scope at the moment. Mars is currently up and to the left of Venus and will probably just look like a small red disk. Uranus is also up by Mars but it is a much harder target so perhaps one to leave until you are proficient with star hopping. 

The Orion nebula (M42) is a classic beginner's target you can get out in the early evening. If there is one constellation that most people can pick out it is Orion and all you need to do is point your telescope at the middle "star" in Orion's sword to see it. 

Orion is aiming his bow at Taurus and so once you've found Orion you should be able to find the Pleiades up and to the right. You might already know this cluster as the Seven Sisters and it is visible with the naked eye and so a nice easy target to start with. 

If you can't see Andromeda then M81/M82 are a bright galaxy pair to look for, although they are pretty much straight up and so that makes moving the dobsonian more difficult. Finding them can be difficult so don't worry if it is too difficult at this stage. 

The double cluster between Perseus and Cassiopeia is also pretty much straight up but well worth a look and along with the Pleiades probably the most impressive cluster targets to look at. 

Once you've finished looking at Jupiter you might want to try having a look at a globular cluster. M13 is the biggest/brightest one but if you need a higher or earlier target try looking for M3 instead. 

 

[popeye85]

The double cluster in Perseus!(ngc869) A stunning sight and easy to find! If you are up late enough then Jupiter is getting better and better all the time.

 

[Nyctimene]

M 81/82 aren't that difficult to find; look at this: (pictures quoted from Stu's post in the thread "M 81 elusive twin"  in "Observing-with binoculars" here)

I start fom Upsilon UMa, because it's lined up with 23 UMa almost parallel to Dubhe-Merak and they both point rather exactly at the conspicuous "triangle". Try at first with bins; M81/82 can be spotted with 10x50 and even 8x40 bins under moderate skies.

Good luck, and Clear Skies!

Stephan

[Swoop1]

I will second the suggestions re the Orion Nebula. This newbies favourite bit of sky at the moment.

[BXRO]

Go to skymaps.com and download their monthly skymap, lots of useful information, a monthly map and a list of celestial objects for you hunt down

[ronl]

Try this link http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/ lot's of targets for the rest of the month.

keep scrolling down and it gives you star maps to guide you, it's worth bookmarking as it updates

every month.

Good luck and Clear Sky's.

 

[Scott Brown]

Fantastic advise guys I now have a plan of targets.

ill give M31 a bash

the Orion Nebular

the Pleiades

M51 and M81/M82

I have 5mm 7mm  10mm 13mm and 25mm EPs' ( x240 x170 x120 x92 x48 ) so I would guess that I would use the 25mm ( x48 ) to observe these objects or what other ones can I use?

[Scott Brown]

1 hour ago, popeye85 said:

The double cluster in Perseus!(ngc869) A stunning sight and easy to find! If you are up late enough then Jupiter is getting better and better all the time.

 

I set my alarm for Jupiter lol..... I don't want to miss a thing

[ronl]

Hope the weather is kind for you, not that good here I'm afraid.

[Ricochet]

7 minutes ago, Scott Brown said:

Fantastic advise guys I now have a plan of targets.

ill give M31 a bash

the Orion Nebular

the Pleiades

M51 and M81/M82

I have 5mm 7mm  10mm 13mm and 25mm EPs' ( x240 x170 x120 x92 x48 ) so I would guess that I would use the 25mm ( x48 ) to observe these objects or what other ones can I use?

Orion and the small galaxies might work best with your 13mm. Once you've found stuff in the 25mm you can just try the other focal lengths and see what happens. 

[Scott Brown]

15 minutes ago, ronl said:

Hope the weather is kind for you, not that good here I'm afraid.

Dull and wet here at the moment

[Scott Brown]

9 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

Orion and the small galaxies might work best with your 13mm. Once you've found stuff in the 25mm you can just try the other focal lengths and see what happens. 

Will do thanks.....

[Ricochet]

1 hour ago, Nyctimene said:

M 81/82 aren't that difficult to find; look at this: (pictures quoted from Stu's post in the thread "M 81 elusive twin"  in "Observing-with binoculars" here)

I start fom Upsilon UMa, because it's lined up with 23 UMa almost parallel to Dubhe-Merak and they both point rather exactly at the conspicuous "triangle". Try at first with bins; M81/82 can be spotted with 10x50 and even 8x40 bins under moderate skies.

Good luck, and Clear Skies!

Stephan

I generally use a combination of the blue line and my added green line. It's better to remember that neither point directly at them but make a cross that they are slightly offset from. The star hop is a bit vague in my opinion as connecting any two points/stars makes a line and looking through the eyepiece it is relatively easy to mistake one pair of stars for another. 

[John]

M81 and M82 are a great target. High in the sky and relatively easy to find. Low power shows both in the same field

They were the 1st galaxies I observed way back with my 60mm refractor.

Lots of nice galaxies underneath Leo's belly. I picked up 7 of them last night with my ED120 refractor. 4 in the same field with M96, M95, M105 and NCG 3384. ~500 billion suns at around 30,000,000 light years distance - dead cool

Here's a finder chart for those:

[old_eyes]

Great suggestions from everyone; the same list I use for visual observing this time of year.

The smartphone apps that show you the part of the sky you are looking at are very useful in helping you get your bearings. I find them much easier to get my head around than a flat map. Well worth the few quid they may cost you.

I also use Stellarium on a PC to see what is where at what time from my location. Useufl for planning a session when you are still hoping it won't be clouded over :-(

[popeye85]

7 minutes ago, old_eyes said:

The smartphone apps that show you the part of the sky you are looking at are very useful in helping you get your bearings. 

Just be aware that they can ruin your night vision which you will need for finding galaxies!

Recommend that you not only switch on 'night mode' but set your phone so the screen does not switch off-otherwise unlocking your phone will ruin your night vision. Failing that then try downloading a app called 'bluelight filter' which can put your phone/tablet on constant red light 

[ronin]

Give M31 a go, you will likely see it. I suggest that you use binoculars, all the 200P will put in your view is the central core of the galaxy.

The apps are fine but I find that the elevatiuon they indicate is actually higher in reality then you interpret. More then once some software will say 15 degrees high and it looks low, then I stand outside and the object is glowing away high above the houses opposite me.

There is the Leo galaxy triplet, and if you want nothing specific point the scope left from the Leo triplet, to Denebola then a bit more into the "empty" space at the rear of Leo. By eye it looks empty, in a 200P you should get a few hundred galaxies (all very very small). Actually about 10 - 15 Messier objects in there so one way to tick a whole load off in one go. (Technically cheating I guess).

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

The star hop is a bit vague in my opinion as connecting any two points/stars makes a line and looking through the eyepiece it is relatively easy to mistake one pair of stars for another. 

Try it, this one works brilliantly, particularly in binoculars or a finder. Takes you straight there, no guessing  

[davyludo]

5 hours ago, John said:

M81 and M82 are a great target. High in the sky and relatively easy to find. Low power shows both in the same field

They were the 1st galaxies I observed way back with my 60mm refractor.

Lots of nice galaxies underneath Leo's belly. I picked up 7 of them last night with my ED120 refractor. 4 in the same field with M96, M95, M105 and NCG 3384. ~500 billion suns at around 30,000,000 light years distance - dead cool

Here's a finder chart for those:

Hi John,

Just out of interest...where did you get the above finder chart? Is this from a piece of software or the Internet?

Cheers,

Davy

[old_eyes]

4 hours ago, popeye85 said:

Just be aware that they can ruin your night vision which you will need for finding galaxies!

Recommend that you not only switch on 'night mode' but set your phone so the screen does not switch off-otherwise unlocking your phone will ruin your night vision. Failing that then try downloading a app called 'bluelight filter' which can put your phone/tablet on constant red light 

Good point. I should have mentioned that.

[John]

9 minutes ago, davyludo said:

Hi John,

Just out of interest...where did you get the above finder chart? Is this from a piece of software or the Internet?

Cheers,

Davy

Hi Davy,

It's from the freestarcharts.com web site. Very useful resource

https://freestarcharts.com/messier-96