New targets?

[parallaxerr]

The weather forecast is suggesting another post midnight clear spell tonight, good job it's a bank holiday so no work in the morning.

Can anyone suggest some new targets that I can have a go at as I feel like I always revisit the same ones? I do plan my sessions to some degree on Stellarium, but the problem I find is that you have to zoom in so far for DSO's to show up, that you need to know where to look in the first place!

My observing "window" is roughly East through South to West and mostly to Zenith, however LP from the nearest city pushes minimum alt up in the West. I'm using the ST120 frac and C8 SCT. The usual suspects which are easy to find and observe are Andromeda, Pleiades, Double Cluster, M2 M13 & M15 globs.

I'd really love to find some observable nebula but I fear the light pollution will discount that. I only have 2 filters, the semi-apo (permanently fitted in the frac) and a SW LP filter. If I've enough aperture to make use it, I'll pick up a UHC.

Any suggestions? The stuff that jumps out at me on Stellarium is all Ha emission stuff, which I'm pretty sure is out of the question.

Cheers

[John]

The ST120 and a low power eyepiece will show the Veil Nebula in Cygnus really well if you use a UHC or an O-III filter with it. Without it, the nebula will be practically invisible I'm afraid. For me the Summer views of this target are worth the investment in the filter alone - it's really that good !

The planetary nebulae M57 (the Ring), M27 the Dumbbell) and NGC 7662 (the Blue Snowball) should be good in both scopes without a filter but a UHC will make them stand out a little more. M57 and NGC 7662 need some magnification to make them more distinctive. M27 is really quite large.

M31 and M110 galaxies (M31's neighbours) should be straightfoward (M110 needs a dark night).

The fainter globular cluster M71 in Sagitta (not far from the Dumbbell neb) is worth seeking out.

The Wild Duck cluster M11 in Scutum is a beauty and I also like the Owl or E.T. Cluster (NGC 457) in Cassiopeia

I can get all the above from my back yard at Portishead, just across the Seven from yourself so you should be able to do the same

 

 

[mdstuart]

Find the little diamond that is the Dolphin constellation and spot NGC 6934 on its tail..Nice small globular as it's 50000 light years away.

And look at the dolphins nose star..y which is a fine double.

Mark also near Bristol.

[cotterless45]

Here's our observing from last night, it might be of some interest,

Targets 27/8/17.
Graff's cluster in Serpens , really huge cluster   (IC 4756)
M15 get up to x100. Its 13.2 billion years old , 360,000 suns luminosity.
M2 below this , cracking globular.
NGC 6781, "ghost of the moon" , needs uhc filter. Hazy and big at x50.
Aquila  15, SAO 142996, orange and blue.
Garnet star in Cepheus , SAO 033693 bright at the moment.
Σ2816 triple in IC 1396, Sao 033626
NGC 752 , discovered by Caroline Herschel in Andromeda , big cluster.
NGC 7331 , galaxy above Pegasus.Bright streak with core.
NGC 7662 , "blue snowball".
NGC 206, star cloud cluster.
NGC 1023, galaxy part of local group.
Double cluster ,NGC 869 and 884.

Lyra. Double double SAO 067310
The other double double SAO 067870

Cassiopeia is well placed for clusters and binaries,
M103
NGC 457
NGC 663 , plenty clusters along here.
NGC7788,7789,225,7795,129,133,146,281,436,559,637,1027,609,1027,609,654,659,7790,189,358,433,77,110,136,366 and 657.
Iota , triple , SAO 012298
Psi, delicate triple ,SAO 011751
Sigma, SAO 035947, green / blue.
Eta, yellow and red , SAO 021732

Colour , Almach in Andromeda. Orange ,blue and white.
               Miram in Perseus, orange and blue .SAO 023655

               Mesartim in Aries. First split 1664 by Hooke.
NGC 188 at x40, wide cluster up by the pole in Cepheus. 12.3 billion years old, the "Ancient One", oldest open cluster.
Let me know if you need any more. Great time to observe , don't forget the Summer Triangle with M27, M71 and the Cygnus clusters.

Nick.

 

[Nyctimene]

NGC 6802, a nice 8,8 mag open cluster (diameter 5 arc min), at the eastern end of  Cr 399, the "Coathanger".

In Cassiopeia, NGC 7789, "Caroline's Rose", an open cluster with petal-like inner structures; faint stars, but rather rich.

"Delphinus minor", an asterism resembling rather exactly the outlines of the constellation Delphinus. About 1° diameter; easy to find with bins or the frac in Pegasus, western border, almost halfways between Alpha and Beta Peg and slightly to the west.

A galaxy challenge in Peg for the 8": NGC 7814 (Caldwell 43); an elongated (edge-on) 10,5 mag galaxy somewhat similar to the Sombrero galaxy M 104. 2,5° NW of Gamma Peg.

In the morning sky, another, very conspicuous, asterism just above the Hyades cluster, about 3,5° diameter: "Davis's Dog"; for it's shape, have a look at Silver Astro's thread on this in the "Observing-with binoculars" subforum here (Aug. 3). Once located, you will always have a look at this when observing Hyades; it cannot be made "unseen" any more. A nice enrichment for the winter skies.

Good luck hunting them down!

Stephan

 

 

[parallaxerr]

Thanks for the suggestions, some really interesting ones I've never heard of in there!

Sounds like a UHC filter should be high on the shopping list @John, amazing how effective it sounds.

@mdstuart, the Dolphin sounds interesting. Stellarium doesn't really show anything there, perhaps that's where I'm going wrong! It's nicely placed close to the meridian tonight so I'll see what I can see.

That's an extensive list @cotterless45, Cassiopeia comes into view from behind some trees quite nicely at around midnight, looks like there's a good haul to be had there. I must look for more doubles/triples with the SCT.#

I do like a galaxy @Nyctimene, NGC7814 certainly sounds a challenge.

That's quite the list chaps, thanks indeed, tonight should be rich in new targets for me

[John]

My deep sky hunting took a big leap in productivity when I got the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas

[wookie1965]

Do you think I would get these in the 4" or better getting the 8" out.

 

[ollypenrice]

As a long term investment this is as as sound as it gets: http://www.willbell.com/handbook/nitesky.htm

You may not feel the need for the southern hemisphere volume!

It's an old fashioned book created and crafted with care and passion. Merely to touch it is a pleasure.

Olly

[Cjg]

Staring at M15, then M2, down to M72 and M73 skies and trees permitting, and hoping to see NGC 7009.

The usual suspects in Cygnus and Cassiopeia. 

Probably too low, but I'll try for the Lagoon and the beauties (Swan, Eagle and Wild Duck) above it again too.

Good luck everybody, lets hope the skies stay clear tonight.

Chris

[Mark at Beaufort]

18 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

As a long term investment this is as as sound as it gets: http://www.willbell.com/handbook/nitesky.htm

Olly

I agree with Olly a very good set of observing books. I would also add the Instellarum Deep Sky Atlas which I seem to prefer than my Uranometria star atlases.

As regards Jon's original question I have enjoyed following specific lists and choosen objects based on their position related to a specific month. In saying that Nick has listed an interesting group of objects - I would follow that tonight.

[John]

1 hour ago, wookie1965 said:

Do you think I would get these in the 4" or better getting the 8" out.

 

I've seen the ones I listed with my smallest scope - the Tak 100mm. Of course more aperture makes the harder ones easier and shows the easier ones even better

 

[DavidR100]

5 hours ago, John said:

My deep sky hunting took a big leap in productivity when I got the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas

I'll second that.  It's been my "bible" for the last 3 years.  I fact it's so good I've got 2 copies.  One ready to go with my gear, the other for perusing at home.

I started off with the excellent big red "The Year-Round" Messier Marathon Field Guide" by Harvard Pennigton, pub. Willmann-Bell.

Once I 'd completed the Messiers I was at a bit of a loss. I dabbled with Steve O'Meara's "Herschel 400 Observing Guide" pub. Cambridge, but that didn't satisfy me.

I looked around, found good reports on the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas, bought it, and never looked back .

More recently I treated myself to Uranometria 2000.0 All Sky Edition and the companion Deep Sky Field Guide.  That should be it...

As you can see I like my hardcopies.

[GavStar]

On 27/08/2017 at 16:05, cotterless45 said:

Here's our observing from last night, it might be of some interest,

Targets 27/8/17.
Graff's cluster in Serpens , really huge cluster   (IC 4756)
M15 get up to x100. Its 13.2 billion years old , 360,000 suns luminosity.
M2 below this , cracking globular.
NGC 6781, "ghost of the moon" , needs uhc filter. Hazy and big at x50.
Aquila  15, SAO 142996, orange and blue.
Garnet star in Cepheus , SAO 033693 bright at the moment.
Σ2816 triple in IC 1396, Sao 033626
NGC 752 , discovered by Caroline Herschel in Andromeda , big cluster.
NGC 7331 , galaxy above Pegasus.Bright streak with core.
NGC 7662 , "blue snowball".
NGC 206, star cloud cluster.
NGC 1023, galaxy part of local group.
Double cluster ,NGC 869 and 884.

Lyra. Double double SAO 067310
The other double double SAO 067870

Cassiopeia is well placed for clusters and binaries,
M103
NGC 457
NGC 663 , plenty clusters along here.
NGC7788,7789,225,7795,129,133,146,281,436,559,637,1027,609,1027,609,654,659,7790,189,358,433,77,110,136,366 and 657.
Iota , triple , SAO 012298
Psi, delicate triple ,SAO 011751
Sigma, SAO 035947, green / blue.
Eta, yellow and red , SAO 021732

Colour , Almach in Andromeda. Orange ,blue and white.
               Miram in Perseus, orange and blue .SAO 023655

               Mesartim in Aries. First split 1664 by Hooke.
NGC 188 at x40, wide cluster up by the pole in Cepheus. 12.3 billion years old, the "Ancient One", oldest open cluster.
Let me know if you need any more. Great time to observe , don't forget the Summer Triangle with M27, M71 and the Cygnus clusters.

Nick.

 

Fantastic list Nick- with some lovely clear skies tonight I'm currently having great fun going through them one by one. I like the galaxy in Pegasus!