Favourite Class Of Object, And Reasons

[cloudsweeper]

Visual appeal - and other reasons.

The Sun and Moon are entities on their own, so not actually in a "class" at least as far as observing is concerned.  (No class of very close stars or moons.)

Planets - Jupiter and Saturn are very impressive in different ways.

I am keen on doubles for their variety - sizes, magnitudes, spacings, colours.

So far, open clusters have done it for me - tiny jewels (on the proverbial black silk, of course), glinting at different brightnesses, especially appealing when tight and dense (over a wide span).

But I spotted another galaxy a few days ago - NGC 2841 - an elongated smudge, and dwelt on it a while.  Billions of stars, even more billions of planets.  Considering the variety of bodies in just the Solar System and the phenomena associated with them, including of course human life (and history) on our home planet, what myriad and unimaginable possibilities exist/existed/will exist within that incredibly remote bit of fuzz?

So as a source of awe and contemplation, my favourite class is galaxies!

What about yours, and why?

Doug.

 

 

 

[domstar]

Oh yes galaxies definitely. I've only got 100mm of aperture but I don't really care what they look like - it's the wonder. I also like looking at beautiful things but seeing amazing things with my own eyes is why I go stargazing. Imagine actually seeing another galaxy- and actually doing it too.

[JoeP]

There are, in my mind, two reasons for liking a particular object: because it looks pretty, or because it's interesting/amazing when you consider what you're actually looking at. In terms of looks, there are few galaxies which look anything beyond a smudge in my scope, yet they are amazing when you consider their distance. Nebulae often have very interesting appearances, and are also incredible when you consider their 3D aspect. Planets are very pretty, but aren't there most of the time. Clusters also look good, but at the end of the day they're just a bunch of stars. Variable stars have become a more recent interest of mine, which are fascinating to track, yet they don't ever look special. If I could only ever observe one thing again, it would have to be nebulae for the variety of appearances.

[ShrewView]

I actually like most classes of thing and pick my targets depending on circumstances such as moonlight or transparency etc. I recently tried sketching the near full moon which has even raised my interest in that.

If forced to choose though it would be either globular clusters or planets because of their beauty and the wow feeling you sometimes get when you get a really good view.

Sorry to be indecisive.

[Ben the Ignorant]

All of them, for a complete image of what the sky holds.

[ronl]

Globular Clusters are my favourite target, they are so mesmerising, beautiful in my

humble opinion.

[Astro Imp]

Very difficult question to answer, having given some thought to me it's open clusters. A good variety of objects in this class, some just a few stars, some teeming with tiny pinpricks - think M37 -, some make you smile - the owl, 37, Christmas tree - , and a good plus they are observable in less than pristine skies. To pick a favourite from the many available I'd have to go for M11.

[mikeDnight]

Nebulae, galaxies, globular and open clusters are beautiful, but solar system objects interest me the most, as they are dynamic. Detail, much of it subtle, is constantly changing even through a 100mm scope. Comets are a thrill to track and observe, or sketch and plot in a star atlas. The planet's can become an obsession as they reveal ever changing detail, and yes the Moon is a planetary body in my book so I have to include it, as it is simply spectacular! 

 

[SilverAstro]

Difficult ! Does "The Night Sky " count as a class ?

I might put Globular clusters 'up there', bright-ish, compact with a sense of wonder at all those suns and how many planets there may be with how many 'people'  ( not easy to see individual stars in your average faint fuzzy galaxey.)

On the other hand - Asteroids and things that go bump move in the night are fun.

 

[Pondus]

Open clusters, then galaxies I think. Apart from M5, globulars doesnt really resolve that well in my 8".

But when Mars comes along, everything else comes second.

 

Rune

[Alien 13]

The Moons including ours and Planets, fascinating to watch them change positions etc....Not keen on static/unchanging objects like Stars/Galaxies/Nebula.

I should include the Sun, Meteors and Supernova too.

Alan

[LukeSkywatcher]

Im a bit of a Neb Nerd.

[Stub Mandrel]

The Milky Way.

[barkis]

Globular's are way up high on my list of preferred galactic objects. They do host some of the oldest stars in our Galaxy
and dwell mostly on the periphery of the MW. and other galaxies too of course.
I suppose the fascination is born out of their densely packed  formation, although I understand the distance between stars is probably a light year.
To look through a good telescope and see a Globular almost resolved to it's core is a wonderful sight. M13 of course is the Northern Hemisphere's
glob. jewel, but it's companion in Hercules M92 is no slouch either.
Both are  at about 25k light years away, containing thousands of stars.
They just have to be wonders to behold.

[Stu]

Doug, your challenge was to pick just one class, so that is what I shall do.

For me it is nebulae. Two of my favourite objects are the North America and Veil Nebulae. I love the fact that they are elusive, and need both planning and luck in order to see them properly. Planning in terms of being at a dark site and luck to get the excellent transparency which accompanies the best views.

My memories are of camping holidays with my young children in Dorset, viewing these two beauties under a lovely dark sky with the Milky Way clear overhead. Also, trawling up the Milky Way from a sea horizon there are four other lovely neb's M8, 20, 17 and 18 with their star clusters embedded.

Lovely objects and fantastic memories, the fact that they look great in my favourite type of scope is even better, a widefield apo frac  

[Piero]

The two types of targets which give me a lot of excitement are planetary targets and galaxies. Somehow, they make me wonder "what is happening over there?" 

From an aesthetic point of view, I like observing star clusters and nebulae (or at least what I can spot of these from my moderately light polluted skies). 

The only targets that haven't (so far?) thrilled me are double stars.

[SilverAstro]

My memories of young holidays is waking up after a beach party on  Brean Down, dying embers of the bonfire / roast, (when we could do that sort of thing with gay abandon)  and wondering why there were so many embers flying overhead, slowly the alcoholic haze wore off and I remembered it was August and I should have been counting meteors !

Some years later (!) I was able to wake child from bed and show her,  and wife,  an all-sky aurora including a coronal phase, again from SW England, quite quite amazing and if anyone remembers it that'll tell how old I (or me, ? I am not as refined as herMag) and my child are !

[johnfosteruk]

Have to agree with OP, open clusters, for the visual appeal but also the wonder of the physics, there's a lot going on in a lot of those OCs.

[Paz]

I like a bit of everything. Although  I'm more interested in understanding what I'm looking at I also like something that looks  aesthetically good.

If it has to be one kind of object I would say globular clusters - for me they are the best mix of being huge amazing objects with lots of science to them and they are also great views with loads of detail.

[reddoss]

As an astroimager, it has to be nebulae - both emission and reflection. The Orion and Veil are my favourites.  

[James]

Pretty much everything really (except the Moon for me, it doesn't do much for me). I particularly like edge on spirals (the thinner the better), NGC891 being perhaps my favourite and globular clusters.

With Globulars there something for every level of kit - M13 / M22 / Omega Centauri (depending on where you are) which all look interesting even in the smallest kit to some of the fainter and harder to resolve ones like say M53 through to the ones that are dotted around the Andromeda galaxy for those with darker skies, and much bigger scopes than mine!

James

 

 

[cloudsweeper]

Well, after a couple of days since posting I reckon I can now come up with a summary from the responses.  (Where two favourites were given, I split the "vote".)  The top four were all very close:

Globs - 25% of the vote

Galaxies - 20%

Nebulae - 20%

Planets/moons - 20%

Open Clusters - 10%

Whole Cosmos - 5%

Apart from the all-important science considerations, Globs were popular because it's possible to actually see hundreds/many hundreds of individual stars; galaxies, for their scale and awe; nebulae for their elusiveness, shapes, and features/detail; solar system bodies for being dynamic; open clusters for their beauty and definition.

The aurora got a special mention; other objects received passing favourable remarks; but doubles fans were strangely quiet!

My original point about all the "worlds" within a galaxy is emphasised in the case of globs, because the stars can actually be seen in profusion, whereas galaxies - although showing structure - do not show much in the way of component parts.

An interesting exercise, so many thanks to everyone who contributed!

Doug.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[domstar]

Globs are an interesting one. Probably too old and metal poor to be prime candidates for life (not an expert here). I think they get more votes from the big dob users. As your aperture goes up, so does your dob appreciation (not an expert here- I wish I was). Anyway, thanks for the thread.

[scarp15]

Evolving in recent years, I think that what has focused my attention the most in planning, has become diffuse: emission, reflection, dark nebulae and also supernova remnant. There is so much to explore, subtleties to discover, regions to understand and learn about. This of course could equally be applied to any other class of object, yet nebulae in particular for myself are visually stimulating for their sense of an enigmatic presence. My preference is for dark sky observing and exploring familiar and new regions associated with nebulosity, applying any one of three specialist high quality filters. Each of my telescopes (and binoculars) ranging from small rich field refractors, to moderate sized dobsonian, are quite reasonably applicable for such visual encounters, whether camping or embarked on a few hours trip from home, seeking a potential 6.4+ NELM sky. Good quality observations are determined by transparency, therefore placing more emphasis on other subjects becomes necessary sometimes and enjoying a more holistic venture. 

[Ags]

Mars is in a class of its own! I would say double stars, if I must name a class with more than one member  Why? They have a meaningful scale in AU separation and years period.