Observing help

[Bribrum]

Due to the frustrating fact my house is in the way of my views of planets at the moment. I’m not sure what are realistic targets for my scope. 

I have an 8” Skywatcher dob and am based in Worcester 

any tips / observing advice will be very much appreciated 

[domstar]

Have a look at stellarium. All the messier objects are well within your grasp (depending on light pollution and darkness). The great cluster in Hercules is up very high at the moment, is bright and fantastic. Have a look around Cygnus. The Milky Way is breathtaking. Clearoutside in the resources section of this site will tell you about darkness times. Have fun.

[souls33k3r]

+1 for stellarium.

You can also download Sky Portal (free) or Sky Safari (free or paid) that will help too. Just wave your phone around in the air and it will show you what's up there in the night skies.

Hope this helps.

[Size9Hex]

12 hours ago, Bribrum said:

... I’m not sure what are realistic targets for my scope. 

I have an 8” Skywatcher dob ...

Loads of options! Hundreds of deep sky objects and uncountable double stars. Deep sky is dependent on your light pollution levels of course. Bright open clusters are more resilient than faint galaxies and nebulae in case this is an issue for you.

A useful starting point: http://skymaps.com/downloads.html

Don’t dismiss the binocular objects - these tend to be a nice easy starting point and stunning in a big aperture scope like the 8".

I would start in Cygnus, Lyra, Hercules, maybe Cepheus. M13 glob, the Ring M57, Albireo, the Double Double, M81/82. So much to see!

+1 for Sky Safari on iOS... great star maps and database of things to see, and Stellarium is worthwhile too, but I like having the maps on my phone while observing.

Hope this helps. Good luck! ?

[mark81]

+1 for Cygnus. The views are great even with my small ST80. 

[Waddensky]

As others have said, there's an enormous amount of objects within reach of your telescope. What do you want to observe? Nebulae, clusters, galaxies, double stars, comets, lunar features? If your observing spot suffers form light pollution, the brighter open clusters and double stars may be nice targets.

[Bribrum]

Thanks so much everyone. I really appreciate your time. 

Im going to put a list together from your reply’s and get hunting

 

[RobertI]

18 hours ago, Bribrum said:

Thanks so much everyone. I really appreciate your time. 

Im going to put a list together from your reply’s and get hunting

 

I look forward to reading the observing reports.  

[cloudsweeper]

Lots of good suggestions!  One "classic" I would add is the C14 Double Cluster in Perseus - high, easy, and spectacular.

And have you bagged any galaxies yet?  M81 and M82 in Ursa Major are quite easy targets, can be viewed together, and it's fascinating to see objects which are actually beyond our own galaxy!

Doug.

[Bribrum]

I have seen andromeda but I shall trying for those 2 you mentioned

thanks