Best DSO's to find in light pollution other than the M42?

[KiannJames]

Hi everyone!, I have been observing the Orion Nebula with a 6 inch newtonian reflector and its great but it seems to be the only object i can find in light pollution im just wondering do any of you guys know any other dso's easily found in light pollution?, Thanks.

[ZiHao]

As a matter of fact, if you know where to look, there are many things out there in that orangish sky, for example M7, M31, Eskimo and Ring Nebula, M45... Patience is the key.

[Astro Imp]

Try open clusters, loads around, planetary nebula show well in light pollution and of course double stars.
Good luck and have a great 2019.

[Demonperformer]

Hi, KJ, and welcome to SGL.

Totally agree with AstroImp about open clusters  and planetaries. These last are REALLY improved by a visual OIII filter. I was mega-surprised the first time I used one on M57 under my (then orange) streetlights ... despite being small it simply leapt out at me.

You don't give your location, but M7 mentioned above, while magnificent, is quite a challenge to find from most parts of the UK - here in the south it does not even reach 5 degrees above the horizon - and that gets worse as you travel north. Of course, from Malaysia it can be seen overhead and can be seen in its true splendour.

[jock1958]

M42 is one of the most spectacular DSO’s that I’ve seen through my 4” frac.

As already mentioned you will have to persevere a little more with other targets such as M31, M27 & M13, and the higher these objects are in the sky the better to minimise your LP. 

Also best bit of advice I had of this forum is to get to know the night sky with the aid of books like Turn left at Orion and Sky & Telescopes Pocket Sky Atlas.

Good luck and good hunting for 2019 ?

[Astro Imp]

1 hour ago, Demonperformer said:

 These last are REALLY improved by a visual OIII filter.

Quite so, I was amazed a few years back when I viewed M57 with a a first quarter moon nearby.

[jock1958]

Forgot to say Qualia Rob wrote a brilliant piece on this forum ‘what  can I expect to see’, also the book ‘Turn Left at Orion’ gives a lifetimes worth of detailed sketches of what you can realistically expect to see using a 2.4” frac, 8” & 10” reflectors.

[KiannJames]

Oh yeah my location is the UK btw thanks for the replies and happy new year!

 

[Louis D]

Some of the larger, brighter globular clusters like M13 also do well with high magnification under light polluted skies.  The tricky part is getting them centered first since they look like smudges at low powers even in suburban skies, let alone urban skies.  That's why M13 is nice, because it is roughly centered between two bright stars in the Hercules keystone.

Also check out the larger star clusters like the Pleiades, Hyades, and Collinder 70 in the belt of Orion.  You might need binoculars to frame them well, though.

[kippford]

26 minutes ago, KiannJames said:

Oh yeah my location is the UK btw thanks for the replies and happy new year!

 

Which part of the UK do you live in? How bad is your light pollution?

[TheMan]

To help your search, This website will help dso-browser.com . Or you can try using cartes du ciel.

[Grogfish]

There are some good objects in this list published in Sky and Telescope. It includes a mix of object types, including double stars, and unusual objects like the garnet star. (Personally I found I’d ignored doubles from my own observing for the first few years, but am glad I developed a taste for them.)

If you have the SkySafari app then the list is already available as an observing list so it’ll highlight them for you ?  In Search, if you click on Import from Online Repository, it’s listed as “111 Objects for light polluted skies”.

 

[KiannJames]

On 31/12/2018 at 18:45, kippford said:

Which part of the UK do you live in? How bad is your light pollution?

Birmingham, So Urban.