Remote control telescopes and co-ordinates question..

[Lee Jenson]

Hi,

I would like to buy a remote telescope subscription as a gift.  I have been attracted to the Slooh because of it's catalogue that can be used to schedule the taking of images.

I have two qestions...

1. Do you have any remote observatory advice or suggestions for a beginner to take and save images?

2. To compliment my gift, is there such a thing as a book of astronomical pictures with thier co-ordinates that can used to point a telescope?

Thanks

Lee

[Starwiz]

Hi Lee,

There will be better qualified people on here to answer number 1.

Number 2 - I don't bother with books these days as there is a huge amount of information on line.  A good place to start would be with the Messier objects.  Pictures and coordinates are included in this page for instance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_object#:~:text=The Messier objects are a,Nebulae and Star Clusters").

John

Edited December 8, 2020 by Starwiz

[Lee Jenson]

Thanks John for your reply, how exciting, I will have a look at this wiki page.

Lee 🙂

 

[Pryce]

You can look around and find objecs and their designations on stellarium 

I use it all the time 😁

Edited December 8, 2020 by Pryce

[Lee Jenson]

Thank you

 

[Starwiz]

An alternative to Stellarium is 'Cartes du Ciel'.  Both are free bits of software and do pretty much the same job, so it's a matter of preference.

https://www.ap-i.net/skychart/en/start

If you 'right-click' on an object, then click 'About', it will give you all the information including the coordinates.

John

[DaveS]

I prefer to use Stellarium for planning targets as it has a better Field of View tool, and usually better pictures, however for controlling the telescope I use Cartes du Ciel.

For robotic telescope subscriptions you could also look at iTelescope. They have several instruments, including in the southern hemisphere.

[Lee Jenson]

Thanks Proto Star and Sub Giant - lots of exciting things to expore