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Favourite celestial objects?


Beulah

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blumming difficult question :o:)

Too difficult! And I still haven't finished the take-home, as I got my scope less than two weeks ago.

And my list might be significantly different checked out the Southern hemisphere

I lived at 17 N in the Caribbean for a couple of years, but I didn't do much observing, though I did see a meteor storm. Strange seeing Orion overhead. A few months ago, my wife's brother moved to (near) Johannesburg, so I can't rule out visiting and seeing the southern sky.

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#1: The Moon (200x and higher)

If i had to pick one target for telescopic views it would definitely be Luna. There are craters, mountains, valleys, rilles, domes, lava folds.. All hypnotically beautiful.. all waiting to be explored.

#2: The Aurora

IMO, there's nothing that matches the beauty of an Auroral display. Nothing.

Sometimes it's merely a glow.. like a layer of odd-looking cirrus clouds which is brighter at the horizon. Sometimes the glow begins to shoot thin needles of light upwards, like waterspurts from a fountain.

Other times, there are huge Auroral patches which are called 'sheets'. They honestly look like sheets which are flowing and billowing up from the horizon... fluid, and glowing. Sometimes the sheets don't flow, but pulsate brighter and dimmer. During a more active storm, they actually converge at the zenith and look like AngelWings fluttering overhead.. i'm telling you, it's the stuff ancient Native legends are made of.

I've only seen 'curtains' a few times, but they look exactly like their name. They're the classic Aurora picture: a weaving, snaking curtain whose bottom is a distinct 'hemline' with a bright wall of light shooting upwards. Sadly, this solar cycle hasn't been too active so far... let's keep our fingers crossed. :)

#3: The Milky Way

The Milky Way looks absolutely breathtaking in my dark sky. There's lots of structure throughout, and averted vision shows quite a number of DSOs, too.

#4 Meteor showers

Ok, so i'm overstepping the "3 favorites" limit, but can you blame me? Anyone who has ever watched a meteor shower knows how lovely they are. Most of them are faint white streaks, but others are golden or orange-ish and some have glittery trails.. it's like watching TinkerBelle slip across the sky. :o

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Wow - what a cool thread :o

I really, really want to see M81 and M82 now :D

But my favourites so far after just over a month of catching the bug?

M13 - so sprinkly! I spend ages trying to resolve the individual stars and it never ceases to amaze me how many there are in the cluster.

M31, M32 and M110 - such a thrill to have all 3 in my FOV - priceless!

M103 - not the most exciting I'm sure, but it was the first ever DSO and Messier object I ever found, and I take a look every time I am out there. I like the triangular shape and the orange star near the middle.

I am sure my list will change with my growing experience, but that is it for the time being :)

Steph

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I had to think this one over for awhile. Finally decided on:

M42 - it was the first thing I looked at through a telescope, and I still have to look at it every chance I get

M35 - easy to find, looks good in almost any scope

M67 - an unusual cluster, quite old and very pretty

Dana

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I lived at 17 N in the Caribbean for a couple of years, but I didn't do much observing, though I did see a meteor storm. Strange seeing Orion overhead.

I know what you mean, I watched Orion rise from the Maldives (1 degree North), it was quite strange!!!

My favourite object is M104, the Sombrero galaxy. Great galaxy...

Ant

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I know what you mean, I watched Orion rise from the Maldives (1 degree North), it was quite strange!!!

My favourite object is M104, the Sombrero galaxy. Great galaxy...

Ant

me too ant... took me a while to get my bearings 1 degree North :D

What kind of aperture would you need to get a look at M104? I remember trying when I first got my scope, but I had no luck. Looking back it was probably because the Moon was close by and/or approaching full when I was looking.

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Here's my list:

1. Saturn - nothing quite like it in the eyepiece - the rings are brilliant and when on a bit of an angle are just stunning.

2. M51 - The Whirlpool Galaxy. You get two galaxies for the price of one and with a bit of aperture you can see the spiral arms.

3. M15 - The first glob I saw looks great in the eyepiece.

Sam

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Wow. Liked reading all of these. It's very hard (Bold Italics underlined in red sort of very) to pick a top 3, but here goes...

The Moon. It changes. It has craters. I watched it change and looked at it's craters and mountains through a toy scope most clear nights since I was 5, and still to young to understand what it really was and why it changed.

Orion - The first constellation I learned, and saw the Huner in the pattern. I never fail to notice his belt on a clear Winter's night. Home to M42, close second to the above.

The Summer Milky Way - Not sure this counts as an object, but this is my list so back off. When I go camping to a dark sight in late/early summer (e.g. with astro or near-astro twilight) and there is no Moon, there is no need for optical assistance.

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Hale Bopp takes some beating tho. wonder if we will ever see another in our life time :D Lets hope so.

Wasn't that an amazing sight to behold? Although I didn't own a scope at the time (Universtiy and all that), it was something I watched every day until it disappeared. WOW!

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I can't possibly narrow it down to a few objects, but here are some highlights from the last year or so:

Naked eye: Last winter I remember being really impressed by a couple large loose star clusters in Ursa Major, or at least I think it was Ursa Major! I'm looking forward to those crisp winter nights to see if I can see them again. I think what impressed me about them was they were so unexpected. Sorry to be so vague on the location.

Binoculars: Just recently I really enjoyed looking at B168 in my binoculars. Haven't ever seen it before, but it's a lovely area of sky with M39 and a couple of other clusters in the vicinity. I'm yet to point a telescope at the region and look at the cocoon nebula.

4.5 inch: I was really excited to see the Veil Nebula through my Starblast (you really need a dark sky for this). In some ways I think I preferred the view in my 4.5" to my 12", even although a lot more structure is visible in the 12!

12 inch: Last winter I was just amazed by the view of M51. The spiral arms were clearly visible with a distinctly knotted appearance.

I'm sure I will come across new favourites as I continue my voyage of discovery. One of the things I have learnt is that I enjoy using telescopes of all sizes - each has their strengths. There have been nights were I haven't got round to taking my telescope out the boot because I'm busy using my binoculars. Also, just because I have a 12" hasn't stopped me wanting to use my 4.5. I enjoy observing most when I am at a really dark site and the moon is down. It is so tragic that there are so few places in the country where you can enjoy a truly dark sky.

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1) - The Earth. Without it I'd get pretty cold and out of breath when observing and I'd have nowhere to put the scope down.

2) - Uranus. Without it my non-astronomer friends would have to try much harder to make totally jokes at my expense.

3) - The Rings of Saturn - (see above).

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