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bright galaxies, clusters and nebulas

charmedkelly

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Sam

Sam

Posted
Posted

Hi Kelly,

The brightest ones will be the huge M31 Andromeda Galaxy, the clusters in Auriga and the Orion Nebula. M31 is quite high up at the moment, The cluster in Auriga are getting very well placed and the Orion Nebula will start getting a bit higher as the month goes by.:rolleyes:

Sam

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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M42 (Orion nebula) is up but you'll have to stay up till Midnight

M31 Andromeda Galaxy is up and high in the sky.

Double Cluster in Perseus

M45 - The Pleiades

Those are all the bright ones I can think of.

The double cluster looks good in binos. M45 is easy to find - its a naked eye object anywehere without light pollution.

M42 is easiest of the lot - look just below Orions belt at the misty patch of sky.

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ashenlight

ashenlight

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Hello Kelly :rolleyes:

My recommendations are very similar to those that have already been mentioned.

M42

M45

Double Cluster

M81 and M82 - very favourably placed around about now, a fair way above the horizon (compared to earlier on in the autumn).

M31 is a nice target. If you are lucky enough to have dark skies, you will see it a faint smudge. Use a star map to locate the area it should be in and use averted vision to try to spot it. I thought it was a small patch of high cloud at first, I had to observe it naked eye over a few nights to confirm my sighting! Through a telescope it can be a little disappointing. You will only really see the nucleus as a bright smudged oval (depending on the size of your scope, of course - the larger it is the more detail it will pick out). It can be a bit of a let down as you so often hear of M31 being the object to spot. Just have a go and see what you think :)

Check out the open clusters in Auriga and give Cassiopeia a go aswell - a very rewarding region :eek:

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pvaz

pvaz

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Doesn't the Horsehead nebula have to be viewed through a narrowband filter? I tried to find it the other night with my telescope without aforementioned filter, alas, no luck. Mind you, seeing conditions were pretty carp...

It's very hard to observe at all. I read you need at least a 16" aperture to have a chance.

I know I couldn't see a thing with an OIII filter and my 8" under excellent conditions and a very dark sky. Dark enough to spot light patches in M13, M31 and m42 naked eye.

Or else, it's just my eyes that suck... :rolleyes:

Clear skies,

Paulo

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skye at night

skye at night

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Bright? You must have amazing skies.

Well.. listed it as Big and easy to find....

Can be seen if you hold a Hß filter to your eye...

But when the clouds are away the skies here are extremely dark..

except for summer when you can do the gardening at mid-night.

Steve

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acey

acey

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Horsehead, California - you obviously get good use out of your H-beta filter.

I've heard there are three objects that an H-beta is useful on - anybody know the third?

I've seen part of California with an 8-inch and UHC filter, naked-eye limiting magnitude of 6. Have tried for Horsehead under the same conditions and never managed it. Both objects were discovered by Barnard in late 19th/early 20th centuries, which gives an indication of how elusive they are.

For bright nebulae I'd start with M42 in Orion.

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