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Should be clear tonight, so, can someone help with targets?

stuming

By stuming
in Observing - Discussion

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stuming

stuming

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

I'm a beginner with a SW 130P and a range of EPs from 4mm upwards. I'd like to have a plan for observing tonight, to make the most of the limited time I have. I probably won't be out until about 9.30PM. I've viewed Mars and got some detail, plus Orion of course. I'd like to view Saturn again tonight, but what other targets would people recommend? I'm based in SE London so the light pollution is quite bad. I have a new filter that I hope will help though. I hope to be outside for a couple of hours.

I noticed a thread about comet Siding Spring but I reckon that'll be impossible from my location and with my equipment.

Any thoughts people?

Cheers

Stu

[edit] Typos.

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Doc

Doc

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Comet Siding Spring is mag 10.9 and would be impossible in your scope especially from London.

I would aim for

M44 and M67 in Cancer,

M48 in Hydra,

The eskimo Nebula Ngc 2392 in Gemini,

M51 in Canes Venacti

M81/82 in Ursa Major,

Orion Nebula

Saturn

Mars

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yeti monster

yeti monster

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Seeing here has been brilliant, M42s nebulocity was massive, looked like some huge crazy bat.

If it gets high enough, try for 4 Vesta. I've had a couple of red herrings so far, but I'm narrowing it down. Also the Virgo cluster of galaxys, should be east of Saturn and, I think about 10-15 degrees higher.

Mist, cleods and a boat with flood lights have put paid to my hunting for them tonight.

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stuming

stuming

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Well, didn't get out until 10.30-ish but all the cloud had gone so I thought I'd start with Saturn as a guaranteed "win". It was good, but I'm now getting a bit picky: it was very bright but showed no detail, and the rings disappeared into the planet. Would some sort of filter help get a bit more definition here?

Then I tried M51 ... but basically I couldn't find it. I have a AtoZ Goto mount which I had levelled properly in the daylight, but I only did a single star allignment but it wasn't badly alligned. I started with a 15mm EP which would give me x43 mag but I couldn't spot anything fuzzy. I spent about 30 mins at this mag having a look. I had also checked on Stellarium where it was so I thought I was in the right area.

Are there any techniques I can learn to spot M51? Was I using the correct magnification? I used Stellarium to work out that 15mm should give me roughly the right field of view. What routine do other people go through to find galaxies? I haven't seen a single one yet!

Stu

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acey

acey

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Sorry only south wales and parts of the SW are going to be clear tonight.

NE was clear - I had a great night.

Stu - here's a finder chart for M51: http://www.astrosurf.com/jwisn/m51.htm Notice the triangle of 7th-mag stars near the galaxy - that's what you're looking for.

Main advice on galaxies, though, is to get to the darkest sky you can find. The important thing is their contrast against the sky. The Milky Way is a galaxy, and if you can't see that against the sky with the naked eye then you're only going to manage the very brightest inner parts of galaxies through a telescope. At a dark site you can see many galaxies with binos. From a light-polluted site the best to try is M81, it's easier than M51. And you might be able to see its companion M82.

http://www.backyard-astro.com/deepsky/top100/10.html

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