Quote:
Originally Posted by Bombardon
Knightrider, Steve, Joe and all,
Might be good to include some easy well-known clusters in the far south that are nicely placed at the moment - most in Carina. I find they are best viewed with small optics and mags of 10 -25. ( In fact K-rider's 10X50 are ideal.)
IC2391, a delicate bright cluster near Delta Vel in False Cross, NGC2516 near Eps Car in False Cross,a striking fig-shaped group with several orange stars embedded; NGC 3114 large cluster like a small paper boat near Ups Car;IC 2602, the Southern Pleiades, brilliant little group; NGC 3293 just east of Eta Car and a rich knot of stars - lost in Eta's splash; NGC 3532, wide, dense cluster, like a glowing Xmas tree with a deep yellow star nearby. Tons of great deep sky treats here and even the Blue Planetary near Southern Cross is worth revisiting. I find on a really clear summer night after rain that the cheapest optics in the smallest scopes can make a great half hour outdoors without the hassle of setting up! You see I get both lazy and crafty in my old age. Nice report, Knightrider. Regards,
Eugene
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Ha Eugene ..you've just about named all my favorite clusters ..N2516 and N3293 are crackers..Only need put M35 M37, M44, M45, M11, N6067 and N6231 in scorpius to just about do my list from memory.
And the BLUE Planetary N3918 , is My third Favourite with Green CBS EYE , N3242 in Hydra, and the Eskimo which is viewable in Gemini tonight in Oz.
True.. you only need Binos, a small scope of 80mm or so and some plossls or Dual EDs to enjoy a lot of what our skies offer.
bigjoe.