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Old 22-03-2019, 11:03 PM
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mental4astro (Alexander)
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Starting out in Astro - a what to look, at beginners seasonal guide

Ok, you have a brand new scope, possibly a modest push-pull scope, possibly a you-beaut goto instrument. You are armed with a couple of eyepieces, a set of charts, or an astro app on your phone, or just the catalogues on your goto. Yet you have no idea where to start or what to look at, and certainly not what to look for or expect!

Sometimes having too much information is more of a problem than a help when starting out. Sometimes a little bit of help is all that’s required just to guide you to a few objects to get you started, along with some idea on what to look for and what to expect.

This article came about after noticing the difficulties some friends of mine where having, who are new to astronomy and with brand new scopes. They had no idea what to look at or where to start. So thank you Alex, Ivan and Carlton. This article is as much for you as for everyone else who is new to astronomy.

I’ll be preparing a set of four such guides, lined up with the four seasons. I could have done a monthly guide, but it would have meant doubling up, even going over the same objects four or five times with monthly guides. Instead with seasonal guides I can cover in roughly chronological order over the course of a night, so you can look at the end of one season to begin the next.

The guides will showcase not just the more showy treasures of the night sky, but also some more challenging items, and some lesser known objects not because they are less spectacular, but some objects are truly spectacular but because they sit beside especially showy objects that claim all the fame in that constellation. I will also put some objects within special themes that relate them to unique characteristics or historical theme or even something trivial such as a treasure chest (The Jewel Box, The Gem and the Pearl open clusters). I will also include a short description of the object, what details to look for and expect. Some objects will be very easy to see, and others will really test your observing skills and help develop them.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of objects. Instead it is a spread of the variety of objects that can be seen, open clusters, globular clusters, bright nebulae, dark nebulae, planetary nebulae, supernova remnants & stars that are about to go supernova, and of course galaxies.

How well you see most of these objects though will depend on many factors. Best of course if you are under a dark sky rather than under urban skies. Other factors include the aperture or size of your scope, the prevailing seeing and transparency of the night, and of course your experience, expectations and even your own individual visual acuity and eye physiology. Of prime importance is understanding that the larger the aperture of your scope, the better you will be able to see faint objects, in particular with galaxies.

You may want to also read an earlier couple of articles of mine to help prepare you for what you can expect, why you see things the way you do and not with the spectacular colour of photograph, and tips on how to make the most of our human eyes.

Understanding Nebulae - what it is you are looking at

Observing Galaxies - where are they??? A how and why guide

Above all, be patient with yourself! Looking through an astronomical telescope is a very different visual experience compared to our bright daylight one. It actually means needing to re-train our eyes to get the most out of both our eyes and scopes together. It is together that our astro experience comes from, not just the scope alone.

Alex.

Last edited by mental4astro; 25-03-2019 at 03:26 PM.
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Old 22-03-2019, 11:12 PM
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The Autumn Sky

• M1, Super Nova Remnant in Taurus. Throwing you straight into the deep end here! Despite its premier position in the Messier list, it is very small and very challenging. How Charles Messier managed to find it and yet miss other much brighter objects I will never know. This SNR is of the supernova that appeared in 1050 AD, visible during the day, and recorded by Chinese and Japanese Astronomers.

• NGC 1365, Galaxy, Fornax. You may just be able to glimpse its arms. You will need a scope at least 8" to have a chance visially.

• M42, The Orion Nebula. Orion. Not just the nebula, but the Trapezium cluster that powers it is not just four stars. A 6” and larger scope will show six stars, and a scope 16” and larger can show as many as 12 stars in this very young and hot cluster. Also within M42 is the Fish Mouth, the easiest dark pillar to see in the whole sky, visible in 7X50 binos. M42 is glowing and sculpted by the intense radiation from the Trapezium. However, the Fish Mouth is resisting this erosion. That is because deep inside it is a cluster of protostars whose combined gravitational power is strong enough to keep the cocoon of gas and dust around themselves from which they are forming.

• NGC 2024, The flame Neb. Orion. Challenging because of the bright star next to it.

• NGC 2392, Eskimo Nebula, Gemini. A little Planetary Nebula (PN) that takes magnification well and detailed.

• 47 Tuc (NGC 104), GC in Tucana. Second biggest globular in the sky. Take your time with this one, let you eye rest on it for a moment, and the swarm of millions of stars will surge out! 47 Tuc is the remnant core of a galaxy that our massive Milky Way galaxy swallowed up long, long ago. And deep at the very centre of 47 Tuc is a black hole that is controlling the stable orbit of so many stars all so close together. Omega Centauri is another such ancient remnant galactic core.

• NGC 121, GC in Tucana. After gazing upon the magnificence of 47 Tuc, 121 will challenge you. It is right on the edge of 47 Tuc, but nothing to do with it. Instead, 121 is a GC of another galaxy altogether, the Small Magellanic Cloud. Be patient, it is little and faint, and it will only appear as a small diffuse pimple, but well worth the trouble to locate this remote world.

• M46, an OC in Puppis. This lovely OC has a little surprise in it. A line of sight coincidence with a background planetary nebula.

• M47, an OC in Puppis. Just one degree away from M46, they can almost be considered Siamese Twins!

• NGC 3372, Eta Carina HUGE nebula in Carina. Sooo much to see here! Stars that have just ignited their nuclear fires, a supermassive star that is in its death throes and about to go supernova (the star Eta Carina itself), and dark pillars of skeletal like fingers that harbour protostars – stars that are finishing their formation and whose nuclear fires haven’t started just yet.

A Treasure Trove Trio of Open Clusters, a spectacular trio of very dense, bright and very colourful stars, each a gorgeous treasure on its own:
• NGC 3293, the Gem Cluster in Carina
• NGC 3766, the Pearl Cluster in Centaurus
• NGC 4755, the Jewel Box Cluster in Crux.

• NGC 3242, Ghost of Jupiter PN in Hydra. So named for its size resembling Jupiter.

• NGC 3115, The Spindle Galaxy in Sextans. For me the most stunning edge-on spiral galaxy in the sky.

• NGC 5139, Omega Centauri in Centaurus. The outright KING of globular clusters. Keep an eye out for "The Eye Of Omega" - a line of sight coincidence with a small dusty molecular cloud that makes the centre of Omega Centauri appear devoid of bright stars.

• NGC 4945, Galaxy in Centaurus. A very active and large edge-on galaxy. Very different in appearance from the Spindle due to the activity going on.

• NGC 5128, Centaurs A in Centaurus. A highly distorted spiral galaxy. It’s Hamburger like appearance is a consequence of a major collision with another galaxy, and it is slowly settling into a more stable structure.

• M83, the Southern Pinwheel galaxy in Hydra. One of the easiest galaxies to spot its spiral arms, but it requires at least a 12” scope to have a chance at resolving them. One of the larger spiral galaxies in the sky that shows a large disk with a bright core.

• M104, the Sombrero Galaxy in Virgo. A small but intense edge on galaxy that has a very prominent dark dusty lane cutting across it, giving the galaxy its sombrero-like appearance. Though small in the telescope, M104 is a true behemoth of a galaxy, making our own massive Milky Way look like a midget! If you have access to an 18” or larger scope, you might want to chase down some of the more than 1000 globular clusters that swarm around this monster galaxy.


If you have any questions, would like other suggestions, or would like to offer your own suggestions, please ask and post them here

Alex.

Last edited by mental4astro; 23-03-2019 at 09:50 AM.
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Old 22-03-2019, 11:20 PM
Ukastronomer (Jeremy)
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Boy you have been busy

But what about the nearest Astronomical wonder our Moon
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Old 22-03-2019, 11:40 PM
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It's interesting that you say that Jeremy

In a conversation with Alex today we were discussing the whole where does one start...

I'm not especially 'new' to astronomy but, I am beginning to become more 'serious' about it..

In our conversation today we were discussing that I am still a bit reluctant to wade in with advice on the forum to beginners other than to point them to threads from more knowledgeable folk. However, as I move along my journey, I'm starting to feel a little more confident in providing some limited advice to those who are brand new....

Our conversation today was along the lines of 'start with the moon', it's big, it's bright & it's very simple to find... so I agree, this should indeed probably be the rank beginner's starting point... then I would say that the planets, particularly Saturn & Jupiter should be your next targets.. again, easy to find, plenty of detail can be seen with a modest setup & generally still from urban skies...

For me, I then started to progress to the brighter Nebula because again, they are visible from my backyard... my main focus has been on trying to find Messier objects since, long long ago, folk were able to see them with optics that would be considered quite subpar by today's standards.

I'm now beginning to branch out.. beginning to have a better understanding of my optics & having a bit of a play with some short exposure AP...

This includes starting to hunt for less bright objects, galaxies, etc.... but, of course this requires a dark site & I'm in the process of trying to find one close to home... However, I find myself drawn back to that big old moon that had become a bit boring and passe until, Alex put out the challenge to look for specific things, to push ones optics looking for fine resolution.. suddenly, the moon got really, really interesting again...

So, in short, I agree Jeremy... the moon is a fantastic target for so many reasons...

But, I will be taking a close look at Alex's list too...

Cheers

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Boy you have been busy

But what about the nearest Astronomical wonder our Moon
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Old 22-03-2019, 11:47 PM
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But what about the nearest Astronomical wonder our Moon
YES!

Very much indeed! The Moon should never be forgotten.

I certainly urge every beginner and newcomer to astro to FIRST make the Moon your first target!

Think that the Moon is just a pock marked bright white ball? Think again!

Without an atmosphere, the Moon is an open storybook of its entire history, from its violent beginning through it is present and unrelenting bombardment blasting of radiation from the Sun.

It's not just craters that mark the lunar surface, but also mountains, valleys, lava fields and if there's lava there are volcanoes! And the craters themselves have hugely varying appearances, which give clues to their age, if you only take your time.

Rather than duplicate what I've written about our nearest neighbour, have a read through another recent article I've written about observing the Moon and planets:

Observing the Moon and planets - the good juice and cheats...

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Old 23-03-2019, 12:07 AM
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Alex,

Another fantastic resource for the beginner & not so beginner... I will add this to my observing book that I have next to my scope when we actually have stars (or even the moon) to actually see up here in FNQ..

It will help me to set observing goals, learn the sky a little more & push myself & my scope a little harder rather than just sticking to the old faithfuls...

Cheers

Edit: PS... What's Autumn.. LOL.. We only have two seasons up here... Wet & Really Wet... we are currently experiencing the Really Wet bit... and at least another week of it before we 'may' catch a glimpse of the sun...
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Old 23-03-2019, 01:50 AM
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Remember the great Patrick Moore (my friend) started his Astronomical career and love with the Moon and it was his first and last love all his life (after cricket)
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Old 23-03-2019, 07:27 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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I spent 8 months reading astronomy books, star charts, YouTube clips, magazines, visiting telescope shops, downloading Stellarium and studying it and starting my own astronomy binder before I even bought a telescope
When I bought my 10” dob, I started with the moon to hone my skills at finding and focusing, eye piece selection,using filters etc.. Then during Autumn and Winter started finding the planets ( Mars , Jupiter and Saturn ) once again getting experience with eye piece selection, filters etc
Then on to bright stars to learn how to star hop, then Open Star clusters and globular etc...The rest is history as they say and it took me 3 years to get where I am today ( imaging galaxies )
For an older person I had patience,took my time and enjoyed the journey, but a young person may not have the patience and learning curve as I did. They may want to see Hubble type images in the eye piece off the bat ?
Anyway my only advice ( from still a beginner ) is to take your time and learn as much as you can, there’s a lot of “stuff” up there waiting for you , it’s not going anywhere in a hurry
Clear skies and enjoy !!!!!
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Old 26-03-2019, 03:33 PM
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Alex, this is fantastic material, hats to to you for taking the time to put ALL of these excellent resources together for everyone learn from and enjoy. Take a bow sir knowing what you are contributing to the hobby will be used for years to come I am sure. I will certainly be using everything in the coming weeks. Thanks again Alex
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Old 26-03-2019, 05:26 PM
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There were two nice books I had as a beginner, they kept me quite busy for a couple of years

The first was an old copy of Norton’s Star atlas. On the back of each map was a list of the best sights worth looking imat with an 8” scope. This is also valuable for the rest of the general info it contains from setting up your scope, info about telescopes, solar system statistics, moon chart and much more.

Similarly an old colour atlas by Patrick Moore, which had useful lists for each map, though that had a distinctly northern bias.
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Old 26-03-2019, 07:31 PM
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alex, this is fantastic material, hats to to you for taking the time to put all of these excellent resources together for everyone learn from and enjoy. Take a bow sir knowing what you are contributing to the hobby will be used for years to come i am sure. I will certainly be using everything in the coming weeks. Thanks again alex


+1
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Old 30-03-2019, 11:44 PM
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Very much appreciated. Thank you
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Old 02-04-2019, 09:19 PM
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Thanks for the kind words.

Autumn part ii

I’ve seen that with my original list of objects I didn’t go out into the deeper reaches of the Autumn sky, so I’m adding a part ii to compliment the first lot of items. I’ll also include some naked eye objects as there is actually so much to see without a telescope or binoculars. There is so much that is actually hiding right under your nose only because you just don’t know what you are looking at. And oh golly gosh, there is a lot happening right overhead!

Autumn list continued
* Markarian’s Chain, a string of galaxies in Virgo. This is a staggering arrangement of galaxies that are all linked gravitationally, and to us forms a line of sight ribbon of galaxies that stretches about 1.5°. These are all relatively bright galaxies, and this string is very easy to follow in a 4” refractor, and also larger binos. As aperture increases, fainter and fainter galaxies become visible. In my 17.5” dob, this is a gob-smacking cacophony of galaxy after galaxy after galaxy. No matter the size aperture you have, Markarian’s Chain is a fantastic target to chase down.

* Leo, yes a constellation, but it harbours two excellent trios of galaxies, the first is a rather widely spaced trio, comprised of M95, M96 & M105. The next trio, a little further east from the first lot is made up of M65, M66 & NGC 3624. It is curious that Charles Messier missed out on spotting NGC 3624, considering it is just as bright at the other 5 messier galaxies listed here.

* The Virgo Quasar, 3C 273. This is one of the most exotic objects in the sky, and the most distant visible in amateur instruments. Through a scope, it isn’t anything particularly exciting, appearing as a magnitude 13 star. But when someone asks that “cute” question of “how far can you see with your telescope”, you can now tell them “at least 2.5 billion light years”! The challenge comes from actually identifying the quasar out from the surrounding stars. Quasars are the brightest, oldest and most distant objects astronomers have found. If 3C 273 was just 32 light years from Earth, it would shine just as bright as the Sun.

Like I said in my first post, some of the objects I list WILL challenge. These will push your observing skills.

* Alpha Centauri. The closest star Earth after the Sun, at a distance of 4.3 light years. That doesn’t sound too far, does it? Think of it this way, the Voyager II spacecraft is the fastest spacecraft launched from Earth. It will take Voyager II some 63,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri is also not a single star, but a multiple star system. Through even a small 2” scope, it is possible to split it into two separate stars, nearly of equal brilliance. But it doesn’t stop there. Alpha Centauri is a tertiary stellar system, with a much fainter third star, Proxima Centauri, shining at magnitude 11, and is actually just over 2° from its two brighter siblings. Multiple star systems are actually the norm, and our single star Sun is the exception than the norm! Procyon, the brightest star in Canis Minor, is a nonary system (made up of nine stars)!

Naked eye items
* STARS! Yeah, well so what? Well, every single individual star that you see in the sky without a scope or binos is entirely within our Milky Way galaxy. Yes, there are a few faint glows of distant galaxies that can be seen naked eye, but none of their individual stars can be resolved naked eye.

* The Coal Sack. This is a very prominent dark nebula that sits across Centaurus and the Southern Cross. While we may initially think that stars are what make up the bulk of galaxies, star probably form less than 10% of the mass of a galaxy! The vast majority of the mass of galaxies is formed from the gas and dust that has not being formed into stars! The Coal Sack is a cloud of this gas and dust.

* The Dark Emu. This is an Aboriginal constellation. But it isn’t formed by bright stars, but of the dark nebulosity just like the Coal Sack. The head of the Emu is formed by the Coal Sack, its neck stretching out to the east, with its body deep inside Scorpius and Sagittarius, and the Emu’s legs continuing on further to the north-east. This is a massive constellation and it requires a dark sky in order to see it to its full magnificence.

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Rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle
* While in the area of the Dark Emu, there’s a set of very bright stars that are living the rock and roll lifestyle, and we have front row seats for when these all go supernova! Acrux, Becrux, the two brightest stars in the Southern Cross, are supergiant stars that will eventually go supernova. Supergiant stars are the largest of stars, and burn through their hydrogen at a phenomenal rate. The main sequence phase of these stars is only a few tens of millions of years, while the main sequence phase of our Sun is 10 billion years. These two stars are actually very close to us, at roughly 300 light years, so when these two explode, it will be a truly spectacular event to be seen from Earth. By way of comparison, the star that exploded to form M1, is some 6,200 light years from us, and the supernova explosion was bright enough to be seen during the day. So when these two stars do go supernova, the only objects brighter in the sky will be the Moon and the Sun, and even possibly just the Sun. But don’t worry about this happening any time soon. A few million years will still pass before this happens.

Happy hunting,

Alex.

Last edited by mental4astro; 02-04-2019 at 09:31 PM.
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Old 02-04-2019, 09:22 PM
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If you have any questions, like some other object suggestions, need clarification about something I've written or you've seen, please ask. The only dumb question is the one that is not asked!

Alex.
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Old 02-04-2019, 10:25 PM
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How long, on average does a drawing take you
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Old 02-04-2019, 10:55 PM
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A small galaxy, half an hour. M22, two hours. The LMC, on an A1 size sheet, 10 hours.

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Old 03-04-2019, 12:16 AM
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How do you do the white on black ? as in the middle one above
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Old 05-04-2019, 08:00 AM
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How do you do the white on black ? as in the middle one above
I use the Mellish Technique for my astro sketching. It was developed by the late Scott Mellish, and I was so fortunate to have had Scott demonstrate his technique to me, and as it happened, just a few months before his death. What is so remarkable about the technique Scott developed is just how easy it is to use, and just how effective it is in its simplicity, particularly for it to be done in the field at the eyepiece. If you do consider having a go at sketching this way, try a few practice sketches at home in the light of day copying a photo (change it to black and white if it is a colour photo), and get a feel for the materials and technique. Try to do this straight off first time at the eyepiece and you will struggle as so much of it depends on finesse of touch and control of loading of dust on the brush. Get the feel for it first, and it becomes a breeze to do at the eyepiece!



To see me at work in the field, a good friend made this little clip of me doing at sketch at a star party a few years ago.



Alex.
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Old 28-05-2019, 11:34 AM
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Winter list of Objects

Winter marks the start of the first of two Galaxy Hunting seasons. It also sees the hub of our own Milky Way galaxy reign supreme over our night sky. I will also be mentioning a few naked eye delights – not everything requires a telescope.

As most galaxies require considerable aperture to see with much detail, I’ll limit this list to the more interesting objects. Some of the objects being mentioned will be relatively easy to acquire, but there will be a few that will test your development as an observer and push the limits of telescopes and eyeballs

Naked Eye.
• Scorpius, the constellation. Alas, most constellations do not resemble the namesake that they carry. But there are a few that are remarkable in the collection of stars. The scorpion is one of these. Starting from its broad head, then down to its red heart marked by the bright ruby star Antares, and then tracing the long sweeping “S” shape of its body all the way down to the stinger in its tail.


• A pair of crowns, Corona Borealis and Corona Australis. These are two very ancient constellations, also seen as crowns in many other ancient civilizations. The stars that make up Corona Borealis are brighter than those of Coronal Australis, but the string of stars of the latter make up a much more impressive arc.

• The Stingray – an Australian Indigenous constellation, aka the Southern Cross. Prior to European settlement of Australia, the local Aboriginal population has its own astronomical lore, and with that constellations. To some Aboriginal nations, the Southern Cross is seen as a pair of fish.

• The Cloud of Sagittarius – this is the single densest concentration of stars in the whole sky, and it lies in the direction of the core of the Milky Way. But this cloud is not the hub of the MW. Instead it is a clump of stars within the arm of our home galaxy that cuts in between us and the MW’s hub. Beyond this clump, and 30,000 light years from us lies Sagittarius A, the name of the Black Hole at the centre of our home galaxy. It is so named as it is the major source of radio waves from this direction of the sky. It is this supermassive black hole that is the driving engine of our Milky Way, whose massive gravitational pull is responsible for holding the hub together and the gross mass and gravitational pull of the hub that holds the MW together. We, our Sun, spins once around the MW’s hub every 230 million years. Now, 230 million years ago is when the age of Dinosaurs started here on Earth. Since then, the galaxy has since completed one full revolution, and now back at “point zero”, we appear on Earth… both eerie and cool at the same time!

Telescopic objects.

The Council of Giants.
Sounds like something out of Lord of the Rings, eh! Galaxies, like stars, tend to stick together in clusters. Our Milky Way galaxy sits within a cluster called the Local Group which is made up of at least 60 galaxies. Our group is tightly held, and there is a vast next to empty volume all around our local group before the next galactic cluster. But within this vast void resides twelve massive galaxies, almost like Sentinels standing guard around our local group. This is the Council of Giants.
At this time of year, several of these Sentinels can be seen. A few are relatively easy, but one is extremely challenging despite its colossal size and peculiar name. Just remember, the majority of galaxies unfortunately are a real challenge for novice eyes, especially from the suburbs as they are very easily washed out by light pollution, and certainly very little detail is hence visible in them, if anything much at all. But there are a few that do offer a little resistance to light pollution, but they do require patience and for you to trust your eyes.
• The Hamburger Galaxy, NGC 5128 in Centaurus. The Hamburger is so named because it resembles the said food as seen from side on with two buns with a pattie inbetween. It is located very close to Omega Centauri. The Hamburger from a dark site can be seen is 30mm finderscope, but from under light polluted skies it can appear as a faint “dumbbell” pair of lobes. The Hamburger is also known as Centaurus A, and was the first object to be found an enormous radio wavelength source with radio astronomy techniques, and from here in Australia! From Sydney’s Dover Heights actually.

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• M83, the Southern Pinwheel, in Hydra. This is one of the easiest galaxies to see its spiral structure. But its arm structure requires a dark site and transparent sky (meaning no fog or mist, smoke or dust). Its arms have been spotted in scopes as small as 6”, but this is quite exceptional. Thankfully it sits just off the band of the Milky Way so it is not significantly obstructed by foreground stars and dust, same with the Hamberger.
• ESO 97-G13, the Circinus Galaxy, or Circinus Dwarf. This one demands the use of big aperture. It is literally “suck your eyeballs out of your head” difficult!!! This sucker is a real, REAL giant, but because it happens to sit behind a dense part of the Milky Way and hence heavily obscured, it was not discovered until 1977, and then mistakenly described as a “dwarf” galaxy because at first only its core was spotted, and it was not until several years later that its true status as a supermassive spiral galaxy was revealed. The Circinus Galaxy is more than double the diameter of our Milky Way galaxy, and our Milky Way is a blooming big sucker. There is so little observational information about the Circinus Galaxy that it took me a few years to actually identify it with my 17.5” scope. The problem is the heavy obscuring that the Milky Way does, so that the only “easy” part to spot is its core which looks like a very small unresolved globular cluster, and nothing like the big diameter round patch that is described in catalogues! Eventually I did spot it. And it was only with the time I spent on the sketch that I actually began to notice its much larger, but angel’s-breath faint disk! Oh so difficult, but oh so satisfying to nail this beastie.

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Other objects
• NGC 4038 & 4039, the Antennae Galaxies, a pair of interacting galaxies in Corvus. This is a challenging pair of galaxies to see, and aperture is the key to seeing detail here. Though difficult, the Antennae Galaxies are a stunning example of galaxies that are highly distorted due to the enormous gravitational tidal forces acting on both systems. There are strands of stars and material being ripped out of both systems, some connecting both, and others being flung at high speed out of both into the empty abyss of space, lost for ever more to the inky darkness.


• M68, Globular Cluster in Hydra. A lovely orb of thousands of stars, not too well know because it sits so close to some other stunning objects in the same patch of sky.
If you have binos, grab ‘em! This is prime bino territory too!

Scorpius – The constellation contains a wealth of treasures along with its neighbour Sagittarius. Not only individual objects, but this area of the sky is riddled with masses of dark nebulosity that in most cases is invisible to telescopes, but wholly the realm of binos and small aperture rich field telescopes.
• M4, a gorgeous, somewhat loose globular cluster with a distinct “belt” of bright stars that cuts through its middle.
• The Table of Scorpius, around Zeta (ζ) Scorpii, is a contrast boon, with some brilliant supergiant stars beside some four individual open clusters of very different sizes and illumination of components stars and of a couple of nebulous complexes, and stunning asterisms, all within a small 3° field of view.
• M6, the Butterfly Cluster, so named because of its curious two-lobe structure resembling a butterfly. It is a naked eye object even from the big smoke (can be difficult from Sydney and Melbourne naked eye).
• M7, Ptolemy’s Cluster. OMG! My single most favourite in the whole sky! This big sucker is just AMAZING! Sure it is big and bright, but within its boundaries there lie three other open clusters, a globular cluster, half a dozen planetary nebulae, and a stunning criss-cross network of dark nebulosity that is totally invisible to telescopes other than rich field scopes and binos! The GC NGC 6453 is very remote and heavily obscured by the foreground Milky Way. It is but a small faint fuzzy patch that resists resolution. The planetary nebulae within Scorpius are all very small and need a technique called “blinking” in order to have any chance of spotting. Blinking makes use of an OIII filter placed on a paddle that is flicked in and out between your eye and eyepiece. The PN is easy to spot as it “pops” out. Follow this link to get an idea on how to do the blinking method.

Sagittarius – one of two centaurs in the sky – no prizes for guessing which is the other… Sagittarius is the richest constellation in the sky for stars and deep sky objects. It is also the direction in which the core of our Milky Way resides. AND it is a killing field, where one poor small dwarf galaxy is in the process of being devoured by our monster Milky Way.
• M8, M20 & M21 trio. I’ve grouped these three together as they all within the field of view of binos and rich field scopes, and the lacework of dark nebulosity that intertwines around the three really needs mentioning too. This trio in being so close together are visible naked eye from all but the worst of light polluted skies. In many instances if you can shield your eyes from bright lights you may be able to catch of glimpse of their soft glow as two adjacent small fuzzy patches of light. The Lagoon and Trifid (M8 and M20 respectively) are two of the brightest nebulae in the sky. The Lagoon largely resembling a swirling oval cloud of smoke with a dark streak running through it, and the Trifid as a round patch with thin dark line cutting it into sections. M21 is a small bright open cluster beside M20, and it is what is mostly seen naked eye rather than M20 itself.

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• M22, one of the largest globular clusters in the sky. M22 is one of some two dozen globular clusters within Sagittarius. It is a gorgeous silvery orb with a brilliant and large core, and dozens of strings of stars running in all directions as small ribbons within it.
• The Ink Spot (Barnard 86 or B86) is one of the blackest, most dense dark nebulae in the sky. What helps this is it lies deep within the mass of the Cloud of Sagittarius. Adding to the spectacle of its inkiness is it lies beside a small but brilliant open cluster, NGC 6520. Together the juxtaposition is a joy to behold. This particular challenge doesn’t stop here. Very close to this duo is a small/faint globular cluster, Djorg 2. This GC is very difficult to spot because is lies behind the densest star cloud in the sky. But thankfully it happens to sit within a small trough within the Cloud that is a little dimmer than the rest of the Cloud, and this line of sight coincidence allows the soft round glow of Djorg 2 to be seen. It lies just north west of the B86/NGC 6520 duo, about as far from the Ink Spot as the duo grouping is wide. Happy Hunting here!

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• M17, the Omega or Swan Nebula. Another naked eye object that can be seen from urban skies. It happens to have a large round dark nebula sit over it that makes the bright arc of light around it resemble the neck of a swan.

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Alex.

Last edited by RB; 18-07-2019 at 03:52 PM. Reason: OP requested correction.
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Old 28-05-2019, 11:38 AM
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mental4astro (Alexander)
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A few more winter objects

• M16, the Eagle Nebula. And yet another naked eye nebula! This is the home of the Eagle, also known as the Pillars of Creation. This structure is made up of a small group of dark pillars, that point towards the small and young, brilliant cluster of stars that is causing the nebula to glow. Deep within these pillars are dozens of protostars, stars that are not quite finished forming so their nuclear fires haven’t started, but their strong gravitational pull keeps the cocoon of gas and dust that they are forming from around them, and resisting the erosive power of the radiation emitted by the young cluster. The Eagle, or Pillars of creation, are very difficult to see, requiring larger apertures and a dark & very transparent sky.

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• NGC 7009, the Saturn Nebula, in Aquarius. This is a small but bright planetary nebula that through a telescope resembles the planet Saturn.
• NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula, in Aquarius. Another planetary nebula, but this one is large, and one of the closest planetary nebulae to us. This large puff of smoke appears to have a couple of rings that make up its helix or corkscrew structure. The Helix is some 650 light years from us, in astronomical terms it is right next door to us, and its diameter is an eye watering 2.5 light year!

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The Dinosaur Killers.
• NGC 7552, 7582, 7590 & 7599, the Grus Quartet, in Grus. This is a small, faint quartet of interacting galaxies whose gravitation pull on each other is causing them to distort. This is only the first part of their speciality. What REALLY sets them apart from is their distance – 65 million light years. So when you look at this quartet of stars with your own eyes through a scope, you are reaching back into time to when the dinosaurs where wiped off the face of Earth! Those photons from those galaxies have been travelling through space for 65million years, and have cause cells in the back of your eye to fire. Photons that are all your own and no one else’s that are 65 million years old. Pretty amazing I reckon. Being so far away, these four galaxies are very faint, and do require some aperture grunt to spot them. Have a go all the same – to catch a glimpse of these distant worlds is well worth the effort. Three of the the galaxies are very close to each other, the forth is a little way of, so this group is also sometimes called the Grus Trio.

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I think there’s plenty here to get you going over winter. As always, if you have any questions or would like suggestions for further objects, just ask

Alex.
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