Most obscure object you've seen

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Originally Posted by pgc hunter

The Caldwell catalogue is nothing more than a hand-picked list of random objects.

I came to the conclusion he picked them off photos. Disappointing, since I was under the impression he was a great observer. Some of them are nice gems but was disappointed with a lot of them.

[multiweb (Marc)]

M16 through my bathinov mask.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by Blue Skies

I came to the conclusion he picked them off photos. Disappointing, since I was under the impression he was a great observer. Some of them are nice gems but was disappointed with a lot of them.

Hi Jacquie,

Patrick Moore is more a lunar observer than a Deep Sky Observer.

To be truthful I don't know how much of an observer he is period. He has written a lot of books and his TV show "The Sky at Night" has run for several decades on the BBC for the simple reason he presents well to "the aristocrats" with his refined tones and monocle.

Looking at the omissions and inclusions in the Caldwell list it is obvious to most experienced observers that he has never observed a lot of the targets in the list. One notable exclusion is NGC 2808 which is a globular cluster in Carina and one of the most impressive globulars in the entire sky. It is indeed far brighter and more impressive than many of the Messier Globulars. Yet some how, Patrick Moore couldn't find a spot for it. On the other hand he has included some nondescript nothing targets which are very difficult in small telescopes.

Cheers,
John B

[Tamtarn]

My most obscure object was planetary nebula MyCn18 in Musca using my 12" dob. Was a few years ago must try again sometime!!
Barb

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by ausastronomer

Hi Jacquie,

Patrick Moore is more a lunar observer than a Deep Sky Observer.

To be truthful I don't know how much of an observer he is period. He has written a lot of books and his TV show "The Sky at Night" has run for several decades on the BBC for the simple reason he presents well to "the aristocrats" with his refined tones and monocle.

Looking at the omissions and inclusions in the Caldwell list it is obvious to most experienced observers that he has never observed a lot of the targets in the list. One notable exclusion is NGC 2808 which is a globular cluster in Carina and one of the most impressive globulars in the entire sky. It is indeed far brighter and more impressive than many of the Messier Globulars. Yet some how, Patrick Moore couldn't find a spot for it. On the other hand he has included some nondescript nothing targets which are very difficult in small telescopes.

Cheers,
John B

Apparently the list was created as a compliment to the Messier catalogue, basically an attempt to include bright objects particularly those at far southern declinations missing from the Messier catalogue. It even includes the same number of objects. That would give me the impression that the list is aimed at beginners which makes the inclusion of objects like IC 1613 over other far brighter targets all the more bizarre.

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

Originally Posted by cometcatcher

Yeah the horse head is tricky. Only saw it one dark night through a 10 inch f4.5 scope using a deep sky filter. Couldn't see it without the filter. All I saw was a dark notch, no shape to it or anything. Have tried on many other nights using different scopes without success.

Aha! that explains it thought my scope needed throwing out.
haven,t seen the shape either.
& I have a very dark site....

Next November "Snake Valey" party a group effort may be in order

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

From my location the Andromeda Galaxy just clears the murky atmosphere
So... Her Globulars are well hidden :} M31-G001 is the only 1 I can identify (Hint get Bigger Scope) Others are at my limit ....

I also Love Ophiuchus...

NGC6240 galaxy
NGC6309 central star urgh!
NGC6572 central star urgh!

[Vegeta (Ibrahim)]

the most obscure object i've seen was an irridium satellite. I thought it was UFO until I realised it was a satellite.

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Originally Posted by pgc hunter

Apparently the list was created as a compliment to the Messier catalogue, basically an attempt to include bright objects particularly those at far southern declinations missing from the Messier catalogue. It even includes the same number of objects. That would give me the impression that the list is aimed at beginners which makes the inclusion of objects like IC 1613 over other far brighter targets all the more bizarre.

Thanks, but I was already active as an observer, had done the Messier list and receiving S&T mag where he first published the list and gave his reasoning. Which is why I was all the more disappointed with what he had chosen. It doesn't complement the Messier catalogue in any way in my opinion and some of the objects are far too challenging for a beginner. They challenged me and some of my even more experienced friends as well (and they are hard-core about their faint stuff!).

[BENHINSPETER (Ben)]

Me too Ibrahim...last week, as I was checking out Jupiter, something flashed 3 times nearby.

Was most groovy...

[leon]

I reckon whenever we turn our eyes upward we see something that is just amazing, it never ceases to amaze me, especially on a dark crisp clear night.

Leon

[wayne anderson (Wayne)]

Two obsure objects stay in my mind.
The first time i saw the horsehead nebula ic434, i remember the horse in the next field let out a neigh and trotted off just as i could make out the faint horsehead nebula.
Just last week i saw the 3 pillars in the eagle nebula M16 what i was more suprised about was that 3 complete newbies their first time viewing were able to see the middle pillar and described in detail what they saw.
I am always amazed by what we can see out there.
Wayne.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

The most obscure object/s I have managed are the group of ESO240-10, ESO240-11 and ESO240-13 all galaxies in Phoenix. The last one was right at the edge of visibility in my 12".

With regard to the Caldwells. I am still in the process of chasing down the last few that are visible. O'Meara book on the Caldwells contains a foreward by Patrick Moore in which he explains his reasoning. Firstly he admits he is primarily a lunar observer, but he makes the point that he has personally observed all these 109 objects. Secondly, he states clearly that they are not exclusively bright spectacular objects but include some dim and hard to get ones, but ones that are interesting from a scientific, astrophysical viewpoint. It is not a list of spectacular sights, nor is it a beginners list, it is a list of objects that one observers found interesting and maybe others will as well.

Malcolm

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by barx1963

The most obscure object/s I have managed are the group of ESO240-10, ESO240-11 and ESO240-13 all galaxies in Phoenix. The last one was right at the edge of visibility in my 12".

With regard to the Caldwells. I am still in the process of chasing down the last few that are visible. O'Meara book on the Caldwells contains a foreward by Patrick Moore in which he explains his reasoning. Firstly he admits he is primarily a lunar observer, but he makes the point that he has personally observed all these 109 objects. Secondly, he states clearly that they are not exclusively bright spectacular objects but include some dim and hard to get ones, but ones that are interesting from a scientific, astrophysical viewpoint. It is not a list of spectacular sights, nor is it a beginners list, it is a list of objects that one observers found interesting and maybe others will as well.

Malcolm

Just checked these galaxies out on Wikisky and ESO240-11 is a very nice needle thin edge on spiral. How did it look in your scope?

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Sab

They were faint, but the needle of 240-11 was really obvious. The other were just smudges.

Malcolm

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Thread resurrections seems to be a little rave at the moment...

Here's one to add to the mix, and a candidate for this coming September new Moon - 'Djorg 2'

Dojorgovski 2 is a magnitude 10 globular cluster, smack bang in the middle of the Cloud of Sagittarius. The kicker with it is it's behind the cloud, so it is heavily obscured, and difficult to make out from the surrounding 'noise' of the cloud. It is a really mind bend to make it out!!! It is certainly not a 'faint' target, but soooo tricky to make out.

It is very close to the lovely dark nebular B86, the Ink Spot, and the open cluster NGC 6520. The three are very close together (less than 0.8deg), so will all fit in the one field of view.

I first spotted Djorg 2 in July at Astrofest with my 17.5" & 12" scopes. I only found out about it because fellow IIS'er, Oleg, had Sky Safari with him and it showed Djorg 2 next to the Ink Spot that I had just finished sketching. Bugger! If I had known about Djorg 2 before starting the sketch I would have altered the sketch's arrangement to include it... Oh well, next time...

Mental.

[Allan]

I'll add the most distant object I've observed. 3C 273, Quasar in Virgo at 2.4 Billion light years.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Hi Allan,

I have also observed 3C 273 a couple of times. While it appears as a dim star visually in telescopes due to its distance of over 2.4 billion light years, it is a very interesting object scientifically. It has an absolute magnitude of -26 which means at a distance of 32 light years (10 parsecs), or about the distance to Pollux, it would appear as bright as the Sun. It has 100 times the light output of the entire Milky Way Galaxy. That is one bright object.

Cheers,
John B

[Allan]

Nice one John, it's hard to fully comprehend just how much energy these things have.

[Terry B]

This is the list of silly objects
http://www.astronomy-mall.com/Advent...ace/aintno.htm
Amazingly some have been observed.