Dark Doodad in Musca

Allan · #1 27-07-2017, 11:16 PM

I noticed a couple of nights ago I could see the Dark Doodad naked eye. I was at my Astro property which has nice skies, but I was surprised to see it. I haven't consciously looked for it before naked eye, and I don't know how most people rate the difficulty of seeing it, but it's something I will keep in mind in the future.

goober (Doug) · #2 28-07-2017, 07:45 AM

Cool - not sure I've ever seen it naked eye. Musca is my go-to constellation when evaluating the conditions on any given night.

Allan · #3 28-07-2017, 11:52 AM

Yes I like Musca as well. It's easily identified in a good spot in the sky, and has several nice deep sky objects.

Weltevreden SA (Dana) · #4 08-08-2017, 08:08 AM

Hi Allan,

I've seen the DD many times from my dark site in the Karoo (equiv. to your outback). It's when I don't see it that I think twice about lugging that heavy scope outside.

=Dana in S Africa