Targets for beginners: 5am, 11th feb - comets, venus and jupiter's great red sp
Hi Newbies,
here is are some targets for you. Guys have been picking the pojmanski comet up with binoculars (biggish ones) from darwin, so for any tassie / vic people, we should be well placed.
Look for venus at around 5am in the east, can't miss it, it looks like a truck headlight on full beam,
move south about 30 degrees (6 x fists held at arms length) and then just over one fist up.
C/2004 b1 is also a comet, so try for that one as well
I will try this tomorrow morning and will attempt to get some images.
Whilst with venus, check out the crescent shape, just like our moon gets.
Ok, rip on up to jupiter, overhead and to the north. The great red spot should be checking you out!!! Also the large moon ganymede will be nearby. It actually will appear out of nowhere when it comes out of jupiters shadow at around 4:45am.
Would love to hear what you see, please don't be afraid to have a go, and the predawn conditions are generally the best to view the heavens.
And even if you take a pic or scan a drawing you have done, please post it. This forum is the best in the world when it comes to sharing pics & drawings from all levels of experience. I remember posting my first pic very hesitantly, but was immediately swamped with words of encouragement and helpful hints. Made me feel good!
Thanks for the post - much appreciated! I would actually love to see this topic fleshed out a little more - especially with some evening targets for beginners (having a bunch of young children isn't conducive to early morning viewing)
Is there a suggested list of things to hunt down for beginners?
Any nebulae/galaxies/etc that are particularly stunning even in telescopes with moderate apertures?
Great article. Its amazing just how we get into habits. I am a pretty lazy observer and prefer to look in the evening and that becomes my time. I don't tend to keep an eye on the morning, hence the article on Venus this morning.
But after saying that I am going to have a go at the comet, thanks for the heads up
I didnt even know Rigel was a double!!! I use it to align most nights but don't really look at it. Thats changed. Hopefully up early enought for the 5.00 am shift.
Any nebulae/galaxies/etc that are particularly stunning even in telescopes with moderate apertures?
NGC 253 and NGC 55 are two galaxies that are easy to see even in smaller (40mm) binoculars. In the binos they will only be fuzzy patches, but the scope should show some structure. This time of the year you can catch them soon after twilight. You do need to get well out of the city though otherwise they get drowned in the skyglow. For impressive nebulae check out Carina between the cross and the false cross. And even from a light polluted backyard NGC 104 (47Tuc) and omega centauri (NGC 5139) have a certain "wow" factor if you have not seen a big glob thru a scope before.
Clouds, and more clouds. Is the amount of cloud proportional to the desire to view?
