What can be seen in the sky this month- see the 'Challenge'
Hi all,
Just starting out?
Got a new scope, binoculars or curious?
The last three months has seen the Monthly Observation Challenge start up again ( thanks Orestis!). The challenge offers a range of objects that will suit all types of experience levels and telescope sizes, some for even naked eye. It is not a competition, rather a list where the task is for individuals to have a go at pushing their observation skills, develop descriptive writing, and have a go at sketching. AND it works if your are in a city like Sydney (challenge is to actually see ONE star, ), or out bush, the challenge is in yourself.
There is no right or wrong. You can even ask for help in finding the objects.
Want to know what to look for? Have a go at the CHALLENGE.
Like all aspects of amateur astronomy, it is upto you where you want to go with it!
Below are links to the last three. Most objects are still achieveable. You will surprise yourself. The Challenge is located in the 'Observational and Visual Astronomy' forum
Like to see a galaxy or two this month, see The April Challenge. There are several within the reach of small scopes. I've seen one of these in a 30mm finder! You'll need at least a chart to chase them down:
If you are looking for galaxies for the first time, you should be aware of what you will actually see: not the fantastic spiral giants seen in photos- instead, small, dim, difuse patches of light, looking something like a puff of smoke against a dark background.
When looking for them, use your lowest power first. Scan the area with your eye, looking for a small fuzzy patch. You will notice that this patch of light catches the corner of your eye, but when you focus on this patch, IT DISAPPEARS!
It hasn't, and it's no error on your part. It is a phenomenon of our eyes where the most light sensitive part of our eyes actually surrounds our "central focus". We use this 'trick' when viewing through scopes as nearly everything we see is dim. It is called 'Averted Vision': you look just to one side of the object in question, hold your vision steady and all of a sudden the brightest and sharpest image of the object appears in your eye.
It takes a little time to master- actually very quickly. And it makes all the difference when viewing the heavens.
Once you have acquired the object, you can increase the magnification. This sometimes helps with small galaxies and planetary nebulae, as it darkens the background and helps bring out the faint light.
Have a go!
And above all- be patient!
Last edited by mental4astro; 10-04-2010 at 12:46 PM.
There are a couple of warriors left out of this month's challenge, namely Omega Centuri and 47 Tuc. The latter a more diffiucult to see from more northern latitudes at this time of year. Have a go at them. Omega is in the constellation Centaurus, and 47 Tuc in Tucana.
47 Tuc is very close to the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way. Best seen with binoculars. There is also a second globular cluster near to these two puppies: NGC 362. It is often confused with being 47 Tuc. But when you identify each GC, you can be left in no doubt which is which! The kicker with these three objects is that they all orbit our Milky Way. Saddly for the SMC, it will be devoured by the Milky Way in the next two billion years, next saturday week.
Another thing about Omega Centuri and 47 Tuc is that they are the remnent cores of other galaxies that have too been devoured by our Milky Way. This is evidenced by their exceptional sizes and the composition of these systems. GC's are usually made up of the same age and type of stars- very old and lacking the heavier elements. Omega and 47 Tuc have much younger stars in their mix as well as heavier elements being present, showing that stellar evolution has taken place since the formation of these 'globular clusters', something that doesn't tend to happen in 'normal' GC's.
August's Observation Challenge gives details on where Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn can be seen in the western sky, and a link to a chart for Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune in the mid evening eastern sky.
Jupiter is easy to see from around 11pm in the east- it's the brightest 'star' in the sky in that direction- you can't miss it.
This month's challenge also has a few more naked eye targets to have a go at if you don't have a scope. The constellation Scorpio if you haven't seen it before, and the direction towards the centre of our Milky Way galaxy.
Have a squiz at what's on offer in the Challenge. It isn't a completion but a list of targets to have a go at if you are stuck on what is up in the sky to look at.
And please feel free to ask questions if you need a hand on viewing things, astro-physics, what-ever!
1: the name given to the shower, such as Perseid or Leonid, is that they seem to radiate from a specific part of the sky. In your case, the constellation Perseus. Even though Perseus is a northern constellation, the shower can still be seen from our southern sky, with the apparent radiating point coming from the northern horizon.
2: They occur when the Earth passes through the rement trail of a comet's orbit. The more recent the passing of the comet, the more intense the shower is. This gives rise to the term 'meteor storm', when the hourly rate of meteors will rise from the typical 50 per hour, to 10,000's per hour.
There is one shower that is related directly to Halley's Comet. Buggered if I can't remember which one! Some one might remember. Anyway, when Edmund Halley predicted the return of this comet, the resulting shower that year was an almight meteor storm that made front page news in the newspapers of the time. This storm, along with the work that Sir Edmund Halley did with maths and comets, totally disproved the thought that meteors controlled weather on Earth. It is no mistake the term 'meteorology' as the name for weather studies. It is a remnent of the then belief.
Huge help Mental, thank you very much for the link. I really appreciate you bringing these challenges as well. If I may ask one more, would binoculars be a better instrument than a scope for viewing a meteor shower due to the flexibility?
The most sophisticated gear to view with are in your head, your eyes!
Even though they 'radiate' from an apparent point, they may appear anywhere in the sky. Think of the rays of the sun. They stream out from a point. The meteors may appear anywhere along these 'rays'.
As consequence, using any type of optical aid will give you too narrow a field of view.
The only other way to help view is by using long exposure photography with a wide field lens. The advantage of this is that it will pickup meteors you may miss. The other thing this will do, it will aggregate the meteors to show their point of radiance.
The camera doesn't need to track either. Leaving the camera fixed will with time show star trails as Earth rotates.
The picture below shows circumpolar star trails (here the north pole, the south celestial pole doesn't have a prominent Pole Star), with a white meteor streak, and the red trail of a passing aircraft.
Ahh, I see, I was on the right track I think, just not enough I figured a scope would be to restricting, I just figured if one can catch one of those things in the eyepiece, it must be very impressive!
People thought meteors controlled the weather once huh! We have come a long way indeed!
Thank you again for the great advice mate. Much appreciated. I best get a nice hot green tea very early in the morning and have a chair outside facing North.
Going to have a decent shot at NGC 6744 too. I have not ever caught a Galaxy. I hope to glimpse this one.
The only way to train our eyes is to take time to 'see'. It is this experience that will allow an old dog's 50 year old eyes see a faint galaxy that a fresh set of 15 year old eyes can't, through the same scope.
One way to train up is by doing a sketch. Artistic ability is of no consequence. But when coupled with 'averted vision', it is a really powerful tool.
Averted vision refers to exploiting the most light sensitive region of our eyes- that area surrounding our central vision. It takes a little practice, but the sensitivity of this region of our eyes is remarkable. Shifting your eyes from an object and then, say, to half way across to the edge of the field of view, all of a sudden faint details become aparent. Look back at the object directly, and these features disappear.
The way to develop a sketch, start with some bright stars, marking their relative position, and then just continue the process.
The Challenge contains some suggestions on materials to use.
Have a go. Nothing to loose, and a universe to gain.
October's Challenge follows on from the big response to September's, and a sketch posted by Orestis through his binoculars.
The range of targets has been selected to allow folks with only binoculars to also have a go at sketching a deep sky object. Sometimes a telescope can actually be too much. Some objects are just too big and faint. A telescope will show too narrow a field of view to see the entire object (and the bigger the scope, the narrower the field of view), and the higher magnification a scope provides, even at its lowest power, can render some objects invisible.
Binoculars are King in some cases!
There are a couple of tips that can help with using and sketching with binoculars:
1/ you can rest them on a post, or the edge of a car roof, anything that will help you hold them steady.
2/ some binos have a thread insert that will allow for the use of a photo-tripod adaptor that will permit the binos to be fixed onto a photo-tripod- "Look, mum, no hands..."
The targets on offer this month are not overly difficult to acquire. In fact, most if not all will be visible in binoculars too, though some will appear small. The galaxy NGC 253 might also be visible to you in a light polluted area if you have 50mm binoculars, and are away from strong flood lights. At a dark sky site, it will be visible in 25mm binos!
These targets also offer a range of detail that increases with the larger the scope you are using. All are pretty much obtainable in all scopes:
The Observation and Visual forum has seen a resurgence in sketching during the last two months. This month's Challenge seeks to build on this, and has resulted in one extraordinary selection of targets:
From the two closest galaxies to our own (the Large and Small Magellanic clouds, LMC & SMC respectively, which are in the process of being consumed by the Milky Way), to the galactic discoveries by the Australian astronomer James Dunlop during the early 19'th century from Sydney. These range from naked eye targets to challenging telescopic targets. All gems of the Southern sky.
This month's Challenge has also spawned the materialisation of Paddy's dream to create an atlas of the Small and Large Magellanic clouds as a reasource tool for amateur astronomers. A magnificent and magnificently daunting task! Fantastic work, mate!
Only have binoculars? Great! Many of these targets are not only easily attainable in binos, but the LMC & SMC are tailor made for binoculars as they are so damn big that they just won't fit in their entirety in the feild of view.
Not sure where to look at in the sky? The Beginners Talk forum home page has a few sticky threads with a great range of charts to help out.
There is a thread running in the Observation and Visual Astronomy forum that talks about current observations of Comet Hartley, which is a featured target in this month's Challenge.
Comet Hartley is past its prime viewing as it is now receading into the inky depths of the solar system. This thread will give you an idea of what to look for as unless you have extraordinary eyesight, it is only visible using binoculars or a telesope:
Alexander, where would we be without your monthly challenges. You help to make astronomy fun, and I want to thank you for going to all the trouble month after month especially with the enthusiasm you give. And gosh you have been extra extra busy this month posting all the past challenges up for the beginners.
If you are a beginner (or anyone for that matter) taking on Alex's monthly challenges, please come along to the Observational Forum and tell us about your nights viewing, we would love to hear from you, so please don't be shy. Participate with us and you will see it's not only a lot of fun, but your observational skills will increase.
And if you do find Alexander's monthly challenges helpful, I am sure a comment of thanks wouldn't go astray. Positive feedback makes the job a lot more worthwhile.
), or out bush, the challenge is in yourself.
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I figured a scope would be to restricting, I just figured if one can catch one of those things in the eyepiece, it must be very impressive!
lol
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