Milky way

[edelweiss]

Hi guys!

I wanna know is there any location near the Perth city that I can see and take picture of Milky way? Is there any specific time to view Milky way?


Ps: May I know what is messier objects?

[jenchris]

There's a location called Australia - you can see the milky way from everywhere as long as it is dark enough. When it does get dark enough, the Milky Way is really obvious.
Messier Objects.
Some dude in the old days with a skanky telescope couldn't tell if some of the objects he was gawking were comets (which he was obsessed with) so he gave them numbers.
Now if you don't have a good scope you can have a gander at them and be thankful that at least you got a better scope than Messier.

[bobbyf]

Hi there Eeda, I'll give you a non flippant response :thumbsup:
From Perth, if you drive out of town for an hour or so, you should be able to get a good view of the Milky Way in the early hours of the morning at this time of year.
Earlier in the night, you'll see part of it, and under a dark sky will still be awesome, but 3 or 4 in the morning will be where the core of the Milky Way will be visible.
If you don't fancy the early morning rise, wait a few months and it will come to you at like 7pm!!
Download stellarium or other program to see where it'll be be at any time.
Hope this helps

Bob

[noeyedeer]

the southern cross is in the milky way .. and so is Scorpius which is rising in the east and it's tail points to our galaxy's centre between Sagittarius .. and it is just a mess of stars and clusters.

with messier objects.. he catalogued feint objects so he didn't record them as comets .. but they are beautiful objects. he was a comet hunter .. which he is more famous for his list of non cometary objects then the comets he found ..

bob suggests a good idea with stellarium.. or a phone app or star charts ...etc.
matt

[jenchris]

Don't take any notice of Matt, he's no idea.....
Sorry matt - couldn't help myself - glad I didn't pick your handle.
I thought about being SWMBO. But even my dog ignores me.

[barx1963]

Eeda
Here is the Wikipedia entry on the Messier objects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_object
A very good reference for them is this book http://www.bintel.com.au/Accessories/Books--Charts-and-Software/Deep-Sky-Companions--The-Messier-Objects/600/productview.aspx

Cheers

Malcolm

[edelweiss]

Thank u guys for the responses! I really want to see the Milky way with my own eyes! I've got to plan my journey first! Thank you again!

[edelweiss]

I see.So basically messier objects are objects other than the comets? Sounds interesting!:D

[Astro_Bot]

Well, sort of. :) None of the objects in Messier's catalogue are comets, but there are many, many more objects up there that aren't in Messier's catalogue, and they aren't comets either.

There are many catalogues of celestial objects. Some run to hundreds of thousands of items. Several of them overlap to some degree, so one object can end up with alternative catalogue numbers.

Messier was the first (as far as anyone knows) to produce a catalogue (in 1771), but he only recorded 103 items, later expanded to 110 items by others. They happen to be some of the largest, brightest and most easily found objects, so the Messier catalogue is a good place to start in your exploration of the heavens.

Here's the Messier Catalogue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Messier_objects) for you to look through.

As for the Milky Way, nothing beats a really dark location away from the city. Allow your eyes to adapt to complete darkness for at least half-an-hour to really enjoy the view.