What are you YET to observe?

[circumpolar]

There are so many things to observe in astronomy. If you are like me you will have a list of targets you wish to track down. The following is a list of common astonomy targets that are on my list. They can be divided into two main groups.
1) Events - can only be observed at a pre-determined time and location or at sporatic moments eg. eclipse & meteors. The event is usually compleated by the end of the observing session.
2) General - Objects that are always in the same location in the sky or that their movement is slow enough to monitor over several days eg. stars & comets.

[mickoking]

I really want to observe the Veil Nebula in Cygnus. The Horse Head Neb and M33 are two others :)

[Starkler]

I can take asteroid off the list, having just tracked down Ceres tonight :)

[astroron]

Unles I win the Lotto I will have to wait till 2012 to see a Solar Eclipse:(

[[1ponders]]

I'm with you Ron, that and Pluto.

Matt, does imaging count? If so I'll have a go at Pluto before it disappears this year ;)

[janoskiss]

Isn't that a planet now? :poke:

[iceman]

Nice thread, and interesting results.

I'm the same as Paul, though I also missed the lunar occultations of a planet.

[Richard F]

i also haven't seen a green flash or arora,but i am dying to see both!
(having met people that HAVE seen both.)
:eyepop: :thumbsup:

[iceman]

Good point Richard, they need to be added to the poll! :)

I haven't seen either, either.. but hope to one day.

[ving]

SO MANY THINGS TO SEE...

i doubt there is anyone who has seen everything. :)

and there is so much i want to see!!!!

[fringe_dweller]

nope seen em all, except green flash - couple I would add to that list would be a seriously bright super nova (a la 1987A) which I didnt observe knowlingly at the time, if at all, and a daytime comet :-))))) (cant get enough comet action, lots of variations on those) oh and telescopicaly viewable comet impact on jupe, which I just missed seeing in '94 ;( and a meteor storm (of which if you are willing to travel there is a possible one next year in the september 2007 Auragids see http://astro.cas.cz/nuncius/nsiii_06.pdf
lots of great visual earthly phenomena I havent seen yet either (like the green flash)
would also say there's aurorae and then theres aurorae - a full on coronal display is a looooong way from a few beams and glows ;)
EDIT: woops havent seen an annular solar eclipse! and the incredible variety involved with total solar eclipses is pretty wide to be generalising too I guess

[Blue Skies]

Well, I've seen everything on that list.

Things I'd like to see and haven't:
A meteor storm (just don't, and I mean don't, ask anyone in WA about the Leonids.....)
A really REALLY big speccy comet. I saw Halley looking very pretty but I'd like to see one bigger!

[ballaratdragons]

I have been lucky enough to have seen most of them.

There are some I am yet to see. Pluto and an Asteroid would be nice.

I saw the total Solar Eclipse in Melbourne about 24 years ago or near that. I watched it as a reflection in a shop window! AMAZING!!!!

[Lee]

Hanging for Mercury's transit in November - we'll be there on the beach to watch the show at sunrise on the 9th.... Not too many other reasons will get me looking forward to being up at that hour! :jump2:

[ving]

umm... oh and i ticked both eclipses and the hst.

[jjjnettie]

I haven't seen
Pluto
Asteroid
Total Solar Eclipse

I'll be rectifying the last 2 over the next couple of years.

It's been interesting reading this thread.
Some wishes that have been granted-
The yearning desire to see a day time comet....Comet McNaught
A telescopic view of an Jovian impact......the Bird Strike
The Mercury Transit of 2006

[pgc hunter]

Pluto
Total solar eclipse
Mercury

[goober]

Pluto
Iridium flare

[Rob_K]

Eta Carinae going supernova.

[ngcles]

Hi All,

I wonder how this got dredged back up from 2006 ?

Yes, I'm about to blow my own trumpet.

I tried to vote but it won't let me because I can't put a tick in any of those boxes. Been there, done that for all these, many/most are multiples. There are probably several if not many other members of this forum who can claim this too so I don't think I'm in an exclusive club.

Some things I still want to see:

(1) An aurora
(2) An Annular Eclipse
(3) An Annular/Total (Hybrid) Eclipse
(4) Occulatation of a star by Saturn's rings
(5) Optical afterglow/counterpart of a Gamma-Ray burst
(6) Planet/Planet Occultation

I think that's it ...


Best,

Les D

[jjjnettie]

:lol: The thread came up in my unread posts list Les.
Still very valid though don't you think?

[Blue Skies]

A planet/planet occultation would be interesting, a real conjunction!

Since I first posted in this thread I've since seen a speccy comet (McNaught) so I'm still waiting to see a meteor storm and I wouldn't mind seeing a big auroral display (I've only seen a very small one, with no colour), but Nature is having the last word on that at the moment!

[michaellxv]

Well I haven't done as bad as I thought. I have seen at least half on that list although there are some I would like to see again and again .....

can you say youv'e seen a total eclipse if you didn't actually get to look at it:question:

[spacezebra]

Total eclipse is the biggie on my list.

Cheers Petra d.

[Darth Wader]

Total eclipse, Venus transit, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto, an asteroid and a hell of a lot of DSO's.

[erick]

Poor unloved, un-sought-out Pluto

[that_guy]

I haven't looked at most of the things on the list... :( will have to be patient.

[gary]

Hi Les,

With regards the list, I'm lucky enough to be in your club as well.

There are obviously additional objects that could be added to the list, including
a Quasi Stellar Object (QSO or 'Quasar'), a supernova and a Wolf-Rayet Star.
I have been lucky enough to have seen these as well.

SN1987A was in the LMC and it certainly would be exciting to see a galactic
one - as long as we are outside of the death zone when it goes off. :thumbsup:

The visible afterglow after a Gamma Ray Burst - now that is a tough one,
but, who knows, in this day and age of near instant communication
it one day might be possible to observe one.

The spectacle of Aurora Australis or Borealis observed at polar latitudes is
something I still look forward to seeing one day. One evening whilst coming
back from Singapore to Sydney on a British Airways 747, I was seated
up in the hump and took the opportunity to ask if I could visit the cockpit.
The Captain was on his break and I was chatting to the First Officer
and whilst we looked out the window at the stars over the Timor Sea, I
remarked that he must have seen some remarkable sights out of the cockpit
window during his career and I asked what he thought was the best thing he had
ever seen. Without hesitation he remarked seeing the Northern Lights whilst
flying the Polar Route between the US and Europe.

Best Regards

Gary

[gary]

I notice that Pluto ranks highly on the "yet to be seen list" for many respondents.
The one tip I can provide is that one definitely needs a finder chart to identify it
in the FOV. Use a planetarium program that has a rich set of field stars, such as
the HST Guide Star Catalog and print off a finder chart of the FOV of interest,
being sure to mirror it if your optics do the same.

Best regards

Gary

[erick]

Big time envious :sadeyes:

[Saturnine]

Interesting reading the list and ticking the boxes, only 2 I haven't done yet, a really good meteor shower at an high ZHR, missed the Leonids 10 years ago because of our lovely spring / early summer cloud cover here on the coast. I know I've seen meteors belonging to "showers" but the rate was so low as to be barely above sporadic rates but I'll keep looking. The other missing item is Pluto, like many others here on IIS, too faint for my current gear, but !
One phenomonen that I would dearly love to see is an auroral display from more polar latitudes, that would be specky, oh, and Eta Carina going supernova, oh, and another comet as bright as McNaught .

Regards

Jeff

[mozzie]

theres always heaps to see that we havent,love to see horse head its just that hydrogen beta filter money,money,money

[ausastronomer]

Hi Gary,

You could further add things like the Gegenschein and Zodiacal light to the list as well. I have seen both of those but I know a lot of people wouldn't have.

Cheers,
John B

[Kevnool]

The Aurora Australis would be a sight to see as well.

Theres a few galaxies near the SCP that eludes me also.

Cheers Kev.

[GrahamL]

The Gegenschein and Zodiacal light I've seen

But ole barnard 33 still hasn't been sighted , I went last night to a new observing site close to home ( where I work actually).

Middle of a 150 acre block with minimal light pollution all round still wasn't enough I could make out part of the head or chin but nothing else , I think seeing was likely average which I guess wouldn't help.

[pgc hunter]

The HH will usually only appear as a subtle notch even in good conditions, you're unlikely to see the chin and other features seen in photos in moderate sized scopes. Once you get to around 18" aperture at a dark site and with a H-beta filter, the nebula will start taking on the familiar horsehead shape.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

I'll stay away from Cape York in 2012. No one will ever see an Eclipse if I'm around :( I'm an eclipse jinx. The second I show up - cloudy!. The second I leave - clear as a bell. I've tried for 4 and they've all been squibs. :(

I'd like to see:
Uranus
The Veil Complex in toto
Andromeda (M31)
A decent comet
The Ghost of Jupiter

[Ric]

What have I yet to observe?

I suppose my answer would be anything that I haven't seen. I once spent a whole night tracking down globular clusters and each one spectacular and individual in it's own way.

[Screwdriverone]

For me its only Pluto, asteroid and HST (have seen it chased by Space shuttle, but not to any detail.)

Oh, one more thing I have yet to observe....the wife bringing me a beer from the fridge.

Cheers ;)

Chris

[Liz]

You're a good man Peter :thumbsup: .... just stay down south and watch it on the Internet!! ;)

[GrahamL]

Subtle notch is pretty much what I was looking at sab, a small part looked a little darker but no discernable shape of a horses head.