Find Pluto

[glenc]

Have you seen Pluto? It is about 2.5 degrees north of M23 at present. Pluto's magnitude is 13.9 and you will probably need an 8 or 10 inch scope to see it. It transits just before daylight. Here is a SkyMapPro map showing M23 and Pluto (the dot above the P).

[Dennis]

Hey Glen

I just "Rick Click" on Pluto in The Sky, and then select "Slew" and hey presto - Pluto is positioned in the FOV! This is how I locate it with my 4" refractor and CCD camera, not by eye!

Cheers

Dennis

[glenc]

My dob dont do that. :( Can u c it with your 4" ?

[Dennis]

Hi Glen

You can draw some comfort from the fact that without mains power, I don’t know how to find anything, whereas you dedicated star hoppers and users of papyrus charts have the skills to find stuff without power.

I’ve never looked for Pluto with the 4” by eye, as the limiting magnitude is around 12.5, Pluto being around 13.9.

Here is a series of Pluto images I took waaaay back in 2001, with the Vixen 4” refractor and a lowly Pixcel 255 CCD camera (320x240 pixels).

Cheers

Dennis

[shredder]

No wonder I've never found it..... sure you go the right white dot there?

[DaveGee]

Ah Pluto...

I made an animated .gif of Pluto zipping across my FOV over 9 days. See...
http://users.tpg.com.au/users/daveg/pluto_060612/pluto_appulse.gif

Note the little cluster in the centre. The star marked was occulted by Pluto and the analysis of the event I observed can be read here...
http://spiff.rit.edu/richmond/occult/pluto_jun2006/pluto_jun2006.html

Regards
DaveGault (aka DaveGee)

This was observed when Pluto was still classified as a planet and IMHO it still is!