What's the most northerly object you have observed?

[JoeBlow]

I'm interested in hearing what are the most northerly objects people have observed from different locations in Australia?

For me it's was M51 a number of years ago from the Southern Tablelands in NSW. It was surprisingly bright in the 8" telescope I was using at the time, despite being just a few degrees above the horizon.

[Pierre_C]

From suburban Melbourne at -37 degrees:

Andromeda Galaxy at +41 degrees,
Capella at +47 degrees, just above the trees in the hazy horizon.

[JoeBlow]

Not bad spotting Capella from Melbourne.

[Tinderboxsky]

From Tinderbox, south of Hobart at -43 degrees; Andromeda culminates at just the under 6 degrees elevation in the November evenings.

I have observed Andromeda many times over the years. It used to be an annual observing challenge. Only the bright core was observable.

[OzEclipse]

M51 from Young culminates at about 6 deg.
Joe

[EpickCrom]

Interesting topic!

The most northerly object I've observed from my location in suburban Perth -31° 58' is Melotte 20 in Perseus +49 56'.

Clear Skies
Joe

[JoeBlow]

Some great observations!

Btw the "Joes" have taken over another thread!

[Tropo-Bob]

M82 in Ursa Major is at 70 degrees north, so it only rises 3 degrees above the norther horizon. I needed dark skies and my 8inch scope to see this one back in 1985.

In the Northern Hemisphere, it and its neighbour M81 are considered to be visible in binoculars.

I have seen all the Messier objects from the Cairns Region. M82 was the last one found and it was the most difficult to see.

[JoeBlow]

That's a pretty impressive observation. I sometimes wonder if Nothern Australia might be an ideal latitude to observe. Many northern objects are accessible, whilst you still enjoy good view's of the Southern Milkyway which I believe is more impressive than the North.

[OICURMT]

Ursa Major from Uluru... it was a lovely sight on a clear dark night.


https://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=957904&postcount=9

[JoeBlow]

Ursa Major should be pretty doable from Uluru considering I can see Alkaid and the legs of Ursa Major from my location in NSW. Weather permitting, I'm going to give M51 and maybe a few other nearby galaxies another go this weekend.

[AstralTraveller]

My best is probably M101 which was seen from Quandong Pt WA (n of Broome) on 11/5/88 in 15x80 binos on a home made observing chair. I've also seen M76 from Petford Qld on 13/10/90, M39 from Sandy Billabong (Kakadu) on 18/8/85 and M51 from 35km W of Alice Springs on 17/7/85, all with the same gear. Looking up those observation has bought back some very happy memories of our 'working holiday' years.

[Matthieu]

I live south-south-east of Melbourne so my north sky is ruined by its light dome. I have tried to see Andromeda but it never clears the dome. The best I can do is stuff like M38 that is +35° North. I'm not complaining as my East and South are very dark and West isn't too bad either.

I was super excited when I went to Vanuatu with my 15x70s binos last September as I got to see Andromeda, Melotte 20, the double cluster and a few others. The bortle 2 skies helped too.

[GUS.K]

M51 from the Blue mountains west of Sydney through an 18 inch telescope. Scope was a few degrees from being horizontal, transparency and seeing were good as the spiral structure was quite evident and the kinks in the outer spiral arm as well as the companion galaxy were very noticeable. I've seen it in less than favourable conditions a few times as well, but spiral structure wasn't as evident.

[JoeBlow]

M76 and M39 rise high enough that they may be doable from my location. Might give them a try next time, but I think M76 could be very difficult due to it being magnitude 10.