tebling
26-02-2009, 09:57 AM
Hey folks -
I'm a newbie to this forum, and to the southern sky in general. My family and I are from the US originally, and moved to Wellington, NZ about six months ago. Only a couple of weeks ago did I find the time to put our scope together, and since then we've been treated to some of the incredible sights the south has to offer! In fact, my jaw is still on the floor over some of these objects - and all this from our back yard in "light polluted" Wellington.
In any case, the main point here is to introduce myself and to ask what's probably a familiar question - what are some good easy targets beyond some of the "obvious" ones? We (my wife and I) are still amateurs to this, having only owned the scope for a year - but are eager to learn more.
We've only had about three nights of good viewing so far with our scope, which is an Orion XT8i 8" dob (with computer locator, which isn't working - that's another thread). Last night was particularly awesome, despite some broken clouds. I chalk it up to my best collimation yet, a good long cool down, and good conditions. Here's what we've seen so far:
Rigil Kentaurus (easy to split!)
Omega Centauri
47 Tucanae (love this)
Tarantula Nebula
Eta Carinae
Orion Nebula (a familiar sight in the North as well)
Last night I was able to resolve both E and F in the Trapezium for the first time, which had me grinning for the rest of the evening!
We haven't yet seen any planets, but if the seeing is good tomrrow I may wait up for Lulin / Saturn.
Are there any easy galaxies in the southern half of the sky (besides the obvious SMC and LMC :) )?
It's pretty exciting to be seeing so many new things, and with such clarity! Looking forward to being part of the community here over the coming months and years...
-tim
I'm a newbie to this forum, and to the southern sky in general. My family and I are from the US originally, and moved to Wellington, NZ about six months ago. Only a couple of weeks ago did I find the time to put our scope together, and since then we've been treated to some of the incredible sights the south has to offer! In fact, my jaw is still on the floor over some of these objects - and all this from our back yard in "light polluted" Wellington.
In any case, the main point here is to introduce myself and to ask what's probably a familiar question - what are some good easy targets beyond some of the "obvious" ones? We (my wife and I) are still amateurs to this, having only owned the scope for a year - but are eager to learn more.
We've only had about three nights of good viewing so far with our scope, which is an Orion XT8i 8" dob (with computer locator, which isn't working - that's another thread). Last night was particularly awesome, despite some broken clouds. I chalk it up to my best collimation yet, a good long cool down, and good conditions. Here's what we've seen so far:
Rigil Kentaurus (easy to split!)
Omega Centauri
47 Tucanae (love this)
Tarantula Nebula
Eta Carinae
Orion Nebula (a familiar sight in the North as well)
Last night I was able to resolve both E and F in the Trapezium for the first time, which had me grinning for the rest of the evening!
We haven't yet seen any planets, but if the seeing is good tomrrow I may wait up for Lulin / Saturn.
Are there any easy galaxies in the southern half of the sky (besides the obvious SMC and LMC :) )?
It's pretty exciting to be seeing so many new things, and with such clarity! Looking forward to being part of the community here over the coming months and years...
-tim