the easiest galaxies to find

[mark3d]

can someone please offer a short list of the easiest galaxies to find..? i suppose its a balance between magnitude and just how easy it is to star hop to.

we have seen a couple of nebulae (carina, m42) and i have a few more to find (e.g. tarantula).

am yet to see a galaxy though!

looking at a few late nights later in the week when the moon is behaving itself. :thumbsup:

[Coen]

Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (Tarantula neb is in the LMC)

NGC 253 is straight forward but too close to the Sun at the moment as is M77

NGC5128 near the globular Omega Cent is good now and rewarding being able to see the dust lane. M83 is nice too.

The M65, 66 (Leo) plus a host in Virgo including M104 & Coma B

Look up the Messier catalog and keep to declinations less than +50deg

M65 & 66 are usually in the same eyepiece FOV (there is a third nearby but harder)

[erick]

NGC 4945 in Centaurus is not too hard to locate and a good view.

[Robh]

Like Coen says, M65 and M66 in Leo are great.
Eric, I like NGC 4945 too.
Also try M59 and M60 in Virgo.
But wait for a dark moonless night.
Good hunting, Rob.

[toryglen-boy]

The Sombrero is usually a breeze to find, and is a nice sight in my 12". Infact, around that area of the Sky, Leo and Virgo etc. there are some bright candidates

;)

[Starkler]

5128, M83 are tough targets from suburbia, I'll list a few small high brightness ones that are easier to see.

5102 Centaurus
M104 Sombrero galaxy
3115 Sextans - Spindle galaxy

[Screwdriverone]

Hi Mark,

These two are my favourites for picking up some "galaxy time" namely the Leo Triplet and the Sombrero.

For the Leo Triplet, you find Saturn and look down to the star at the "tail" of the lion, from there, if you move "up and to the right" halfway from the start star to the other brightish naked eye star with your dob, you should see a dark area devoid of any bright stars (as indicated on the attached pic), with a 20mm or 15mm eyepiece, you should be able to see the THREE galaxies of M65, M66 and NGC 3628 in the same field of view, VERY cool.

My other favourite is quite easy to find quickly, the M104 Sombrero galaxy.

Find Corvus (the crow) and you should see SPICA, the bright 0.95 magnitude star in Virgo below it towards the East. If you split the distance between the two and then go "about 45 degrees from each point to the LEFT, you should see some fairly distinctive stars as shown in the second attached pic, namely one group of triple stars side by side. The Sombrero is in the middle of this group.

Obviously skyglow and moonlight affect what you see, but I can generally pick these out in the suburbs up to about 75% moonlight in the 12".

Make sure you use the Finderscope to HOME in on the areas, which is what I do, because I can recognise the patterns as to what I am looking for.

Give it a go when the moon wanes some more and see how you go.

Cheers

Chris

[Dingo]

Since I am new to this these might not be galaxies, if not sorry about that

NGC 4755--- Just below the Southern Cross. The Jewel Box ( beautiful colours esp the reds

M 42 --- South of the 3 stars that make up Orion's belt-- Diffuse Nebula in Orion
M 41--- In the Dog constellation. Slightly to the left of Sirius--Galactic Cluster in Canis Major.

Dingo

[Kevnool]

As said Centaurus A with the A being an active galaxy.

Also start taking in Planetary Nebulas for real eyeopeners.

Cheers Kev.

[Archy]

:) The Milky Way is the largest and nearest galaxy you can see.
Galaxy comes from "Gala" the Greek word for milk.
(the Milky Way in Greek mythology was said to be milk sprayed from Hera's breast.)

[Moonboy]

Wise words there from George....i googled it to make sure it was true (i love google).
:)
I cant really help much here but i like M31 (Andromeda galaxy).... but its a bit far north.
I would recommend you get stellarium. It gives lots of information on galaxies and just the sky in general. Check out the website below.
http://www.stellarium.org/

cheers
Gus

[mark3d]

wow the info is amazing, thank you all.

will work through it and post some results... !



:thumbsup:

[desler]

M104, the Sombrero was my first.

Took six weeks, on and off when I first started to find it from my suburban back yard.

Found at chat site that listed the stars to the north as a shark shape. Once you found that it was easy.

Now I just point the 12 inch and have a bit of a look around, easy to get in a barlowed 32mm 2 inch eyepiece

Good luck

Darren

[glenc]

These 16 galaxies are the brightest south of declination +45.
Milky Way, LMC, SMC, M31-32-110, M33*, NGC5128, NGC253
M83, NGC55, M104, NGC300*, M94, NGC6744* and M49.
* have low surface brightness.

[pgc hunter]

But any amount of light pollution tends to wipe it out quicksmart. Really needs a dark sky to be impressive per se.

[Starkler]

Hence my suggestions for smaller high surface brightness ones.

[erick]

Agreed. I don't waste my time looking through the scope in the big city any more!

[Fox]

Hi Mark3d, I tend to agree with the latter comments, surburban/city lights really washes things out, and combine that with full moon just right now, well you can forget it altogether - you'll just be looking at sky glow. But if you can get to dark skies away from the city, you will find that the increase in contrast will blow you away. At my site down the coastline, even my four-inch Genesis gives nice views of the brighter galaxies when they rise high. Fox.

[Jeff]

Hi Mark,

Try the Southern Hemisphere double sided skymap for April from skymaps.com:
http://www.skymaps.com/skymaps/tesms0904.pdf

I have attached the current PDF below.

Note the 5 galaxies listed on the flips side.
Of these, the LMC and SMC are really naked eye (or binoc) viewable targets from a moderately dark sky site (eg. 50km from suburbia).

As noted below, the real candidates from suburbia are:
NCG 5128 (Centaurs-A, 18'x14', magnitude 6.6 when high in the sky)
M83 (Souther Pinwheel Galaxy, 7', magnitude 7.6 when high in the sky)
M104 (Sombrero Galaxy, 7'x4', magnitude 8.0 when high in the sky)

Remember to use low magnification when trying to view (makes images in the eyepiece smaller but brighter).

I've also attached some small snaps form the Melbourne suburbs. Although visual obs in a 10" Dob will be smaller and fainter, this will give you an idea of the basic shapes.

Best of luck for when the weather clears.

Jeff

[Jen]

:) i didnt think i could see the M104 through my little scope :eyepop:
Ummmm can I?
I will have to give it a try :screwy:

[erick]

Yes, Jen. In nice dark skies I reckon you will see it, especially with your young eyes!

Starhopping there from Corvus is a delight in itself:-

See my diagram of the starhop in this thread:-

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=28880

"In this starhop to M104, those asterisms - the isosceles triangle arrowhead pointing the direction to "Stargate", then on in the same direction to "Jaws", then follow where Jaws is pointing to M104 - are so distinctive that you will quickly find yourself centred on M104 or its location. I take the point made that city light pollution may be a problem, but M104 is a bright little fellow, I expect you'll see it in your 40mm, unless your observing location is lit up too much and your eyes poorly dark adapted."

[Jen]

Thanks Erick i cant wait for the next new moon now to see if i can see this beautiful galaxy i love it :thumbsup: i have beautiful dark skies here except for one street light in the north that is mysteriously not going to work properly for much longer :whistle:
Jens next mission is to see M104 woop woop :D ardious omigos :thumbsup:

[erick]

Start with your binoculars to get a sense of distances and directions. Getting from Corvus to the "arrowhead" can be a problem - it's further than you think, in a telescope eyepiece.

While you are at it, look for M104 in your binoculars. You might pick it out of the dark sky!

[Jen]

:) i dont own a pair of binos yet :sadeyes:
:scared3:

[pgc hunter]

Jen,

M104 will look nice with your scope from your darkish Swan Hillian skies. You should be able to resolve the dark lane at moderate powers of around 100-150x, and it is quite cool to see. Should you fail; you need to lay off the alcopops!!!!

[Jen]

:lol::lol: ok i will check out M104 before i have an alcopop and make sure the watering system is switched off :lol:

[pgc hunter]

haha trust me, you wont be dissappointed!

[Screwdriverone]

Hi Jen,

Even my "little brother" of your 6 inch scope could see M104 from Linden (dark sky site) quite clearly and fairly big at about 80x Mag, so your Skywatcher should have no problems. Once you get the hang of where it is, you will find it in no time and will ALWAYS look for it around this time for a cool view of another galaxy. On really clear nights the black stripe of the edge of the galaxy really stands out. Having said that, it reminds me of the last time I was at Linden about 3 weeks ago and I could see Centaurus A through my 8x50 FINDERSCOPE which was VERY impressive!

Good luck with your star hopping and your Jen handling......

Cheers

Chris

[Jen]

Hey there Chris thanks cheers :thumbsup::thumbsup: i will see how i go woohooo