February Observing challenge object selection

[orestis]

Hi everyone,

In this thread you can post your nominations of objects and then i'll make an observing challenge.

Any nominations:D.

My nominations,

M41 open cluster
Ngc 2808 Globular cluster in carina.Haven't seen this one, am looking forward to it though
Mars i think we should have this one again as many didn't get to see much detail.
Gamma Velorum double star in vela.
M1 I think we should have the crab nebula as i tried to find it and failed and think it will pose quite a challenge:thumbsup:.
Castor (alpha geminorum) double star I haven't seen this one.


Well thats my nominations, what are yours?

Regards Orestis;)

Ps- lets hope we get some clear skies in february:D.

[Mick]

How about a comet 81P/Wild?

[barx1963]

Moons of Saturn, eg. how many can you see? I saw 4 at about 2am a couple of weeks back.

I will thinks about some DSO's and post shortly.

Malcolm

[orestis]

Wow i would have never of thought of a comet ,thanks Mick:thumbsup: Isn't it about mag 10 what constellation is it in now.It will be a great challenge.

Malcolm-Nice sugestion,Do you know of any moon shadow transits of Titan on saturn this year.I understand that the rings are opening up so it will be harder to see one.I didn't get to see one last year when there were quite a lot at the start of the year.Have you seen any?

Regards Orestis:thumbsup:

[Mick]

Hi Orestis,

Comet 81P/Wild is in Virgo during February, it should be a fairly easy object for most to see using a telescope. The attached skychart is for the 01-02-10 from my location.
A useful link for visual Comets http://cometchasing.skyhound.com/

[orestis]

;)Thanks for the chart,i didn't know that cartes du ciel did comets and i found 81p/wild2 in there .thanks.I've only had it for about a week,its a very good program.

Will have to wait a while for it to rise.

Orestis:thumbsup:

[barx1963]

Some DSO suggestions

1)NGC3195 (Planetary Neb in Chameleon) Southern most PN in the sky. Heres my note on this one from 12/11/09-

"NGC 3195 (Caldwell 109) Time 10-30pm. Located pairing of Alpha and Theta Chamaeleonis. Moved SE to pairing of Eta and RS Chamaeleonis then to Iota and Zeta Chamaeleonis. Then located pairing of Delta Chamaeleonis 1 and 2. Target is located approximately halfway between Zeta and Delta. Small and faint, hard to detect without OIII filter. "
This is probably on the tougher side, but it is supposed to be a 'challenge'. Lets see if anyone sees the central star, I haven't yet, O'Meara says it can be done but needs lots of magnification.
2) M104 (NGC 4594, the Sombrero Galaxy) Always a favourite, try and see the dust lanes. Historically interesting as it was the first galaxy to have rotation detected in 1913 by Slipher, who use spectroscopy to detect that one side is moving away and the other towards us!
3) How about a couple of doubles. Two I haven't observed yet Regulus (Alpha Leonis) and Algieba (Gamma Leonis) From my reading these should be an interesting contrast as Regulus has a seperation of nearly 3' and Algieba only 4.6" and will most likely appear as a figure 8
4) Naked eye observation of either M44 (the Beehive) or M41. I have only once seen M44 from my backyard with naked eye, hope to again soon. Don't know if M41 is possible except under very good conditions, but as it was recorded by Aristotle, no reason it shouldn't be visible to someone.
Anyway, thats some thought for this month!
Malcolm

[orestis]

Thanks for the dso sugestions Malcolm very nice:thumbsup:.

Ngc 3195 sounds very challenging too bad i don't have an oxygen 3 filter.I bet you must have good conditions to see the central star right.

M104 Was the first galaxy i ever saw and it is magnificent.yes i think we should have M104.thats a very interesting fact.

I've heard of gamma leonis, Sounds like a good challenge for seeing.
Haven't seen Regulus yet.

Woopee:party: I've seen M41 naked eye from my place as a hazy grouping of stars it was cool.If i remember corectly i think i had Quite good seeing that night.


Regards Orestis;)

[barx1963]

The OIII filter is not essential to see 3195, but certainly made it easier! I couldn't get the central star, but seeing wasn't great so couldn't beef up the mag. On the list to have another go when I get some good seeing and transparency.

I must have another go at M41 by eye soon.

[barx1963]

Ooh, how about NGC 3242 (the Ghost of Jupiter Nebula) a PN in Hydra?

[orestis]

Oh yeah i was planning to observe that soon but the clouds rolled in.
Very nice sugestions Malcolm,Thanks.

I Was planning to get a UHC filter, The Astronomic UHC-E one from bintel for $109 but then i saw the Orion Oxygen 3 filter for the same price and cannot decide which one to buy as i have only $120 to spend so cant buy both.Which one do you use the most and are these good filters?I will be using them with a 130mm reflector f7.Or should i just skip them both and get a good quality televue plossoll:shrug:.Does anyone have any experience with any of these?Help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance
Orestis:thumbsup:

[barx1963]

Both my filters are Bintel branded ones which I think are made by GSO. I use both, but the OIII is really only for PNs, the UHC works on more nebula and can improve PNs. I would probably suggest go with a UHC first as it useable on more objects.
As for the TV plossl, cannot say as haven't used one, but from reports are certainly better than stock standard plossls. However I wouldn't get it unless you have a need for the particular focal length. What EPs do you have now?

[pgc hunter]

I find OIII filters work well on emission nebulae, infact in many cases providing better contrast than UHC. However it dims stars more than the UHC.

[barx1963]

Yes Sab, I have found the same thing with the OIII on emissions, but not always, and it can dim the stars too much making picking things up hard. It also dims other features in the nebs, so most of the time the UHC works best, but I often try both.

[pgc hunter]

Yeah the OIII is a specialty filter while the UHC is a good all rounder and blocks less light making it more versatile especially for those with smaller scopes. But it pays to experiment of course, alot of emissions do look fantastic in the OIII.

The OIII is a ripper on teh Eta Carina nebula though, bloody amazing structure visible and that contrast, wow!

[orestis]

Thanks guys for the tips,

I think i might go with the UHC for now and then maybe get a O III filter later.

Malcolm- I have a Gso 25mm plosoll ,Gso 15mm Plossoll,Gso series 500 6.5mm plossoll,Gso Super 10mm plosoll and a Gso super 20mm plosoll.I also have a 2X barlow from bintel .

Any more Nominations february is a day away.

regards Orestis:thumbsup:

[barx1963]

Orestis, you have a good range of focal lengths there, personally I wouldn't go buying a TV plossl unless I had seen through one and could see a difference/improvement.

[Paddy]

I'm a bit of a fan of merging galaxies. How about NGC 1532 in Eridanus, or for those with larger scopes, NGC 1888&1889 in Lepus?

[spacezebra]

The more globs the better. Maybe NGC 3201

Cheers Petra d.

[orestis]

:eyepop:Wow so many objects,

i think i may have to put 8 objects this month,

1. Ngc 2808 Glob in Carina
2.M1 supernova remnant
3.Comet 81p/wild2
4.regulas double and gamma leonis
5.Ngc 3242 pn in hydra (ghost of jupiter)
6.Ngc 1532 gx in eridanus
7.Ngc 1888 and 1889 gx in lupus (challenge for big scopes)
8.Ngc 3201 glob in vela

What do you guys think?
I think its a nice variety of objects which will make nice challenges.

Regards Orestis:thumbsup:

[that_guy]

what about mcnought?

[mozzie]

last new moon spent quiet a few hours on lmc theres plenty of neb's in there with open clusters ,g/c,d/s a very interesting part of the sky and all with a couple of deg

[that_guy]

this month is all going to be rain and clouds

[erick]

Must be time for Ruby Crucis again - should be up across Australia now during the night.

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=2397

[pgc hunter]

Oh yeah that nice little red star near Becrux, totally forgot about that!

*hides from Les* :lol:

[Benno18]

hey Orestis
Great collection of challanges. Gunna give comet 81P/Wild2 a go. Havent seen one yet and probably wouldnt have even known about it unless it was talked about here.

Thanks heaps for adding these threads to the forum. A great idea from all.

Benno

[Octane]

Orestis,

Thank you for these challenges.

I am an imager and only have very basic eyepieces, but, I will try for these objects this month.

Good on you; these are great! Keep it up.

H

[orestis]

Thanks Humayan i am glad you like them,i sure will keep up the good work:thumbsup:.

Ben-Its amazing how much information you can get from ths site its great.

Regards Orestis;)
ps-i am making the challenge thread were you can post your observations.

[goober]

Seconded. I remember Eyepiece Phil showed me that with an OIII through his scope a couple of years ago. Jaw dropping....