Observing Log: January Targets

[Rodstar]

By going through my observing log from 2005 (which was my first year of observing) I calculated that I only saw 63 of the 100 Messier objects I can potentially see from my latitude, through my fairly random efforts.

My goal this year is not only to see as many of the Messier List as I can, but also to see all of the Caldwell and Herschel objects as is possible from my latitude (a total of 506 objects, allowing for overlaps in the lists).

On New Year's Day I sat down and labouriously worked out in which month of 2006 each constellation is at culmination as at 9pm, and then worked out, month by month, according to those culminations, when each observable Messier, Caldwell and Herschel object would be in the best position to observe.

Set out below is a comprehensive list of the Messier, Caldwell and Herschel objects best observed in January from a latitude near to Sydney's. I recommend them to you:

Messier 1, 42, 43, 45, 78 and 79

Caldwell (with NGC ref in brackets) 41 and 103 (2070)

Herschel (with NGC ref in brackets) 55 (1647), 57 (1758), 58 (1788), 59 (1817), 64 (1964), 65 (1980), 66 (1999), 67 (2022), 68 (2024), 72 (2169), 74 (2186) and 75 (2194)

The following objects from the IC catalogue are also well placed in January:
418 and 2128.

The list is pretty short and achievable for January. Compare that with May, where the list is 120+. I plan to have a busy winter observing schedule. :P

I saw Herschel 72 last night for the first time. It is an incredibly geometic open cluster in Orion. I recommend it to you! ;)

If there is enough interest, I could post a list at the start of each month throughout the year, to give those who want it a list of targets to aim for. :astron:

Clear skies.

[h0ughy]

Rod,

last year at the Qld astrofest, I bagged 43 of the M's in the LX200, and that was during one night. I hope to achieve something similar to what you are wanting to achieve this year as well. I haven't seen very much of our skies!

[davidpretorius]

put me down as interested!!

great idea, thanks for all your hard work!

[beren]

Rod if your keen you can make tours with your LX of the info you have complied , check page 56 appendix of your manual . If you check the LX200gps yahoo group theres some tours made up in the files section

[iceman]

Great work Rod, i'd be interested for sure!

[Rodstar]

Sure thing! Let me know how you go with January's targets, and I'll post the February ones as January draws to an end. :)

[Rodstar]

Now you tell me!! :P

[beren]

And even better selection for you in regards to double stars here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MelbMeadeScopes/ in the files sections

[ausastronomer]

Rod,

If you want to do this and it sounds like your keen, you may as well work towards one of the Astronomical leagues observing certificates. It would mean changing your observing programme marginally from what you already have but IMO all the effort you put in is worth something so an Astro League cert would be nice. I will give you a call over the weekend and tell you how to go about this. Here's a starter :)

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/southsky/sskytele.htm

http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/southsky/sskylist.htm

I am going to work at this certificate. I have observed 95% of the targets in the past. Just need to revisit and make the appropriate logs.

I would also be very keen to look at the targets and programme you have put together.

CS-John B

[edosaurus_rex]

All,
I adopted the "list approach" several years ago and it has been a great benefit.
I did much the same thing as you; come up with 490 objects from the NGC/IC and Messier lists, but I put them in an Excel spreadsheet and I have a column that calculates the transit time of each object for any observing day that I input. I then sort by transit time of those I haven't seen and print the list that I take to the site. The printout has a space for some brief notes for each object (mine usually say "WOW keep coming back to this one!"

I have a list of 306 double/multiple stars as well. Mine is hijacked from a LX200? list of doubles I found online (filtered to 0.7 arcsec min for my 6" scope) and the Astronomical League's Doubles Club list of 100 pairs/multiples.

Doubles are like a Safari when you are hunting the very close ones near the scope's resolution limit. Very still air is needed to split the close pairings so on some nights you "miss" some of the targets because of bad air. I'm 2/3 of the way through and I can see a lot of 0.7, 0.8, and 0.9 splits stacking up at the end.

Ed

[Rodstar]

Sounds rather too technical for me at this stage in my evolution. In layman's terms, how do set up the spreadsheet to have that calculation done for you? :help:

[Rodstar]

After 9+ years of tertiary study, I have to say that working for a certificate does not turn me on!!! :scared:

Then again, it sounds like a pretty straight forward matter, John, from what I can see. You may be able to convince me. ;)

[edosaurus_rex]

Rod,

Is is okay to send you a boilerplate that you can fill in with your targets?

If you already have Excel it's just a copy to a blank spreadsheet.

Ed

[Rodstar]

Sure, we have Excel. I'll PM you my email address Ed. :)

[Rodstar]

Tonight, after about a week of cloudy nights, there was a period of about two hours where there were actually some gaps that allowed me to see into the beyond. I was like a tiger, ready to pounce, hunting down targets as the gaps drifted across the sky.

There were a couple of objects from the January list that caught my imagination tonight. I thought I'd share them with you:

1. Herschel 65: a lovely open cluster in Orion. I see a crude arrow head at one end, and an umbrella at the other. The brightest star in the field displays distinct nebulosity. The constituent stars are nice and bright.

2. IC 2128: a fainter, more tightly packed open cluster in Dorado. I am particularly interested to hear people's impressions of the nebulosity around the stars at the bottom of the field. To my eyes, they almost look like a galaxy cluster. What do you see?

E and F in the trapezium (M42) have never been clearer than they were tonight. Transparency was very good, when a large enough gap in the clouds appeared: 47 Tuc held up magnification of 225x.

Clearer skies!

[ausastronomer]

Um Rod !!!

As the years march on and time catches up with you, you will find gaps in the clouds very similar to your wife :)

You won't bother chasing either :prey2:

CS-John B

PS: How is the 17mm Stratus. I am keen to have a peek through it at Lostock

[Rodstar]

Don't know about your wife, John, but after 13 years I am still enjoying the chase with mine. ;)

[edosaurus_rex]

Rod,

Your post about hunting targets is bringing back memories. I remember when I started with a blank list and checked 'em off as the night went on. It was the first of many "all nighters" trying to get as many as I could. 119 non Messiers in one night was my best!

What I noticed after a few months was that I was getting quite skilled at finding things without much "lawn mowing" (up and down, back and forth) of the telescope field. Off center field viewing for those dim objects near bright stars and good old averted vision served me well.

Good hunting on your Deep Sky Safari.

Ed

[ausastronomer]

Rod,

Nothing wrong with my wife, its the "CHASER" that's running out of steam :)

CS-John B

[Rodstar]

Ed, with a name like yours and posts like that, you sound like a bit of an old dinosaur. :P

[edosaurus_rex]

Yep,

I'm what you'd call a proto-geezer.

Ed