DSO star-hopping directions

[big_dav_2001]

Hi guys,

I was just looking through some recent threads and was wondering if there are any sites or programs with in-depth star-hopping directions to some fainter DSO's from their close bright stars??

I'm currently just pointing my scope in the general area as depicted in Stellarium and scanning around which is pretty hit-and-miss. But i recently found an old article about M104 which gave in-depth directions from Eta Corvi (i.e: look for the Stargate asterism 4deg northwest of Eta Corvi, then look for the three pointer stars, follow them to the Sombrero, etc) and was able to follow them easily.

Wondering if there is anywhere i can get more of these directions??

Davin
:cheers:

[barx1963]

Hi Dave
I rarely use starhopping from books etc. Just get a good atlas (Uranometria 2000 is my pick) and once you have an object you want to find, locate a nearby bright naked eye star then use the charts to plot your own way there. Much easier than trying to read detailed instructions in the dark.
Once you have done it a couple of times it gets much easier.

Malcolm

[ZeroID]

Just bought and read "Turn Left at Orion" and it is very much into starhopping with some good techniques and explanations. Limited of course by the number of objects it covers and tends to be northern hemisphere oriented but an excellent starter.
I spend a lot of time on Stellarium getting my head around a targets navigational pointers as much as to find it as well as to identify it correctly. My binocs help too when I'm out there. The wider feild of view gives me a perspective to work in from.

[Paddy]

Malcolm is spot in in my experience. I tend to notice the patterns and asterisms in my own way, picking them out of good star charts. I suspect everyone has their own unique way of noting "this funny flat trIangle leads to an L shape etc". Uranometria is excellent, but a bit of an investment. I found in the early stages of my star hopping that the charts in "atlas of the southern night sky" were very helpful. Tirion's star atlas 2000 is also an affordable start.

However, if you want some detailed star hopping instructions, it would be a bit hard to go past Malcolm's own observation reports on this site - he always includes very detailed descriptions of how he's hopped to each object.

[stephenb]

Davin, I can only reiterate what Malcolm, Brent and Patrick have said. It's a great techniques to learn, and not as hard as you think, once you've been successful.

I use Tirion's Sky Atlas 2000 Taki's 8.5 Mag star Charts, and his 'Set C' charts here: http://www.geocities.jp/toshimi_taki/atlas_85/atlas_85.htm

and Jose Torres' Tri Atlas sets here: http://www.uv.es/jrtorres/triatlas.html

Years ago I used an overhead projector sheet and drew rings on it representing my fields of view for each of my eyepieces. Then I laid them over the star chart. That gave be a good indication of what to expect to see as I star hopped form the "reference star" to the DSO.



This is how I star hop down to a 'T':thumbsup:(or should I say, that funny little 'T' shape of stars)

[steve000]

yep thumbs up on stellarium, pick up a cheap netbook and install stellarium..

find the target you want
point scope in on that same area
zoom in a little to about the same as finder scope, match views.. about 4degs for me
zoom in a little more to about the same as eyepeice, match views. about 1 deg i think for me

this method has allowed me to star hop a lot, strangly easier with a manual slow mo driven scope than a motorised scope

[barx1963]

Only prob with using a computer at the eyepiece is preseving night vision. Even a red screen is still quite bright if you are chasing faint fuzzies. IMHO paper atlases are a better and more reliable way to go.

Malcolm

[Suzy]

Apologies if I hijack here Dave, but this has puzzled me for ages...

How important is preserving night vision when observing from suburbia? I have the light on next doors house looking right at me and streets lights as well. My yard is never completely dark. So I've never thought it an issue using Starry Nights software on my lappy in battery saving mode (when the screen goes fairly dark to give longer life to the battery). I don't put red cello on it as the screen is dim, tho I do use a red light for my books and to see what I'm doing. I find white light blinding, despite not being completely dark in my yard.
Would appreciate your input, tks.

[barx1963]

Suzy
My backyard is not as dark as I would like, streetlights and some light from living room etc, and on bad nights the neighbours have a floodlight on!
But I find if I am careful and avoid looking directly at them the effect is minimal on my vision. Main effect is if my scope is lined up near a light source I get some stray light in the image.
The problem with using a lapyop is you have to look at it when using it and it is bright enough to affect my vision. I have tried dimming it wil red coverings, got a red screen computer program etc, but I still find it almost impossible to use if I want to observe.
I have an iPad with a couple of programs that have a dim red mode, even those I find hard to use. I is worth remembering that while red light is better than white light, DIM red light is best of all. Those red headlamps that you can buy at Safeway are still way too bright for effective use IMHO.

Malcolm

[big_dav_2001]

Thanks for the quick replies :)

Ive been using Stellaruim pretty regularly, and working out my own ways from that, but ive often wondered if the way ive found objects is the way they're 'supposed to' be found... Although i guess any method which results in a successful observation is a win :)

Excellent, ill take a look at a few of those, perhaps even add a few of my own obs reports once i figure out my own methods and can be sure that the faint fuzzy im looking at is the one i WANTED to be looking at...:lol:


I think its time i invest in some paper star-atlases, as i said, i usually use Stellarium, but it does indeed have an effect on my night-sight looking at the screen, even dimmed as ive got it. Ive tried to use paper maps a while ago but found them pretty difficult and confusing, but ive gained a fair bit of know-how and experience since then (thanks in a large part to the members on this forum) so maybe i'll be able to decipher them a little better this time.

Anytime Suzy, its a good question, ive often wondered myself.. :)

Thanks again for you help guys (and gals)

Davin
:cheers:

[Suzy]

Thanks Malcolm, appreciate your input. :)

[Suzy]

What helps me when I strike difficulty is to google a pic of the object (or have a look in the imaging forum) with the star field around it, then compare it to my maps. :)

[erick]

"Make a left at the rock that looks like a bear, then a right at the bear that looks like a rock." Chief Wild Eagle, F Troop

Just start with a good atlas and make up your own "bears" and "rocks"!

In no time you'll have memorised:- "it's two thirds of the way from that star to that other star, then up a bit." :D

I never have got the north, south, east, west directions sorted out when I'm looking up :sadeyes: I better try harder.

[Paddy]

Suzy, it might be worth experimenting with an eye patch to maximise your dark adaptation, removing it just before you put your eye to the eyepiece. If you then compare eyes observing something faint you would find out how much difference it makes.

I've also been impressed how much difference Sab's technique of a cloth over the head makes even with my dark skies.

[Suzy]

Thanks Paddy:)
I'll give it a whirl regarding the cloth over the head. :thumbsup:

[mozzie]

when i'm not in the pod using the luxury of my goto...:D i use my 8"dob and the pocket sky atlas very informative with out being to cluttered and the front page has the telrad finder to scale and gives you some dimensionand scale.it's amazing how you can find some really faint fuzzies star hoping...i love it..

[Robh]

Hi Davin,

I've made up a few star-hopping maps for the more well known DSOs.
See my Galaxy & Planetary Supplement at ...
http://sites.google.com/site/southernastronomer/

and it's free!

Regards, Rob

[Suzy]

Rob's maps are awesome! :2thumbs:
I printed all of them off and put them in plastic sleeves in ring binder (nicely protected from dew).

[Allan_L]

Hey Rob,
Great job, this is just too good!
Thanks for sharing :thanx:

[Suzy]

I was just re-looking at RobH's maps. And I can just about clip myself over the ear for not pulling them out when I really really needed some good guidance in finding M83 a couple of weeks ago.
He has magnificently detailed, easy step by step directions on how to get to it. I wasted three nights trying to find it - really wish I'd used his map then. grrrrr.

Thanks Rob for re bringing your maps back to my attention. I can't wait to use it when the moon goes away. I was trying to locate M83 using Gamma Hydrae. I consulted Stephen O'Meara's book "The Messier Objects" after my last session and he too suggested using Centaurus as a launch pad and was quite helpful in his directions (without actually putting it to the test yet, as I haven't been back out there). But your helpful star hop in my opinion, is way more helpful.
:thanx:

[Rob_K]

Very interesting thread, and great to hear the various methods people use! :thumbsup: Must admit, star-hopping isn't a well-used tool in my kit, except at the macro scale. I suppose this is because I almost exclusively view at low powers and I have very dark skies.

FWIW, here's how I go about observing. For objects I'm pretty sure I'll be able to pick out easily, I just use broad charts. So you work from the chart naked-eye, and take a geometric approach. Eg "extend the line of the 2 dim stars 1.5 times the separation, then very slightly up", or "apex of an equilateral triangle with base the two bright stars" etc. Then plonk the red dot finder on the spot and 90% of the time the object is sitting there in the field (or 10% just out).

Dark skies means you have oodles and oodles of stars to choose from, across the whole sky, and low powers are very accommodating of pointing error.

For objects I suspect will be really difficult, I print out the field from Starry Night with the FOV marked on. I look for asterisms within the field as markers (eg three brighter stars in a line, small triangle of faint stars, etc). Then plonk the red dot finder where the field should be & go from there, using the printed field.

Never mastered the use of finder scopes - red dot works superbly but Telrads are even better! :P

Cheers -

[dannat]

i tend to star hop using the finderscope - you need a 50mm imo.
i locate the nearest bright object, then work out on a not so detailed chart (eg mag6) that i need to get 13 deg & 5 deg W. i work out the deg fov of the finder using something like orion or crux, then i move the scope accordingly.
i re-check my sparse chart & re-check where i should be.then move to low power at the scope

[Giorgio]

Fantastic job Rob!

I also just discovered the incredibly good Triatlas stars chart and with your maps I can't wait clouds give me the chance to play with my first telescope (150mm newt on eq mount) :rofl:

Giorgio

[big_dav_2001]

Thanks for the advice guys, looks like my way of making up my own steps and directions was right after all.. Hehe

Rob, those charts are great! They'll definitely help me add some more faint fuzzy's to my 'been there seen that' list :)

The Argo Navis Im in the process of buying from the classifieds is gunna expand that list a fair bit too I hope ;)... Hehehe

Thanks again to everyone for their tips

Davin
:cheers:

[Groove]

Yes what an interesting thread. Some extremely great info here! As I have just purchased a telescope, I imagine this will be the next BIG challenge for me to locate & view any DSO. Even though I have a goto, I would like to attempt to find some easier objects myself if possible.

I have bought a set of commercially available laminated star charts (by Wil Tirion) and have bookmarked charts by "Robh" - they look great. :thumbsup: Cant wait to put them to use.