Fuzzy thing?

[mbyrr]

Any suggestions what the fuzzy thing I saw high in the north-east last night? :question:
It was next to 2 other star-like objects in a line, barely seeable with the naked eye (at least in suburbia). I saw it with the 15mm and 26mm eyepieces.

[Nikolas]

Hi

What time approximately and you say north east, approximately what was near it? ie constellation, planets etc?

[mbyrr]

Hi Nikolas

As a newbie I'm not sure I can answer your questions as I'm not yet familiar with the locations of things. It would have been around 10pm-ish. Actually it might have been closer to the east than ne.

[astroron]

Hi Antony I would say it is M7 close to the two stars of the stingers in Scorpius.
It is a large open cluster, and is seen with the naked eye under all but the most light polluted conditions.
In a scope of say 8" and the eyepieces you mentioned,the cluster would just be resolved into lots of stars.
You don't say what telescope you are using, so it can make identification difficult.
Cheers :thumbsup:

[mbyrr]

Hi Ron

I'm using an 8" dobsonian from Bintel. The fuzzy object didn't look like a cluster (tho I did see a cluster elsewhere), not to say it wasn't, it looked like a wispy cloud blob through the scope, it was barely recognizable with the naked eye. I will check out M7 on the map, thanks.

[Screwdriverone]

Could also be the M8 Lagoon or M20 Trifid nebulae too Ron....

These stand out quite well to the north of Sagittarius and I can naked eye see them (I know where to look) even from my light polluted back yard.

Its a bit hard to nail it down Antony without you being able to determine which constellation they were in...there is a lot of "star like objects" up in the north west around 10pm, however, based on the time and the general direction, it sounds like Scorpius or Sagittarius could be the place, as its towards the centre of our galaxy, there are LOTS of nebulae and globular clusters which are fuzzy blobs in this region.

Cheers

Chris

[mbyrr]

Hi Chris

M8 or M20 seems more likely, unless a cluster could look cloud-like?
Would their colour be noticeable at that mag? I didn't notice any particular colour.

I will have another look tonight with my charts and try to figure out where it is more precisely.

[Screwdriverone]

Hi Antony,

You wont see any colour on nebulae unless your scope is 12" or more and the sky is DARK DARK DARK.

I detected a greenish tinge on M42 from a dark sky (which is actually reddish purple) but with M8 or M20, you will see only greys. Clusters (Open or Globular) look like stars no matter which eyepiece you view them through, so from your descriptions, it seems more likely a nebula.

Whack a point and shoot camera up to the eyepiece and snap say a 10 sec shot if you can, and you MIGHT get some colour showing.....worth a shot.

Otherwise, view the 2 on Google images and try to determine which one you are spotting.

Nice going either way,

Cheers

Chris

[jjjnettie]

My money is on M22 :)

[Vegeta]

Hi Antony,
I've got my money on M8, it's visible to the naked eye. But it could have been M20, their both really close to each other, I've found a couple of sketches on the internet:
M8: http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/000319.html
M20: http://www.asod.info/?p=3553

Hope this helps :thumbsup:

[mbyrr]

Heh, so we're in agreement that it starts with M. ;)
I'll send through more clues tomorrow...

[omegacrux]

Ha ha
Do we win a steak knife

David

[leon]

Na no steak knives David, but you do gain more knowledge about what is up there from our friendly IIS members.
It seems you are hooked, LOL, keep at it mate.

Leon

[Suzy]

I'll bet it's NGC 6541. :whistle:

It sits about five degrees from Scorpius' stinger, but is actually in the constellation of Corona Australis.

Teeny little globular cluster, densely packed and fairly bright- it's one of my favorites. It's easy to bump into it as I often do because it sits in a small patch of relatively few stars (compared to so much other star density in around Scorpius & Sagittarius anyway).

It looks like a small fuzzy circle or as you said, "a cloud blob". :D

Here's a pic. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NGC_6541.jpg)

Here's a map (http://www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-list/corona-australis-constellation/corona-australis-constellation-map/) (NGC 6541 sits under the stinger of Scorpius- only the stinger part is shown on the map as this object belongs in Corona Australis).


P.S. I'll take the steam mop instead of the steak knives. :P

[astroron]

If we keep going, we will give him everything along the milky Way :rolleyes:
:lol::lol::lol:
Cheers :thumbsup:

[mbyrr]

Hmm you might be onto something there Suzy. Is NGC 6541 barely viewable with naked eye?

So I know where this thing is approximately, having looked again last night. There are 4 stars in a line perpendicular to 3 other objects, the middle one being quite bright, and Our Mr Fuzzy being the 3rd in line from the left. This is in the east-northeast sky.

So I'm thinking that if Our Mr Fuzzy is NGC 6541, that would make the Omega star in Corona Australis the bright one?

:juggle:

[Suzy]

Antony, NGC 6541 is only observable thru a scope as it's mag.6. (not sure about seeing it naked eye from a really dark sky).
Generally in light pollution, around mag 4 is about the limits.

I thought you found this object with your scope?

If you want to see a really AWESOME "cloud patch", take a look at the Omega Centauri globular cluster in the constellation of Centaurus. You can see this with your naked eye as a very diffuse star- it sits at mag. 3.7.
If you don't see it at first, allow your eyes to dark adapt for 10-20mins. This is the largest and brightest globular cluster in the sky and speculated to be a remnant of a core from a dwarf galaxy that the milky way has gobbled. The LMC & SMC are also on this journey and will undergo the same fete.

Use your 15mm and 25mm eyepieces.
If you had a wideview eye piece of 65deg fov and up you would see the entire glob in high mag. - a 10mm wideview is awesome on this object. The higher the magnification, the less fov (field of view).
This object is the ultimate in "cloud patches". :lol:

Get that planisphere! You can buy it here (http://shop.iceinspace.com.au/)at our shop on the forum for only $15. Get some eclipse glasses too while you're at it for the Venus transit. :D
And start learning the brightest stars in the sky- knowing some of these should help you no end in finding objects- esp when trying to describe what you saw.:P
Here's the list (http://www.astro.wisc.edu/%7Edolan/constellations/extra/brightest.html) of the 26 brightest stars.

In my opinion, for a beginner just starting out, I thinks it's highly valuable to spend as much time observing without a telescope than with one. Go out there with your planisphere and your brightest stars list and learn where & what some things are. Cloudy nights when only part of the sky are visible are perfect for this. Take it slow learning constellations (and you're not expected to know them all)- the sky will always be there. But I urge you to at least learn the brightest star list first. Once you familiarise yourself with some bright stars and constellations you will probably feel a personal connection with them as a lot of us do. And its so exciting when we see them comeback into our skies rearing itself low on the horizon the following season when they've been gone for a while.

Some more tips I did on a thread here. (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=841635#post841635)
Refer to posts #13 thru to #15. :thumbsup:

Download Stellarium (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/Stellarium) - it's a sky programme that you will find highly useful. :thumbsup:

Now go back out there soldier and tell us who wins this competition! :lol: It's a great learning process for you. :P

[Suzy]

Ooops I forgot- use your hand to measure where the object sits from the closest bright star. Track down the star and the constellation it belongs to on the software link that I gave you (or a map) and go from there.

Close one eye, and put your hand out streached at arms length and measure away.
http://oldthoughts.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/measuring-distances-in-degrees-in-the-sky-using-your-hand/

[mbyrr]

Actually I just did that, they arrived yesterday! :D

That's a good idea, I'm going to take the planisphere out and find the bright objects by eye to familiarise myself. Then when I'm asking for help finding the names of things I can more adequately describe where I'm looking. :thanx:
As always, thanks for all your suggestions!

[cjamo9]

STELLARIUM STELLARIUM STELLARIUM
stellarium roks its all there even see what it looks like through a c14 turns the view upside down and everything.
i am unashamedly inlove with stellarium.;)

[mbyrr]

You know, I still haven't installed Stellarium! :jawdrop:
In regards to that fuzzy blob I now believe it was either the Horsehead Nebula or M42, both near Orion's belt, which I'm pretty sure now is what I was looking at.

[ZeroID]

Horsehead Nebula it ain't. that is a very small faint object. M42 sounds like it. Great Nebula in Orion and the dust lanes can be just visible in naked eye in suburbia witha bit of dark adaptation. Even better in binocs and better again in a scope.
It is the central section in the sword of Orion, the belt is the three lined up stars below it, Alnitak, Anilam and Mintaka. Orion is upside down to us in the Southern Hemisphere.
Get STELLARIUM !!!! it's FREE !!!
Then turn on Constellations and you will see it so easy. One of the best ( and not because it is free but because it is so good ) programs anywhere for the budding astronomer. With a big scope you can sometimes discern faint colours on a good night.
Don't be fooled by the M43 label, that is another nebula almost hidden inside M42. You will not see the pink colour but you should see grey 'clouds' around the bright stars.

Am I right ? :P
Do I get a prize ? :D

Get STELLARIUM !!!! it's FREE !!!

[astroron]

Me thinks someone is playing games with us all :question:
First he tells us it was in the milky way in the East, now we are in Orion Which is in the West.
Just hope he doesn't want to find his way to Brisbane,he would finish up in Perth:rolleyes:
Enough said :mad2:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Suzy]

Antony, I don't believe I nor anyone else is in a position to help you further unless you help yourself first by doing just a couple of basic things mentioned herein this thread (re Stellarium/& or actually using your newly purchased planisphere) or at the very least understand where north, south, east and west are.

[cjamo9]

yes. compass first then stellarium.:screwy:

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: Hi Ants , what scope were you using ?
I have a 15 and 26mm eyepieces and in my different scopes ;) I get ,,, for example ,, different fields of view ,,, different brightness ,, different clarity ,,, eg mate ,,, lots of vairables here , I think you are trying to pull one over here on lots of nice people that just want to help ? :question: You ,,, Come clean here .?? .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:) Oh yes , there is no shame in being ,, " Lost in Space " ,, we have all been there , but mate as said here a little common knowlege goes a long way into finding your way around thye night sky . :hi: .
I should no as up here in Darwin we dont se any stars for a good 5 months of the WET !!! and I am lost for the first few clear nights , :rofl:.
The night sky dont wait for clouds to clear .:shrug:.Its still there ...
Come clean ? and you will get a lot of help here .
Brian.

[Suzy]

Brian, both those posts were magnificently put- good on you. :thumbsup:

[brian nordstrom]

:D Thanks Suzy , I only hope it gets old mate here Ants to reply ??? :lol: .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:lol: fuzzies welcome here , if the full moon dont glare them out ,,, tonight , Ants ?? :hi: . East of south ???
I think more on this thread and think old mate Ants here has seen the Great Orion Nebular:question: ,,Beautiful M42 . . cool .in a .........
any telescope .:welcome: mate .
Come back... Ants ...
Brian.

[mbyrr]

Sorry guys, I'm not trying to pull anything over on anyone. I may have gotten my directions mixed up to be sure, I mentioned the Horsehead because a mate of mine told me it was near Orion's belt which is 3 stars in a line, and it sounded right from memory (without remembering what I had said here). So it is just confusion on my part, wasn't my intention to upset or confuse anyone, so apologies for that. :confused2:

[mbyrr]

I have the Bintel 8" dob. And I've only had a few opportunities for taking it out as it's been overcast here for weeks on end, a couple of nights ago was the first opp I had to take it out to take in the moon.

Also I have a genetic disposition for getting my directions and rights&lefts mixed up (yes, driving with me is interesting!). But hey... :lol:

[mbyrr]

Ha, yeah, I'll be sure to take my compass out next time! :thumbsup:

[brian nordstrom]

:D Thats good , Ants .
Once you learn 1/2 a dozen bright srtars positions , the constalations will follow in time , go slow there is no rush, using a planesphere , and stellarium .
Oh yes :lol: the positions of South , North , East and West in relation to your observing site , I use land marks eg.tall trees , tall buildings that you can see at night , and realising that every thing in the night sky rises in the east and sets in the west , just like the sun and the moon. :thumbsup:.ha ha lost in space ..
Brian.

[mbyrr]

Thanks Brian, and thanks everyone for your patience! :hi: