Beginners spotter list

[Intergage]

Hey all,

I have been learning as much as I can before I start getting heavy into observing. I feel as if I am ready! :)

I was just wondering, does anyone have a 'list' of things to observe?

Thanks,

[Allan_L]

Hi Matt,
there are quite a few lists around IIS forums (brightest galaxies, globs etc).

But my short list of favourites (for this season) includes:
Planet: saturn
Globular cluster: Omega Centaurae
Open Cluster: The jewel box
Nebula: eta Carina; The tarantula; M17 The Swan
Galaxies: Centaurus A; The Sombrero

Depends on your equipment, your aspect, light control, and the time of night, etc., but that should be a good night's entertainment for starters

[Intergage]

Perfect! Thanks mate, gives me something to work on now! :)

[Suzy]

Hi Matt,

Enjoy tonight- according to my astro panel app (has been very reliable actually) is saying that from tomorrow onwards in Brisbane is going be all clouded out.
Oh well, this wonderful clear spell at new moon time, of what must be at least 10 days in a row had to end sometime I guess; so I'll be out there observing too, but be prepared as my app. also tells me it's going to be an extremely dewy night.

Gee, you're practically walking distance from my house. :lol:

I'll get back to you a bit later regarding some goodies for you to observe- Allan has give you some good ones. Being new moon period, concentrate on the faint fuzzies first over the star clusters (with the exception of globs). You want the sky as dark as possible to observe these things so it'd be a shame to miss this opportunity.

What telescope & eyepieces do you have so we can cater for your request a bit better?

[Intergage]

Live around the Northern area of Brisbane hey? :P
Umm, I have a couple of scopes one decent one but it's so out of focus it's useless at the moment (If you know someone that can collimate it for me do you mind shooting me a message? :P) and I have another start heap of crap scope but I can see like M42 and stuff like that quite clearly with the beginner one, Jupiter etc.

I have a 20mm, 25mm, 16.5mm??, and a 6mm. Plus a 3x Barlow. Oh a moon filter I found on the bottom of one of the second hand lens I got! :P

[DonB]

Skymaps has free monthly sky maps (http://skymaps.com/downloads.html) with a sky calendar and lists of objects to see with the naked eye, binoculars, and telescopes. Be sure to scroll down for the Southern Hemisphere version for the current month.

I've been using them. I think they're a great resource and would be a bargain at twice the price. ;)

FWIW,

Don

[Intergage]

I have attempt to use these before and I have one of them star map disk thingos plus all the free software but I'm trying not to use any "easy to use software" and learn everything myself from scratch.

http://skymaps.com/articles/n1205.html: Just a quick question about these maps though, when it says "Mag. +0.0." where is Mag. +0.0 in relation to where I am observing?

Thanks, (I am aware it is a fairly stupid question) haha.

[Suzy]

Oh okay, nope I'm on the southside. :P Though I'm originally from the northside & the rest of my family are still there. :)

You still didn't actually specifiy what scopes you have- size, what mounts there on etc but anyway here's a video teaching how to collimate a scope. The instructor from Orion does a great job!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAVGcGEBmCE

The instructional video is for a reflector telescope.

[Suzy]

You're not using ANY computer software???:scared2:

Not even Stellarium?

[DonB]

Mag. +0.0 is the magnitude (brightness) of the object, in this case the moon near Mars.

[Allan_L]

Magnitude is a measure of the brightness of an object.
zero is a fairly bright object (eg the bright star Vega is magnitude 0.0)

The higher the magnitude, the fainter the object.

Brighter object go NEGATIVE (eg The apparent magnitude of the Sun is -26.74, and the mean apparent magnitude of the full moon is -12.74.)

Naked eye can generally see to about Magnitude 6 depending on conditions and other light sources effecting your night vision).
In New York their limiting magnitude for naked eye may be as low as 2.

Obviously using binos or a scope will increase this (ie you will be able to see fainter objects - objects with a higher apparent magnitude number)

Hope this helps

al

[Intergage]

I do, I use Stellarium and SkyX (Came with a scope) but I try not to use them all the time. I use them on cloudy nights and I want to observe! :P

Trying to learn it all in my head before I start relying on computer software. I have yet to buy a GoTo mount because of that reason. I have my money all saved and ready for when I do need a GoTo mount.

Sorry, I'm not 100% sure of my scope. I got one (National geographic reflector 6" I think) and http://www.ozscopes.com.au/reflector-telescope-celestron-powerseeker-114eq.html that one. :)

[Intergage]

Thank you so much for this! Learnt something new today! :D

[Suzy]

From where I am here in the light polluted southside of Brisbane, my limiting visual magnitude sits around +4.5.
On a good night, I can spot the 47Tuc (NGC104) globular cluster and that sits at +4.91 mag. Then again, my views to the south where that object sits are not hindered from looking straight into the city light pollution, which from where I am faces north & objects tend to be a bit washed there.
The Sculptor constellation is only just visible for me, and then only a couple of stars of it are visible. To get to the Sculptor Galaxy I often have to use Deneb Kaitos as my lunch pad. :rolleyes:I

I can spot the Omega Centauri globular cluster no problem at all usually, and when it's within my horizon, I use that to gauge the clarity of the sky for my nights viewing (i.e. how easy/hard it is to see). It sits at mag.3.7 which is a nice all rounder for me.

The best time to view if you live in the city is actually from around midnight on- sky is so much darker then- everyone's gone to bed. :P:lol: But if you happen to be observing until the wee hours of the morning do not be pointing that scope where the sun is due to rise, that could be tragic. :violin:

I've come to understand that when a mag. is stated as being say 4.7 it means +4.7. They only seem to put the minus (-4.7) in when it's actually a minus mag star.

Allan, that was really nicely explained.
Seems I suffer the same fete as New York. :mad2: :lol:
I always did say anything I observe in great detail I should be given a blinkin' medal for! :lol:
Still... it's craaaaazy how many galaxies and faint fuzzies are available from my backyard! :D

[Intergage]

I'd say I'm around the same. Just south of Redcliffe so light pollution isn't as bad as the city but it's not good! :P

[Wavytone]

Consider yourselves lucky.

From home I can see mag 2.5 stars. Sun, Moon, Mars, Saturn are probably the most interesting things from my lounge, as my sky is very limited by trees to the equatorial belt, meridian and east. At least I can open a window and observe from the comfort of a decent chair, with coffee table for eyepieces and a warm cuppa - and the seeing can be quite good.

Living in a pocket of rainforest has other attractions, however.

[Allan_L]

With a Distance of 6,571 Km from me (on NSW Central coast) I am wondering which North Shore you are living on?