What the hell did I see???

[04Stefan07]

Last night I was out for a bit, damn clouds here in Melbourne have just ruined nights for the past 2 months. Some areas of the sky was cloudy but was about to see a few things before there was total cloud cover (only out there for about 10mins).

Using the HC I didn't bother aligning the scope because I knew I would only be out there not that long so in alignment mode I was just moving it around freely to see what I can find.

As I was moving it I came across this weird object. It looked like a whitish dark dot surrounded by a cloudy type effect. It can't be a cloud because there was none in that region of the sky and it stayed static for a few mins (clouds were moving quick last night).

I am having a look in Redshift 7 on my PC now and trying to get my bearings from Neptune. I found an object, Small Magellanic Cloud and it looks like that, could it be this?

Would anyone have an idea of what it was?

[barx1963]

Stefan
I assume you saw it in your scope? If so most likely object would be 47Tuc which is close to the SMC. It is second brightest Globular Cluster and has a very concentrated core with a halo.
Not sure what a "whitish dark dot" would look like though?

Malcolm

[04Stefan07]

Oh cool!

It was a white dot but it was very faint so it looked dark if that makes sence lol.

[Paddy]

If what you saw was in the general direction of the SMC I'd go for 47 Tuc as Malcolm suggests or NGC 362. The SMC itself is quite extended (5 x 3.5 degrees) and looks like a light cloud to the naked eye. In your scope it would spill well beyond the filed of view even of your viewfinder.

If it was lower in the sky and you were near the Large Magellanic Cloud it could be the Tarantula nebula NGC 2070.

[barx1963]

Perhaps "dim whitish dot" would be more accurate?;)
Paddy, I had considered NGC 362 but in Melbourne with a 130mm scope it would be a difficult get.

Malcolm

[andyc]

What magnification (eyepiece) were you using. Not sure about the 'bearings from Neptune', but if you were looking south-southeast then as others say the best bet is 47 Tuc. With a 130mm scope from Melbourne (I have one too), NGC 362 and NGC 346 are also visible in that area (depending on light pollution for 346), but are much fainter than 47 Tuc. Not likelt to be the glow of the SMC itself, which is lost in the LP from much of Melbourne. It was most likely 47 Tuc you saw. If you find it again, it should fill about half of a low power eyepiece, and with time you'll see that it is composed of lots and lots of stars.

[04Stefan07]

I was using a 9mm