Quote:
Originally Posted by 209herschel
Thanks very much Matt. The pics have been a great help. I've got a book on the Messier Objects, so I'm really excited about trying to find a few of the large ones because I think the light pollution will be a bigger problem when the DSOs? One last question - I'm trying to answer is how best to understand the coordinates of objects in the constellation? So the book gives me the coordinates of the Orion Nebula but I'm not sure what's the best way of finding it. Is there a book that's useful for that type of thing? Thanks again for the assistance.
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no probs. is the book Deep Sky Companions - The Messier Objects? that's an excellent book! the easiest way to find objects or to understand where to begin is to get either software such as Stellarium, or smart phone apps and by learning constellations, and especially the brighter stars in them. and then by star hopping to the object in mind. some are easy to find and some are tough, but all the messiers are visable with binoculars from dark skies. lots of open clusters to see from light polluted areas thou..
some objects are not visable from certain locations and times of the year, for the Orion nebula you will have to wait till summer for it to reappear again.
knowing what season the constellations are visable is the easiest way to focus on which objects to look for. (most books are published for the northern hemisphere so when they say "summer constellations" for us, they're winter ones etc.
the sky at the moment is filled with many messier objects. in your book have a look at how many messier objects are in Scorpius and Sagittarius.
have fun there's always lots to explore up there no matter what time of the year it is.
matt
on a side note, one of the biggest light polluters there is, the moon, is entering the best stage for observers.. a new moon
