Quote:
Originally Posted by Davekyn
.... but I am hoping to at least see some of the stars within M42 that I could not make out with my little tasco......
What I would give to spot the andromada galxy…can we even see that from the southern hemisphere?
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In M42, you want to go chasing the stars in the Trapezium (the "Trap"). You've got the firepower now! The A, B, C, D stars are usually readily resolved unless the seeing is really bad. Then you want to pull out the fainter E and F stars. It's a good night when you see them cleanly!
For photos of the Trapezium stars see here:-
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=25156
Look at Pane 2.
See here for more info, including a good diagram of the stars:-
http://www.astropix.com/HTML/B_WINTER/TRAPEZ.HTM
(Diagram attached as well)
M31 - the Andromeda galaxy. Mate, under dark skies we can see this naked eye from Victoria! Furtherest steady object one can see with the naked eye - 2.4 million light years! I remember the first time I saw it - by the side of a road somewhere between Ballarat and Geelong having driven kms out of Melbourne to escape bushfire smoke in the summer of 2007! True, it is not much above our northern horizon. Right now it is about 7 deg up towards the North. Tonight it hits maximum elevation of 11 deg about 30 minutes after midnight. Actually the scope will be overkill, M31 is such a big target. Your 10x50 binos will do just fine to start with. You just need to know where to look but it is an easy find. Get down behind Pegasus, find Mirach (Beta Andromedae), draw a line through Mu Andromedae, go the same distance the other side and there it is! See attached. Your problem is to find a location with a clear northern horizon that is dark. Hint, go north, east or west of Melbourne, not south!
Now, go back to the otherside of Beta Andromedae about the same distance as M31 is from it and you'll locate M33, the Triangulum galaxy (see attached). A bit tougher since it is a face on spiral so low surface brightness - you'll need your 12" of aperture now.