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Some DSO suggestions
1)NGC3195 (Planetary Neb in Chameleon) Southern most PN in the sky. Heres my note on this one from 12/11/09-
"NGC 3195 (Caldwell 109) Time 10-30pm. Located pairing of Alpha and Theta Chamaeleonis. Moved SE to pairing of Eta and RS Chamaeleonis then to Iota and Zeta Chamaeleonis. Then located pairing of Delta Chamaeleonis 1 and 2. Target is located approximately halfway between Zeta and Delta. Small and faint, hard to detect without OIII filter. "
This is probably on the tougher side, but it is supposed to be a 'challenge'. Lets see if anyone sees the central star, I haven't yet, O'Meara says it can be done but needs lots of magnification.
2) M104 (NGC 4594, the Sombrero Galaxy) Always a favourite, try and see the dust lanes. Historically interesting as it was the first galaxy to have rotation detected in 1913 by Slipher, who use spectroscopy to detect that one side is moving away and the other towards us!
3) How about a couple of doubles. Two I haven't observed yet Regulus (Alpha Leonis) and Algieba (Gamma Leonis) From my reading these should be an interesting contrast as Regulus has a seperation of nearly 3' and Algieba only 4.6" and will most likely appear as a figure 8
4) Naked eye observation of either M44 (the Beehive) or M41. I have only once seen M44 from my backyard with naked eye, hope to again soon. Don't know if M41 is possible except under very good conditions, but as it was recorded by Aristotle, no reason it shouldn't be visible to someone.
Anyway, thats some thought for this month!
Malcolm
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