Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzy
No Steven, Can't see the SMC. I can see the Tarrantula Neb, but not the LMC that it resides in. I have given up trying to find galaxies from my back yard. Each time i get packed up ready to go to a dark site, the weather changes drastically.
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Suzy, the LMC is enormous, compared to the Tarantula. When you scan the surrounds of the Spider, and you notice all the mottling and clusters that surround it, you are looking
into the LMC.
The best way to see the LMC and SMC is with binos. They are too big to apprieciate with a telescope.
I use 50mm binoculars to locate some of the brighter galaxies, like Sombrero and M83. From a dark site, even Centaurus A is visible in a 6X30 finder!
Back to the theme of this thread, try planetaries neat through a scope. Filters a fine, but you will still see them without filters. The planetary I suggested near the Southern Cross is bright enough to view even now during full moon. The added plus is that it is not too near to the moon either. Try for it this weekend.
I know you will find it.