Hi all,
The Observation and Visual forum has seen a resurgence in sketching during the last two months. This month's Challenge seeks to build on this, and has resulted in one extraordinary selection of targets:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=67565
From the two closest galaxies to our own (the Large and Small Magellanic clouds, LMC & SMC respectively, which are in the process of being consumed by the Milky Way), to the galactic discoveries by the Australian astronomer James Dunlop during the early 19'th century from Sydney. These range from naked eye targets to challenging telescopic targets. All gems of the Southern sky.
This month's Challenge has also spawned the materialisation of Paddy's dream to create an atlas of the Small and Large Magellanic clouds as a reasource tool for amateur astronomers. A magnificent and magnificently daunting task! Fantastic work, mate!
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=67632
Only have binoculars? Great! Many of these targets are not only easily attainable in binos, but the LMC & SMC are tailor made for binoculars as they are so damn big that they just won't fit in their entirety in the feild of view.
Not sure where to look at in the sky? The Beginners Talk forum home page has a few sticky threads with a great range of charts to help out.
Clear skies and few mozzies,
Mental.