By going through my observing log from 2005 (which was my first year of observing) I calculated that I only saw 63 of the 100 Messier objects I can potentially see from my latitude, through my fairly random efforts.
My goal this year is not only to see as many of the Messier List as I can, but also to see all of the Caldwell and Herschel objects as is possible from my latitude (a total of 506 objects, allowing for overlaps in the lists).
On New Year's Day I sat down and labouriously worked out in which month of 2006 each constellation is at culmination as at 9pm, and then worked out, month by month, according to those culminations, when each observable Messier, Caldwell and Herschel object would be in the best position to observe.
Set out below is a comprehensive list of the Messier, Caldwell and Herschel objects best observed in January from a latitude near to Sydney's. I recommend them to you:
Messier 1, 42, 43, 45, 78 and 79
Caldwell (with NGC ref in brackets) 41 and 103 (2070)
Herschel (with NGC ref in brackets) 55 (1647), 57 (1758), 58 (1788), 59 (1817), 64 (1964), 65 (1980), 66 (1999), 67 (2022), 68 (2024), 72 (2169), 74 (2186) and 75 (2194)
The following objects from the IC catalogue are also well placed in January:
418 and 2128.
The list is pretty short and achievable for January. Compare that with May, where the list is 120+. I plan to have a busy winter observing schedule.
I saw Herschel 72 last night for the first time. It is an incredibly geometic open cluster in Orion. I recommend it to you!
If there is enough interest, I could post a list at the start of each month throughout the year, to give those who want it a list of targets to aim for.
Clear skies.