Northern Vs Southern Hemisphere.

[interstellar]

Which hemisphere is your prefered hemisphere for Dso's and the M's observing. I know in summertime in the northern hemisphere we have the heart of the milkyway grace our night sky while the southern hemisphere has Orion, Canis Major in their summer night sky. Thats why I ask this question. What are the benifits of each hemisphere and the drawbacks. Seasonal and otherwise.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

About 37deg south I think is the optimum!!!!
Clear skies, wonderful climate and you can see everything in the night sky ( and the Sun as well during the day!) that's worth looking at.
I've been back in the UK at 52deg north for the last year or so and could literally count the number of clear days/ nights on both hands. Wet, cloudy, wet, cloudy - repeat ad nausium.
( Not that I'm biased or anything - he says with a sniff! as he wipes away the tears.)

[glenc (Glen)]

I recently made a list of 352 Messier like objects, 148 were in the north (including 92 galaxies) and 204 were in the south. The center of the Milky Way is overhead at latitude -29 degrees and we have some great DSO objects including omega Cen, 47 Tuc, eta Car, the LMC and the SMC. In NSW and Qld it is clear in winter when the MW is overhead.

[leon]

Yep 37 degrees South is spot on, that is where I live.

Leon

[Bobj]

How about Lat 21 Deg South, Mackay, Qld. Can see most of Ursa Major to Musca constellations. And don't need heavy clothing for winter viewing....

[Terry B]

Originally Posted by Bobj

How about Lat 21 Deg South, Mackay, Qld. Can see most of Ursa Major to Musca constellations. And don't need heavy clothing for winter viewing....

Just a raincoat most of summer.

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Originally Posted by leon

Yep 37 degrees South is spot on, that is where I live.

Leon

Ditto!

Ditto also to Glen's post - hard to go past the Magellanic Clouds and the galactic centre overhead in winter.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

I've done both...the Southern is better in my opinion...

[robgreaves]

Having lived at 53'N and 33'S, it's actually a tough call.

The quality of the skies is better down here; less LP, and steadier seeing.

However, both hemispheres have their showpiece objects. M101 is stunning. And M31 rises much higher in the N than it does here. Cassiopeia and its myriad clusters and nebulosity is great (and high) to image. For an imager, object altitude wrt to the horizon is so important for good sharp shots.

But there again there are no LMC and SMC up there, or Eta Carina...

Conversely, if you like viewing or imaging Galaxies, the N is the place to be.

Oh, and a quick polar align is a whole lot earier in the North

Regards,
Rob

[leon]

Oh, and a quick polar align is a whole lot earier in the North http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/....milies/lol.gif

Regards,
Rob

Now Rob that is so true, it would make things just that bit easier if we had one of those, down South.

Leon

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by robgreaves

Having lived at 53'N and 33'S, it's actually a tough call.

Regards,
Rob

Hi Rob,

I entertain a couple of dozen visiting US amateurs each year and have done for a few years. You are the first person I have heard say, "it's a tough call". The general consensus amongst the visiting US observers is that the Southern Hemisphere wins by a fair margin. Most of the visitors I help to entertain have now made repeated trips to Australia, some in fact up to 8 times. That must say something. I can appreciate however that for an imager things may be a little different.

I have also travelled to the Northern Hemisphere to observe and personally rate the Southern Hemisphere a good way in front. I am however strictly a visual observer. I will concede that the single best thing I have ever looked at is M51 in Larry Mitchell's 36" Obsession, which is generally considered a "northern" target, notwithstanding it is visible from many parts of Australia.

Cheers,
John B

[hector (Andrew)]

I have observed from both hemispheres and while my exposure to the North is limited, the lack of a prominate Milky Way and the Missing LMC and SMC would have me choosing the South. I like John B have been entertaining overseas visitors for over 20 years now. ALL of the visitors have advised that we have the better end of the stick. in my opinion.
Best Galaxy: Milky Way overhead during winter, or LMC
Best Nebula: Eta Carina
Best Globular: 47 TUC or Omega Cen depending on your preference.
Best Open Cluster: Jewel Box.
Best Variable Star: Eta Carina
Bets Double star: Alpha Cen.
Best Planetarie goes North with either the Ring or the Dumbell both of which we can see anyway.
Even the last great Supernova and Comet were in the South.
My preference is about 30deg south. Clouds up high, Milky Way center overhead, and most of the best northern targets are high enough over the horizon to see properly.

Andrew

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by hector

In my opinion.

Best Galaxy: Milky Way overhead during winter, or LMC Agreed

Best Nebula: Eta Carina Agreed

Best Globular: 47 TUC or Omega Cen depending on your preference. Agreed

Best Open Cluster: Jewel Box. A very tough call. I also rate The Football Cluster NGC 3532 right up there with The Jewel Box

Best Variable Star: Eta Carina My favourites are Eta Carina and Hind's Crismson Star (R Leporis) but Eta Carina also has the Homonculus to give it an easy victory

Best Double star: Alpha Cen. My favourite is X Velorum (Dunlop 95) because of the colour contrast, but Alpha Centaurus is right up there

Best Planetary goes North with either the Ring or the Dumbell both of which we can see anyway. I rate NGC 3242 The Ghost of Jupiter at least as good as both of those

Even the last great Supernova and Comet were in the South. Agreed

My preference is about 30deg south. Clouds up high, Milky Way center overhead, and most of the best northern targets are high enough over the horizon to see properly. Agreed

Cheers,
John B

[Stephen65]

I've experienced both and in my opinion the south easily triumphs. The fact that the centre of the Milky Way is at 29S makes it hard for the north to compete on anything save galaxies. When I travel to the USA my usual first impression as I get used to everything being upside down is how "empty" the sky looks in comparison.

That said, there are many great things to see in the north and anybody who hasn't experienced both hemispheres is missing out.

[Domol (Domenic)]

I've spoken to a few astronomers from the USA and they dream of the
Centaurus - Carina region........mmm eta Carina!

[Bassnut (Fred)]

The big diff off course is that most of the uber gurus are in the NH, leaveing us more opportunity to produce gobsmackers in the SH. But the margin is narrowing swiftly, the NH punks are installing rigs in the SH at an alarming rate of nots, we have but a small window of opportunity before the imaging world is swamped by SH images unrepeatable by us colonial convicts

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

Double cluster in Perseus is a lovely Northern object.

Doug

[Smirnoff]

The south, hands down. Sure, the NH has some fine showpieces, but most of those are visible even from southern Australia, whereas our finest stuff are largely invisble from temperate north latitudes, and the center of the milky way is hopelessly low from lats about 45º north and above.

E.G.

from 35ºS, one can easily see: M57, M13, M45, M31, M33, M27, All of the Virgo + Coma galaxies, and all of the Leo Galaxies. The only objects that escape our grasp are M101, M51 and M81/82.

By contrast, those at 35ºN cannot at all see: The LMC / SMC, 47 TUC, Eta Carina, while Omega Centauri is hopelessly low (M13 is actually 10º closer to the celestial equator giving us better access to it than what the northerners have to Omega).

M42 is actually itself a southern object, which, at -5º dec, appears 10º higher in the sky from a certain southern lat than from the corresponding northern lat.

[glenc (Glen)]

OC: NGC457, M103, NGC869-84, M52, NGC7789
GC: None
Neb: NGC281, NGC7023, NGC7538
PN: M76, M97, NGC6543
Galaxy: M81, M82, M101, M108, M109, NGC2403, NGC6946
The rest are visible from latitude 30 south.

[Enchilada]

Northern Hemisphere is better because it does have southern observers bragging how much better their skies actually are... Also;

1) Northern Hemisphere (NH) has the Andromeda Galaxy, and some bright and large nearby independent galaxies
2) The NH has better planetary nebula Ring Nebula, etc.
3) Less stars making it easier to find you way around without confusion.
4) The best open cluster is Double Cluster in Perseus
5) Better Double Stars, and more colourful ones - due to the proximity of one of the Milky Way Galaxy's spiral arms.
6) A decent pole star
7) Constellation with a classical history
8) Has the best Constellation in the sky - Cassiopeia
9) Most variable stars have the class of variable named after them. I.e. Cepheus - Cepheid variables. Gamma Cas variables, etc.
10) Patrick Moore

What else do you need?