Galaxy suggestions please

[Lee]

Can anyone suggest some good galaxies for a beginning galaxy chaser to chase under dark rural skies with an 8" Dob??? - and moonless skies....
What magnitude should I expect to be able to pick up with these conditions and equipment??
cheers

[Lester]

Hi Lee,

My favourite galaxy is NGC 253= about magnitude 7.5 and large. Then there are some nice groups of smaller galaxies in Virgo, Coma Berenices and Leo. Many of which are well in reach of a 8" Newtonian under dark skies.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

M104 - Sombrero, in easy reach for the 8", as Lester has sugested NGC253 looks awesome its very large and can be seen in a 50mm finder. Look for Galaxies around the 7th or 8th magnitude they are the easiest for the 8" to pick up and easy for a first time galaxy hunter. Once you get an idea of what galaxies look like in the eyepiece they POP out at you when looking for them.

[mickoking]

With your Dob under dark skies any M or NGC galaxy is fair game

[astronut (John)]

Lee, Centarus A is a dim but still good object, also NGC 4945 in Centaurus, NGC 55, 300 are large galaxies that you will see in your scope. All these are available up to midnight this time of year John.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Lee,

The most important thing with Galaxies (and all objects) is to look at them for an extended period. I believe Galaxies need this attention more so. At first you may see a fuzzy shape and get excited! Then if you can force yourself to stay looking at it you may start to notice more detail.

Our eyes have to be trained to know what to look for, and the more you study galaxies the better the detail. It may seem like the Seeing level went up, but it is actually your eyes learning what to look for. Even on my favourite often observed galaxies I still spend 15 - 20 minutes on each one searching for even more detail. You will find that on the 2nd occasion it will be easier, because you have already learnt what it looked like last time and then you will notice even more detail than the last time. Obviously you will eventually reach a point where the image can't get any better

Good quality EP's help of course too, but even a $1000 EP won't show you much if you only look at the object for 30 seconds then move along to the next one.

It's all a matter of 'Observing' not just 'looking'.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by ballaratdragons

It's all a matter of 'Observing' not just 'looking'.

I've certainly learnt that, in finding Cent A and M83 from my suburban backyard (JUST!) - gluing myself to the eyepiece eventually paid off.... looking forward to seeing the difference that a dark sky makes to these two for starters.....

[RAJAH235]

FWIW. It's all to do with your dark adaption. Taking a quick glimpse of any object is just wrong. You must take your time at the E/Pc to let your eyes become accustomed to the darker view. This will enable you to pick out more details... L.
ps. This is very important when using any filters, especially UHC or OIII's...

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

NGC 1365 is a beauty too. In an 8", The arms are very easily visible even by complete newbies under dark skies.

All the galaxies marked on the charts in Ellyard & Tirion "Southern Sky Guide" are visible in an 8" Dob and many of them show structure. The guidebook is a very useful resource and a bargain for around $25 from astro shops.

[Lee]

Have added NGC1365 into the planner for next time.... I think I endeavoured to spot it late last year, but was a total newb and couldn't point at Fornax to save myself! Thank god for the Telrad!
That book sounds great.....

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

That is great Advise Ken, Observe & not just look !
I am flat out getting most people to spend even 30 seconds at the eyepiece
I was very impressed looking at the Grus Quartet with the 18" last night, each seemed to take on a different shade of grey !
I defineatly need a good portable observing seat so I can spend more time at the Eye Piece myself.
the "Stellar Seat" is certainly on my shopping list

[glenc (Glen)]

M77, M83, M104 and
NGCs 55, 253, 1269, 1316, 1549-1553, 4945, 5128, 7793 are all easy with an 8". They are also visible in 20x80mm binoculars.

[CosMos (Rich)]

NGC 1399 and 1404 in Fornax are bright. A one degree field around here will contain around 9 galaxies or so. NGC 1097 in Fornax is also very nice. NGC 247 in Cetus lies just north of NGC 253, fainter but large.

http://www.astronomy.org.nz/aas/Jour...TheFurnace.asp

[astroron (Ron)]

Pavo has a galaxy that comes to mind for 20cm scopes Ngc 6744, There are other fainter ones in the constellation but with higher mag are worth the challenge.
Grus the Crane is follows with a group to look at, Ngc's 7552 7582,7590,7599, which some call the Grus quartet, but for me I call it the Southern triplet as Ngc 7552 is a bit further away from the other three.
The Sculptor/Cetus area has a good selection, Ngc's 55,134,247,253,300,613
Ngc 908 is a quite easy target that is a very active Supernova factory having about six in the last century, with two in the last three years, both discovered by Robert Evans.
Ngc 1068 (M77 is a large face on oval haze with a bright nucleus,Ngc 7793 is quite bright and comet like that brighten greatly towards the middle.
By their nature galaxies are not very bright in comparison to say globular cluster and so a little bit more patience and observation skill is required to tease the subtle shapes out of them.
With all the other suggestions on this thread you should have a good selection to go on,
I also suggest that you try and get a copy of Hartungs Astronomical Objects for Southern Objects, from Melbourne University Press.
A few years ago 8"(20cm) scopes were the largest scope around for most amateur astronomers and they did great things with them, don't just look for the bright things try for the faint ones and you will greatly improve your observational skills

[Lee]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys - this weekend will be galaxy hunting season! Going to search around Corvus/Spica area for a few targets including Sombrero first, as it won't be moon affected on Friday, and will be setting too early before long.....

[ving (David)]

the milky way galaxy?

[iceman (Mike)]

Saw some very nice galaxies on Saturday night, I believe they've all been mentioned already.

The Grus triplet was magnificent, much better than the Leo triplet.
NGC55 and NGC253 are huge and bright, definitely a must-see. I saw the faint one in Pavo, at mag 10.5 or so it wasn't exactly bright, but it was ok.

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

I'm with you Mike, the Grus Triplet was very nice through the 18" on the W/E !
Each galaxy took on a different shade of grey, depending on its surface brightness.