Finding Neptune - Noob requires planet hunting tips

[DarthWombat (Alex)]

G'day all...

I note that Neptune is in opposition around now, so I figured it might be a good target to develop some starhopping skills. I think I should be able to spot it with my gear - I'm just after some tips to make sure I identify it correctly.

Stellarium tells me that it will be around magnitude 8 and quite accessible from mid evening onwards. My goto mount should get me very, very close, but I suspect I may have to go old-school and start starhopping to actually find it. I have 25, 12.5, 10 & 7.5mm Plossl eyepieces plus a 2x Barlow and I will be viewing in light-polluted suburban skies.

Can anyone suggest a good general approach to finding Neptune, or for that matter, any small target? If I manage to find Neptune, I might have a crack at Pluto the next time I'm under dark, clear skies with the new C8 I've got on the way.

I really like the look of the oculars feature in Stellarium - I'm hoping that will help me identify surrounding stars so I can centre the target before swapping to higher powered eyepieces.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Alex.

P.S: It looks very cloudy out there - I don't think I'll actually get out tonight.

[Shano592 (Shane)]

While I can't help you with the star hopping, with the C8 you should find Neptune easily enough.

I have the Meade 10-inch, and Neptune is pretty distinct, both in colour and in appearance. A beautiful jade/blue orb.

Pluto ... good luck with that! For me, without someone actually pointing to it for me, I could not identify it.

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

It will probably look quite star-like. Colour is subjective to each person, however. I've often seen it with a distinct blue colour, but I have had times where the blue doesn't stand out all that much. Just don't go expecting to see a disc and you'll probably be ok.

[SteveInNZ]

My approach is to find something close that you can easily recognise. There's a Globular cluster (M2) about 14 degrees away. Slew to that and see how close the mount gets you and in which direction. Then have it slew to Neptune and you would expect it to be off by a similar amount and direction. I also suggest printing out a chart with your widest occular field on it and another with a medium power. The wide one will enable you to work out which way up to hold the other chart when you are star hoping.
Thanks for the prompt. I haven't looked at the outer planets for years and I must do so next time.

Pluto will be a tough ask. It's very dim and in the milky way with countless other really dim dots.

Steve.

[Vegeta (Ibrahim)]

Neptune is pretty tough, i've only ever seen it 3 times, twice in a 12" dob and once in a 6" refractor. It's definantly distinguishable to a star. To me, it's a deep blue clolour.
Pluto is really close to the core of the milky way and is pretty darn faint. It will be "lost" in a sea of other stars that are similar in appearance to it from here.

[Chris.B (Christopher)]

GOTO Star 907 on the LX200 :-)
Sorry couldn't resist that.

All I can suggest is a few good finder charts,
a broad general area one and lower mag one to get you down to eyepiece field.

It stands out well once you start to magnify the field.

Good hunting

[bkm2304 (Richard Brown)]

Forget about the barlow for now. Bung your 10mm in and go to the general area then do slow sweeps in the region. Neptune will stand out as blue and disk like or even as non-starlike. Your C8 will pick it up. Pluto on the other hand is a photographic job over a few nights. Your C8 will be straining and Pluto these days is wandering through rich fields of starry dots that look just like it. There's no distinction between Pluto and other mag 14ish stars except movement over a few nights. Visually, even with an accurate chart you will go spare trying to figure out which one is your target.

Richard

[erick (Eric)]

Yep, the colour is the give-away for Neptune.

[Vegeta (Ibrahim)]

Originally Posted by erick

Yep, the colour is the give-away for Neptune.

Sooo true
The Deep blue is almost unmistakable. If you find it and the seeing is good enough, try your luck with Neptune's largest moon Triton. It would be a pretty good bonus