Whats your favourite constellations for observing ?

[Rob_K]

Originally Posted by el_draco

This is a rip-off. Totally unrecognised. Only the IAU has the "authority" to name a star.... and even thats a bit ego-testical IMHO.

Fancy arriving at your newly purchased star to find the "locals" already own it.... Terran invasion... now thats a twist on a theme if I have ever seen one

No, wait a minute.... haven't we already tried that on this planet???

Buy enough stars and you can forget about a 'favourite constellation', you can own one! Sagittarius would be pretty expensive, but rentals could cover the payments.

Cheers -

[Rick Parrott]

I would have to say Orion and Crux (oh and the "pointers" in Centaurus) just as reliable, nice to look at and easy stuff to find (M42, Coal Sack, Jewel Box, double star, etc) as my telescope often comes out when friends are over.

Hey, this is my finding, but does anyone else encounter (when showing people for the first time):

a) A reaction of oh, nice, yawn, is that it?
OR
b) The person will not give telescope back (well, until they need you to adjust after object has gone out of field)?

About 50-50 is my experience!

[Esseth (Alan)]

Originally Posted by mswhin63

Orion Nebula, because it is the only one I can see from my light poluted back yard.

Second that

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Originally Posted by Rob_K

My favourite is... well... um... Musca. There, I've said it, the dirty little secret's out. -

Ah, Rob, you beat me to it. Well, for observing it's hard to go past Virgo, Leo, Fornax and Eridanus with all their galaxies, Sagittarius with the galactic centre and all those GCs, Centaurus and Carina with their rich offerings. For sheer beauty Scorpius and Orion are just stunning. But when all's said and done, there's Musca. No grand mythic story, no sweeping beauty or stunning bright coloured stars. Just a fly. How wonderfully pedestrian and unpretentious. With as you say a few stunning GCs, not to mention a fascinating PN. And it looks a bit like what it's meant to depict.

Go Musca!!!!

[Mars4ever]

Sagittarius!
But the "reign of galaxies" in coma berenices/canes venatici is not bad as well!

[Dave47tuc (David)]

I like all the constellations especially the ones that are hard to make out.
But in a dark sky, summer and winter have there differences.
Of course the Southern cross is famous and Orion and Scorpius.

But I love the shape of Capricornus and Eridanus and Hydra.
But number one for me in a dark sky is Corona Australis.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

I like constellations that look like what they are supposed to be! Hence my list is

Scorpius
Leo
Lepus
Orion
Crux
Cygnus
Phoenix
Grus

And of those Scorpius is my favourite because

1. Antares is such a cool sounding name
2. Lots of objects
3. I could find Scorpius when I was a kid

[Vanda (Ian)]

Was fishing one hour south of Perth last night. Gosh - the milky way was magnificent! from Taurus to good ole Crux I could only pick the lot. No light pollution - the clouds of magellan - beautiful! You can easily understand why the ancients were keen stargazers. Was on Preston beach - caught half a doz good size tailor - if you were wondering!

[seanliddelow (Sean)]

Originally Posted by Vanda

Was fishing one hour south of Perth last night. Gosh - the milky way was magnificent! from Taurus to good ole Crux I could only pick the lot. No light pollution - the clouds of magellan - beautiful! You can easily understand why the ancients were keen stargazers. Was on Preston beach - caught half a doz good size tailor - if you were wondering!

That place is a regular haunt for me, my dad and my brother. I dont think I can bring my telescope down there as it is very sandy

Watch out for those man-eating seagulls

[CosMos (Rich)]

How can I choose? One that has not been mentioned and one of my favourites from a dark site is Corona Australis. Cometary nebula, dark obscuring material, 'cats eye' double star, variable stars and associated nebulae...NGC 6723 close by in Sagittarius...has everything in a small region.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090605.html

[GrahamL]

Yeah Corona Australis , so much and all differant in a 1' field and then you move on , can't recall if I've looked at it from a dark site though..

Virgo .. Markarians chain like above is just a lot going on and a place you could never tire of looking at.

But they are all good