What are my chances?

[alexk13 (Alex)]

Here is a list of objects I plan to try to view on Saturday night at the WSAAG site at Linden:

Name............................Mag......Az/Alt
Az/Alt numbers are for 20:00:00
NGC 6523 (M 8) Lagoon Nebula....5.......+92°40'44"/+43°18'07"
NGC 6514 (M 20) Trifid Neblua...6.3.....+90°50'27"/+43°5'55"
NGC 6531 (M 21) M21.............5.9.....+90°30'04"/+42°28'36"
Pluto...........................14.7...+83°6'60"/+41°16'21"
NGC 6494 (M 23) M23.............5.5.....+85°14'57"/+42°28'07"
C/2006 P1 McNaught..............7.86....+168°15'11"/+54°41'28"
NGC 6611 (M 16) Eagle Nebula....6.......+82°57'28"/+35°17'46"
NGC 6618 (M 17) Omega Nebula....7.......+85°44'43"/+36°5'14"
Juno............................9.94....+61°25'35"/+42°7'35"
NGC 4594 (M 104)................8.......+304°8'09"/+56°0'48"
NGC 6405 (M6) Butterfly Cluster.4.2.....+101°4'29"/+51°1'41"
Az/Alt numbers are for 21:00:00
Jupiter........................-2.27....+92°36'03"/+38°49'23"
Az/Alt numbers are for 0:00:00
Neptune.........................7.86....+77°16'38"/+42°11'40"
Az/Alt numbers are for 1:00:00
Uranus..........................6.......+75°30'07"/+26°31'49"
NGC 104 47 Tuc..................4.......+158°15'08"/+37°20'21"

What do you think my chances are of actually viewing all of these through my 8" Dob (apparently able to view to about mag 14. Pluto might be a bit of a stretch, and I'm not at all sure about Juno, but maybe worth a shot?

I'll also be taking a look at Mars and Saturn, but that will be earlier than all of this list - actually, I've been viewing Mars and Saturn everynight this week from my balcony here in suburbia.

Can you suggest any other objects I should have a try at?
Names are fine, I can look them up in Stellarium (that's where I got the above info from)

Any comments welcome.

[leon]

Alex, you want more, Boy, I reckon you will have your hands full with that lot, hope it all comes together for you.

Leon

[erick (Eric)]

All that free time you are going to have!

OK, a couple more I didn't see there, all in Centaurus, nice and high this time of year - fit them in any time of the night:-

NGC 5139 "Omega Centauri" - globular cluster
NGC 5128 "Centaurus A" - galaxy
NGC 4945 - galaxy

[alexk13 (Alex)]

Thanks for those Erick, don't know why I didn't have them on my list, They are now on my list


and just for you Leon: More, I want More

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

As Andrew O'Keefe used to say "They're on the list"!

No doubt we can rustle you up some more on Saturday night!

I think it will be a fight at your eyepiece though!

Then again, my "little" 5.1 inch scope looked alright targeting M104 last time we were there and Centaurus A was found for my very first time too, come to think of it, I will probably be at MY scope checking things out with my tracking EQ platform without having to nudge every few seconds mwuhuhuhaahahahahahaha!

Cheers

Chris

[alexk13 (Alex)]

Hi Chris

So I guess you're going to be there then - is it all confirmed?

I'm hoping that I'll be able to find lots of stuff this time out, as the wife will be there and the best way to keep her happy about the scope is to find lots of stuff that she would not otherwise see.

She might not survive the whole night in the cold, so I made her up a red headlight to read in the car if she wants to - she does not understand why, but she will when she tried it out

I reckon I might have a pretty good chance of finding everything on my list, once I get setup and stick a pointer in the ground at the right spot over my Az Ring - should be as simple as look it up on the list, move the scope to the appropriate place on the ring and magnetic protractor, then look thru EP and there it is (hopefully)

must remember to get a pointer into my case.

Another quick Question:
Does a barlow reduce the light you see or is it simply magnifying the size of what you see?
I have a 2x Barlow that I got last weekend, and it has been brilliant looking at Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, but how will it go on DSOs, like maybe Sombrero.

WSAAG has a countdown going on ther home page now for this viewing night: 1 day 9 hours 10 minutes 40 seconds

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Alex,

A barlow does improve size (by the magnification amount) but as it is another piece or pieces of glass in the way, some light is lost and therefore the image becomes dimmer.

ED Barlows are better as the Extra Low Dispersion glass allows more light through and generally gives better views. Remember the ED12.5mm of mine you looked through?, same principle.

Chris

[leon]

Ah, a true Astronomer, can't get enough of it, good stuff Alex, I see now that you a Astroholic.

Leon

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Re seeing Pluto:

You can point your scope to where pluto is meant to be, and you will see a field with the numerous faint dots of 15th magnitude stars, but just which one is pluto you will never be sure of unless you have charts that go that deep.

[cookie8 (Vincent)]

Hi Alex
Good on you. What a list! It's always good to plan out the night isn't it. Try to observe those objects in the west first before they set & wait for those in the east to rise high enough. Don't bore your wife with pluto. Don't forget to show her the Jewel Box and the superb binary alpha Centauri. She would love them ,those sparkling diamonds.
Enjoy Linden

Vincent

[alexk13 (Alex)]

Originally Posted by Screwdriverone

Hi Alex,
A barlow does improve size (by the magnification amount) but as it is another piece or pieces of glass in the way, some light is lost and therefore the image becomes dimmer.

ED Barlows are better as the Extra Low Dispersion glass allows more light through and generally gives better views. Remember the ED12.5mm of mine you looked through?, same principle.

Chris

Good info chris, thanks.
Guess i'll find out how good my barlow is on Saturday under dark skies - seems alright around the light pollution from my balcony tho.

Originally Posted by leon

Ah, a true Astronomer, can't get enough of it, good stuff Alex, I see now that you a Astroholic.

Leon

Where can we get help for this affliction - or do we even want help

Originally Posted by Starkler

Re seeing Pluto:

You can point your scope to where pluto is meant to be, and you will see a field with the numerous faint dots of 15th magnitude stars, but just which one is pluto you will never be sure of unless you have charts that go that deep.

I'll check the star charts I have, not sure how deep they go.
I guess i could always say i looked at it, but all the other stars there kept getting in the way

Originally Posted by cookie8

Hi Alex
Good on you. What a list! It's always good to plan out the night isn't it. Try to observe those objects in the west first before they set & wait for those in the east to rise high enough. Don't bore your wife with pluto. Don't forget to show her the Jewel Box and the superb binary alpha Centauri. She would love them ,those sparkling diamonds.
Enjoy Linden

Vincent

I forgot about the Jewel Box, that ought to go down real well with the wife, thanks
I'll have to take another look in stellarium, and prioritise my targets so I don't miss any that start in the west. Thanks for that tip.

I still want more

[Jen]

hey Alex it looks like your in for a long nite with that list
Dont forget the Orion Nebula just before sunrise if your wife can stay up for that long she will love that its my fav
happy searching just hope u get a clear sky to do it
cheers

[leon]

No cure mate, when one catches this affliction it is with them for life, sorry.

Leon