Inspiration for targets?

[paulgs (Paul)]

Hi All,

I'm relatively new to this - but have been having a lot of fun over the past 6 months with a Samyang 135 mm/Fuji DSLR on a SA 2i. I've had a go at imaging Orion, Carina, Rho Ophiuchi (still trying to work out a walking noise issue on this one) and a few other things.

Obviously imaging targets depend a little on your gear and optics and I realise I'm widefield at the moment (I am considering a first telescope in the 400 mm range). But where do you find inspiration for what to shoot? I've been looking a lot on Astrobin but I get the sense that it's northern hemisphere heavy (more users no doubt). I'm not suggesting we in the southern hemisphere have fewer AP targets, but I'm just not sure where to find a good source of information about what's out there . I've looked at Telescopius and its framing tool is helpful (the thing I like about Astrobin is that it gives you an idea of what a specific bit of gear can actually produce...)

Where do you guys go to find your next target?

Thanks,

Paul

[Startrek (Martin)]

Try Stellarium, it’s been around for years and years , it’s an excellent planetarium for both visual observation and astrophotography
I use it for both and also telescope control using the EQMOD driver.
You can use plugins to size an object for your FOV , the features are endless !!

https://stellarium.org/

Cheers
Martin

[AstroViking (Steve)]

I tend to use a number of different tools.

In no particular order - Telescopius, Sky Safari (on my phone), 'Imaging the Southern Sky' (book - has great targets in there), and Stellarium.

Stellarium has a great FoV tool so you can see how well a DSO will fit into your view, the same as Telescopius.

Cheers,
V.

[Belsamber]

One helpful thing I recently discovered is the app Observer Pro. Once I find an item I would like to image at some stage (even if not visible currently), I throw it in the app, and it will show me on a given night which of my targets have the best visibility. Crucially for me (because I have a lot of obstructions on my horizon) it will also quickly measure my ”local horizon” and show visibility only with that in mind.

Sounds like an advert, but it really was exactly what I needed :-D Loaded in a bunch of items from “Imaging the southern sky” and from whenever I see an image online and think “that’s cool” and now i just pick from the list with good vis :-)

[SteveInNZ2 (Steve)]

When people ask about southern targets, I suggest looking at the Beginner Astrophotography forum on IceInSpace.
They tend to be targets that are up at the moment, generally one night's worth of data and probably with similar gear to what you are using.


I use AstroPlanner and Telescopius. If I see a target on a forum or something, I'll put it my AstroPlanner observing list. Then if I know a clear night is coming up, I'll sort the list for things that are visible, choose the sort of object I'm interested in and whether or not I need to be concerned about the moon, what telescope/camera combo I plan to use, etc.
Astroplanner has a field of view tool too but Telescopius has more images to use it with.


Steve.

[frank777 (Frank)]

You're correct about Astrobin being relatively northern hemisphere centric, but I'd suggest you should join a few of the southern hemisphere groups. I'm a member of Australian Astrophotographers, Southern Hemisphere Astro, and Objects of the South - sthn. dec only. I find looking in these groups quite useful for finding new targets.

[paulgs (Paul)]

Originally Posted by frank777

You're correct about Astrobin being relatively northern hemisphere centric, but I'd suggest you should join a few of the southern hemisphere groups. I'm a member of Australian Astrophotographers, Southern Hemisphere Astro, and Objects of the South - sthn. dec only. I find looking in these groups quite useful for finding new targets.

Thanks Everyone.

That sounds like a good idea Frank - are these IceInSpace group, Facebook groups? Where do I find them? Thanks.

Edit - Oh I see - Astrobin groups! I will join those.