ok i didn't get to finish the march ob challenge but its april now and i thought we could get a good list up and running so post your object nomination and i'll try and vary the objects,i think maybe 6 a month is fine.
Here are my nominations,
Leo triplet-i think this would be a great object as its visible in small scopes(i even saw it during half moonlight)and has great detail for bigger scopes.
Castor double star- this is a lovely double star
The eight burst nebula (ngc 3132)-I have yet to see it as my scope is 130mm and it is proving a challenge for me and i think it will prove a challenge to others with small scopes.
Ngc 5128-The hamburger galaxy is always a great sight.
The virgo supercluster-how many galaxies can you see?
M44 open cluster (praesepe cluster)-is a large cluster than spans the whole fov in a low power ep.
Good job Orestis, thanks! You should have no problems with the 8-burst Neb in your scope, it's just a matter of knowing what to look for. A detailed chart should help you so you can nail down its exact position in the field. In my (smaller) scope at low power, it looks like an ordinary mag 10 star - avert your vision and bang, there's quite a bright white 'donut' huddled close around it. You should be able to up the power a bit too. In big scopes it's an amazing object, so much complexity to it. Good luck with it!
I'm going after the 8-burst tonite, the Melbourne Cloud is on its way out. Hopefully seeing will be good so I can use reckless mags. I observed the Hamburger with the ST120 a few weeks ago. Looked nice at 45x, with the lane clearly visible.
and here are Sab's April challenge objects
vdBH 65a
A tiny reflection nebula in Circinus, located about 2.5º SE of Alpha Centauri. Appears as an upside down "comma" in DSS images just east of a 10th mag star.
NGC 5170
Awesome needle thin galaxy in Virgo. Surface brightness is listed at 14.6, Mag (P) 12.1.
Pismis 19
This open cluster looks very rich on DSS plates, and is located only a degree due west of Alpha Centauri and 20' SSE of NGC 5617.
Hickson 62
A group of 3 small, very tightly packed elliptical galaxies in Virgo, inlcuding NGC 4776/4778 which are extremely close "double", and NGC 4761. Magnitude of 4778 is 12.7. A mag 9 star is only 1.5' S of the group, which will interfere with observation. Use high magnification for this group of galaxies.
Boomerang Nebula
A protoplanetary nebula in Centaurus. Appears fairly bright in DSS images, and sports a nice bowtie-shape. Located about 2.5º NE of Gamma Crucis.
Yes i agree it is a good range of objects for all scope sizes so i think that you should pick whichever objects you want out of the lists and post your observations here or in a observation report in the obs report sub forum.
Happy observing
Orestis
ps-hope it clears up here has been cloudy for nearly a week now.
I've come up with a summary of the submissions, to make up this month's challenge, for the spirit of 'The Challenge'.
There is a definate slant on galaxies this month. So many also within reach of smaller scopes. So why not make it 'Galaxy Month', with a dusty galactic detail for naked eye viewing, to identify a patch within our home galaxy.
NGC 5128: Centaurus A, in Centaurus. Its obvious 'hamburger' profile might be a challenge for smaller scopes, but I've seen it in my 30mm finder from a dark site!
Leo Triplet, M65, M66, NGC 3628: In Leo. This lot offers something for everyone: in reach for small scopes, and detail in bigger scopes.
NGC 5170: in Virgo. An edge on galaxy. Vaguely resembling Sombrero.
Hickson 62- NGC 4761/4776/4778: A triple grouping of eliptical galaxies.
NGC 2573: In Octans- Galaxy Polarissima Australis. The galaxy closest to the South Galactic Pole observable in amateur scopes. From what I've gathered, it ain't the easiest bugger to pin.
The Coal Sack: spans Crux and Centaurus. In a dark site, the dark inkiness of the Coal Sack is dramatic against the blaze of the Milky Way. It is this type of dust that makes the dramatic 'dust lane' of the Hamburger. I find it awesome to be able to name a feature of the night sky that is not a star or constellation, and is appreceiably BIG. AND a feature of a galaxy!
What do you all reckon? Worthy of this month's challenge?
ESO 92-18 is an obscure open cluster in Carina. I was alerted to its existence by Timo Karhula via the AMASTRO mailing list a few days ago and it looks an interesting target. Its location is RA 10 14 57.3 and Dec -64 36 30. It is almost exactly 3 degrees virtually due west of Theta Carinae.
As Timo said on AMASTRO, on the Aladin previewer in SIMBAD in appearance it looks a bit like a globular cluster. It is in fact an aged, low-metallicity but very populous open cluster about 4-5gyr old that is about 9.5kpc distant (31kly). With a 10" 'scope he reports: with 150x magnification, I saw a faint but pretty large patch of light. With averted vision, I could glimpse some stars over it.
These are foreground stars overlaying the cluster it would seem -- the brightest true cluster members are around the mag 15.5 mark.
Don't expect it to be glaring out of the eyepiece and I don't think you'll find it plotted on the popular atlases or software -- make your own finder-chart!
ESO 92-18 is an obscure open cluster in Carina. I was alerted to its existence by Timo Karhula via the AMASTRO mailing list a few days ago and it looks an interesting target. Its location is RA 10 14 57.3 and Dec -64 36 30. It is almost exactly 3 degrees virtually due west of Theta Carinae.
As Timo said on AMASTRO, on the Aladin previewer in SIMBAD in appearance it looks a bit like a globular cluster. It is in fact an aged, low-metallicity but very populous open cluster about 4-5gyr old that is about 9.5kpc distant (31kly). With a 10" 'scope he reports: with 150x magnification, I saw a faint but pretty large patch of light. With averted vision, I could glimpse some stars over it.
These are foreground stars overlaying the cluster it would seem -- the brightest true cluster members are around the mag 15.5 mark.
Don't expect it to be glaring out of the eyepiece and I don't think you'll find it plotted on the popular atlases or software -- make your own finder-chart!
Best,
Les D
Interesting Les, look forward to what people will make of it. Attached is an image generated in Aladin - what surprised me is the size after the description of "a pretty large patch of light". It's not much more than an arcminute in diameter!
ps- i have already observed some of the challenge objects and have posted them in the obs report sub forum in the thread named observation report 8/4/10 + sketches.
G'day Y'all Iv'e thrown together an "Autostar Tour" for the Meade affiliated
also added 2 of my favorites
"The Homunculus Nebula in Carina"
"NGC 2438 Planetary Nebula in Puppis"
,
Autostar Tour
