Moonlit Nights?

[anthonyc1 (Anthony)]

As the sky seems to love being clear when the moon is out and not during the times when it's under the horizon, what is best to observe when dealing with moonlight?

Is there any one type of object that isn't affected as much by the moonlight? (I know pretty much anything with a low surface brightness is tough to observe) I always seem to get stuck out on a moonlit night thinking, if anything, what is there to observe that isn't ruined by the moons light.

[andyc (Andy)]

Most things are affected a bit, worst of all, galaxies. But brighter open clusters and globulars can be surprisingly rewarding, especially if they're in a part of the sky away from the Moon, and the moon is no more than a mid-gibbous phase (70% or so), obviously ideally if the Moon is a bit lower in the sky too. If you have a nebula filter you can see lots of detail in the nebulae of the Magellanic Clouds, Eta Car, M42 etc, if transparency is decent, often not a huge amount less than without the Moon! Planetaries will also pop out with the filter even under moderate moonlight. If you're into them, hunt down a few double stars, they're basically unaffected, and can be quite rewarding if you go out with a specific aim of seeing a few. Bright planets of course are fine too. Obviously depends on your equipment, but if you scale your expectations and targets right, you can be surprised at what you can see.

[MattT]

If you can't beat it ....observe it! I reckon a bino viewer, Williams optics or other expensive ones, are the way to go. The moon is sensational through bino's as are planets and globs Watching heat waves going over the moon are just amazing.
Matt

[mozzie (Peter)]

anthony,most full moons and a week either side try and catch some double stars very rewarding i use a book to plot r.a--dec and usually a little away from the moon...that bloody bright spot light in the sky...

[anthonyc1 (Anthony)]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess the Moon being out is not as bad for observing as I thought it was

I do enjoy hunting down double stars, so it seems as though I will start cataloging my search for them while I am without a nebula filter (which I am hoping to purchase soon).

I may have to do a bit of research on those binoviewers as well

[mozzie (Peter)]

double stars can be quiet rewarding...some spectaular sights and trying to split them down to arc seconds....