How Easy is It to Find Distant Objects in the Sky
#1 
Posted 13 October 2021 - 12:53 PM
Hello everyone,
I am searching for Deep Space objects that you can find within seconds and without using a sky atlas. For example the Ring Nebula is located between two bright stars and it takes me less than 10 seconds to aim my telescope at it. I have 14 inches of aperture so I should be able to see some fainter objects too.
#2
Posted 13 October 2021 - 12:56 PM
What kind of skies are you working with?
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#3
Posted 13 October 2021 - 12:58 PM
Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula, and Pleides Cluster immediately come to mind
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#4
Posted 13 October 2021 - 01:04 PM
Great resource for doing exactly what you want to do.
https://www.amazon.c...e/dp/1108457568
Edited by bobzeq25, 13 October 2021 - 01:05 PM.
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#5
Posted 13 October 2021 - 01:04 PM
I wouldn't say M57 is such an obvious DSO. But any object fits your criteria once you've learned where it is. There are a couple dozen objects I can point a scope at without any aid. When I started, there were zero.
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#6
Posted 13 October 2021 - 01:08 PM
What kind of skies are you working with?
Bortle 3-4
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#7
Posted 13 October 2021 - 01:16 PM
I am mainly interested in fainter objects close to brighter stars.
#8
Posted 13 October 2021 - 01:42 PM
Do yourself a favor and get some good charts, learn to use them with y our finder(s) and learn where the objects are. The small amount of effort will pay off handsomely every night as you will have learned the sky and where more objects are than you now think possible.
That "g" on the end of your scope model number should answer this question for you too. Or it would if you had some charts to consult to get catalog numbers for well placed objects that interest you.
You will know more if you do some actual searching instead of just coming onto the internet to be spoon fed data w/o meaning or context.
Edited by havasman, 13 October 2021 - 01:45 PM.
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#9
Posted 13 October 2021 - 01:45 PM
About a third of the Messier objects are naked eye under dark skies. I can point the Telrad right at them. There is no hopping invloved. Many of the best galaxies in Leo can be found with "half and a shift". I recommend Deep Sky Rieisatlas, even if you don't speak German.
Once you look at the same object a few times, you kind of know where it is. When its season is over, one naturally gets rusty. Right now, the objects I don't need a chart for are in the dozens. Obviously, if you always loose your keys, it's more difficult to do that.
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#10
Posted 13 October 2021 - 01:46 PM
Practice, practice, practice doing star hopping.
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#11
Posted 13 October 2021 - 01:53 PM
Hook up SkySafari or Stellarium to your XX14g and if your mount is well aligned, take your pick of a couple thousand objects. And it really does help in the long run to learn the constellations and how to star-hop - even with a working Go2 system.
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#12
Posted 13 October 2021 - 01:59 PM
I am mainly interested in fainter objects close to brighter stars.
Best thing is to load up something like Stellarium or Sky Safari on a tablet or computer and see which objects in the catalog show up next to visible stars. You can play with the settings to get it to display the stars and other objects that are actually visible in you skies.
You can also set up the software to show the field of view of your finders and eyepieces to further help know which targets are appropriate.
Finally, the software can give real time coordinates of the objects so that you can drive your GOTO to the location of the object (or confirm the location if you manually starhopped)
#13
Posted 13 October 2021 - 02:00 PM
Hello everyone,
I am searching for Deep Space objects that you can find within seconds and without using a sky atlas. For example the Ring Nebula is located between two bright stars and it takes me less than 10 seconds to aim my telescope at it. I have 14 inches of aperture so I should be able to see some fainter objects too.
Get an atlas (I personally like Uranometria 2000.0 all-sky edition) and learn how to star-hop. If you keep at it, you'll eventually learn the sky well enough, that you'll know the location of hundreds of deep-sky objects by memory.
Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark
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#14
Posted 13 October 2021 - 02:02 PM
I am mainly interested in fainter objects close to brighter stars.
Alnitak, Propus, Gamma Cyg. These are the biggest jerk stars around. I hope we can all agree, they would be better of off to the left a little.
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#15
Posted 13 October 2021 - 02:32 PM
There's just not many DSO's that are conveniently located near a bright star. However, many are pretty easy to find with a large scope under dark (Bortle 2-4) skies. Turn Left at Orion is a classic but one that helped me even more is Harvard Pennington's "The Year-Round Messier Marathon--Field Guide" He starts each DSO search from a constellation so that's about as easy as it gets. Best of luck to you! 
#16
Posted 13 October 2021 - 02:34 PM
Alnitak, Propus, Gamma Cyg. These are the biggest jerk stars around. I hope we can all agree, they would be better of off to the left a little.
They eventually will be - in a couple million years.
Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark
#17
Posted 13 October 2021 - 02:36 PM
These are reasonably close to something bright. Might not be in the same field of view with a 14".
For this time of year;
M13
M103
M31/32/110 (this is naked eye as a blurry patch)
a little way from not really bright stars but easily visible in Bortle 4
M29
M27
M71
Later in the season or in the wee small hours
M1
M45 (naked eye)
M42/M43
You might want a Telrad or finder scope for M36, M37, M38
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#18
Posted 13 October 2021 - 02:36 PM
I am mainly interested in fainter objects close to brighter stars.
You have an Orion XX14G. That's a GoTo scope. You can hit anything in the sky within seconds.
Your signature says you only have one eyepiece. Is that possible? 183X and less than 1/2 degree field of view. That is going to make finding things visually a real challenge!
You need to add eyepieces. If that were my scope I would be using my 38 mm/ 70 degree eyepiece for 43X and 1.5 degree FOV. That would make finding things much easier.
Accessories for Your Telescope
https://telescopicwa...ls-accessories/
Understanding Telescope Eyepieces- There are recommendations, based on budget,
but the meat of the article is about understanding the considerations and specifications
to know when selecting eyepieces.
https://telescopicwa...cope-eyepieces/
Understanding and using a Barlow Lens
https://telescopicwa...ens-and-how-to/
Edited by aeajr, 13 October 2021 - 02:40 PM.
#19
Posted 13 October 2021 - 02:42 PM
There's just not many DSO's that are conveniently located near a bright star. However, many are pretty easy to find with a large scope under dark (Bortle 2-4) skies. Turn Left at Orion is a classic but one that helped me even more is Harvard Pennington's "The Year-Round Messier Marathon--Field Guide" He starts each DSO search from a constellation so that's about as easy as it gets. Best of luck to you!
No, but as you allude to, there are many objects you can find by star-hopping from an easily visible naked-eye star. In fact, you can find EVERY object, by star-hopping from an easily visible star - it's just a question of how long the star-hop is going to be!
With a good setup (and practice!), star-hops of 10° - 20° or longer should not be a problem, even in fairly bright skies.
Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark
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#20
Posted 13 October 2021 - 02:53 PM
Get an atlas (I personally like Uranometria 2000.0 all-sky edition) and learn how to star-hop. If you keep at it, you'll eventually learn the sky well enough, that you'll know the location of hundreds of deep-sky objects by memory.
Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark
Absolutely! Knowing the constellations gives you reference points all over the sky and not just the brightest stars but many key dim ones as well. More and more of them over
time so that most anything you want to observe can be located within a very small region usually fitting within the field of a finder eyepiece.
Edited by rowdy388, 13 October 2021 - 02:54 PM.
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#21
Posted 13 October 2021 - 03:08 PM
NGC 457, the ET Cluster is an easy find in Cassiopeia.
NCG-1662, the Klingon battleship is easy to find in the top of the bow in Orion.
The Eskimo Nebula is easy to find off the Hip of Gemini.
M104, the Sombrero Galaxy along with Jaws and Stargate, all very easy to spot near Corvus.
The Blue Snowball, easy to find off the belly of Pegasus
Mirach's Ghost is right off the star Marach in Andromeda
M97 M108, both easy to find in the lower bucket of the big dipper beside the Star Merak
Iris Nebula, easy to find in Cepheus beside Alfirk
Veil Nebula, easy to find beside Gienah in Cygnus.
Dumbell Nebula, very easy to find in Cygnus.
NGC 7333, The big galaxy beside Stephens quintet in Pegasus
Actually, everything is easy to find in Bortle 3 skies with a 14 inch reflector.
..Ralph
Edited by aa6ww, 13 October 2021 - 03:10 PM.
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#22
Posted 13 October 2021 - 03:26 PM
I am mainly interested in fainter objects close to brighter stars.
M74
#23
Posted 13 October 2021 - 03:40 PM
Moving to Deep Sky Observing.
smp
#24
Posted 13 October 2021 - 04:51 PM
I am mainly interested in fainter objects close to brighter stars.
A few favorites that are super easy to find, near brighter stars, and don't get the love that they deserve among amateurs.
NGC 404 - Elliptical galaxy next to Mirach
NGC 2362 - Wonderful open cluster surrounding Tau CmA
NGC 2024 - Flame Nebula next to Alnitak in Orion
NGC 6960 - Western arc of the Veil Nebula, passing through 52 Cygni
Leo I - Large, exceedingly dim galaxy in the same field of view as Regulus in Leo. This object is rendered invisible if you're not under dark, transparent skies.
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#25
Posted 13 October 2021 - 05:25 PM
I am mainly interested in fainter objects close to brighter stars.
NGC 404 (Mirach's Ghost), a type S0 dwarf lenticular galaxy, lies seven arc minutes from the second-magnitude star Mirach (β Andromedae).
https://www.science2...ch_materializes
http://spider.seds.org/ngc/ngc.cgi?404
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Source: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/793595-deep-space-objects-that-are-very-easy-to-find/
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