Choosing Targets

[seer]

Tonight is suppose to be a good night for observing here. I'm looking for possible targets.
On the top of the list will be Mini Cassiopeia. Little Cassiopeia (Lacerta) will be in a great position so I'll try an get a good view of it. Actually all 3 Cassiopeias will be in good positions. It will be a CASSIOPEIA TRIFECTA!
I might be able to get to some things in the Summer Triangle but a little east of it will be better.
Would M2 and M15 be good targets for me? In my atlas they look kind of small.

[helicon]

Those are bright globulars - I definitely would go after them. Hope the good conditions hold up for you. You may also want to try for the Helix Nebula - it's rather diaphanous and faint but since it is in Aquarius I would try.

[Voyageur]

How about M27, the Dumbbell Nebula? It's "inside" the Summer Triangle and not hard to find.

[Don Quixote]

How about M27, the Dumbbell Nebula? It's "inside" the Summer Triangle and not hard to find.

And it is the August challenge. I think. :-)
Good hunting Donald !

[notFritzArgelander]

M15 is a wonderful very compact globular cluster. You can find it but it needs aperture and magnification to reveal its joys. When I had access to a 16" Cassegrain f15 it was a real delight! It's a very pretty picture in my Z12. You need at least 6-8" of aperture though. In my MK66 it's very nice. One of my favorite objects but it needs a bigger scope.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_15

I heartily second the suggestion of M27 though! The Helix is good too.

[JayTee]

And of course, don't forget that we have a vendor that is promoting his "astro-planning" website. A lot of us use this site quite a bit for our nightly planning.
viewtopic.php?f=85&t=1812

Cheers,
JT

[Don Quixote]

And of course, don't forget that we have a vendor that is promoting his "astro-planning" website. A lot of us use this site quite a bit for our nightly planning.
viewtopic.php?f=85&t=1812

Cheers,
JT

Ditto, JT.
It is a great tool Donald.
You've got to check this out when you get a chance.

[AbbN]

I sometimes use these two sites

https://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php

https://telescopius.com/?lat_deg=42&lat ... dsobrowser

Abb

[OhNo]

If your only looking for stuff on the Messier List this site is pretty good. http://calgary.rasc.ca/darksky/messierplanner.htm

[Shabadoo]

Observing.Skyhound.com has a target list for every month of the year. Not your typical list. More challenging. Objects ARE in the sky for that month. Listed from easy to hard.
Common name, constellation, coordinates and magnitude.
In addition to that, I've learned to take my Messier list and compare it to what's in the sky at the time according to my elementary planisphere.
Hope this helps.
(I'm not a vendor-it's free site)

[Baskevo]

And of course, don't forget that we have a vendor that is promoting his "astro-planning" website. A lot of us use this site quite a bit for our nightly planning.
viewtopic.php?f=85&t=1812

I have been using this site, and it is awesome! You can see your target and images taken by others (people upload all day every day), weather conditions, you can frame your shot perfectly, check what time your target will be at its highest, etc.
Plug in your telescope and camera specs, and it will give you an idea of what your shot will look like. I love it.

I learned about telescopius through this youtube video:
at 38:38, he shows some cool things you can do with it (It was called dso-browser when this vid. was made)

Happy hunting!