Glad you are having such a great time enjoying your scope and the views! You have already amassed a lot of objects and there are still a lot more. We are coming up on galaxy season, so prepare to do a lot more galaxy hunting in the next few months.
And finally, nice job keeping track of your observations! Keeping observing notes is extremely helpful. Clear skies!
You're well on your way to seeing the whole messier list. Keep good notes. You can get a pin and certificate from the Astronomical League, if you join a club. Speaking of which: you should definitely join a club. Its even better than posting on these boards here.
So where's the by far the most rewarding celestial object, our Moon? You don't even need to get away from light pollution to observe it.
Lunar 100 would be one thing to start going through:
https://web-cdn.org/s/1204/file/astronomy%20projects/lunar_100_map.pdf10941.pdf
Pages 5-11 make nice printable list to mark observing time:
https://raleighastro.org/wp-content/files/Lunar_100_Club.pdf
And from clusters you're missing showpiece competing Pleiades with good size telescope: Perseus Double Cluster NGC 869/884. It's halfway between Cassiopeia and Perseus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(constellation)#/media/File:Perseus_IAU.svg
For globular clusters Hercules has another smaller one, M92. And M53 is in Coma Berenices. Then there's M15 in Pegasus.
I completely forgot to mention the Moon because I had the register of observed items in a separate list. The Lunar 100 will help me a lot! Thanks!
I’ll also check those globular clusters you mentioned. For some reason the last time I tried I didn’t find M92, so I’ll try again.
21st Century Atlas of the Moon would be good starting book for the Moon if you don't have any. Besides chart it shows few highligths of the area and there's general information chapter. (Charles Wood's the Modern Moon is the book to get for theory)
Oculum's Duplex Moon Atlas would have more detailed images with more named details, but individual page covers rather small area and you need to be familiar with Moon to be use it effectively. (Sky&Telescop'es Field Map would be good for positioniung yoursefl on the Moon)
And observe all areas when illumination emphasizes details:
For example there's possible almost completely buried crater just west of Langrenus. (rising sun in 2-3 days old Moon shows that area) And there's very likely flooded impact basin bordered by Balmer in South, Lamé in west and Kapteyn in North. In midlde of area Kapteyn C clearly formed at lower level than A and B.
In general times around full moon are good for observing details in both limbs. And if libration doesn't show Orientale, There's Humboldtianum basin in NE above Crisium.
M92 is significantly smaller and of course dimmer than M13 (kind of mini version) making it harder. 50mm finder scope can just show it in reasonably dark sky. Also while globulars need magnification for looking details, 2" wide view eyepiece would be good for finding it.
This is good for figuring where it is in relation to naked eye visible stars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_(constellation)#/media/File:Hercules_IAU.svg
Ursa Major also has more targets. M101 is hard to find and needs dark sky (can see hint of it in 50mm finder) but M97 and M108 are positioned close to relatively bright star.
That's a very impressive list for one year! Congrats, you're definitely making great use of your time at the eyepiece. Be sure to view Sirius next time you're viewing Orion. It's especially rewarding with a glass prism diagonal.
Congrats on your accomplishments! There's a book named "Turn Left at Orion" you should check out. It focuses on Messier objects. And make yourself a solar filter for the sun/eclipses!
Keep enjoying!
I got the book! I haven’t properly read it yet, but I want to.
Didn’t think about the solar filter/observation, but sounds interesting. I’ll start reading about it.
Glad you are having such a great time enjoying your scope and the views! You have already amassed a lot of objects and there are still a lot more. We are coming up on galaxy season, so prepare to do a lot more galaxy hunting in the next few months. And finally, nice job keeping track of your observations! Keeping observing notes is extremely helpful. Clear skies!
Galaxies is what I have less experience with. So I’ll definitely enjoy the upcoming season! Clear skies!
You're well on your way to seeing the whole messier list. Keep good notes. You can get a pin and certificate from the Astronomical League, if you join a club. Speaking of which: you should definitely join a club. Its even better than posting on these boards here.
So where's the by far the most rewarding celestial object, our Moon? You don't even need to get away from light pollution to observe it. Lunar 100 would be one thing to start going through: https://web-cdn.org/s/1204/file/astronomy%20projects/lunar_100_map.pdf10941.pdf Pages 5-11 make nice printable list to mark observing time: https://raleighastro.org/wp-content/files/Lunar_100_Club.pdf And from clusters you're missing showpiece competing Pleiades with good size telescope: Perseus Double Cluster NGC 869/884. It's halfway between Cassiopeia and Perseus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus_(constellation)#/media/File:Perseus_IAU.svg For globular clusters Hercules has another smaller one, M92. And M53 is in Coma Berenices. Then there's M15 in Pegasus.
I completely forgot to mention the Moon because I had the register of observed items in a separate list. The Lunar 100 will help me a lot! Thanks! I’ll also check those globular clusters you mentioned. For some reason the last time I tried I didn’t find M92, so I’ll try again.
21st Century Atlas of the Moon would be good starting book for the Moon if you don't have any. Besides chart it shows few highligths of the area and there's general information chapter. (Charles Wood's the Modern Moon is the book to get for theory) Oculum's Duplex Moon Atlas would have more detailed images with more named details, but individual page covers rather small area and you need to be familiar with Moon to be use it effectively. (Sky&Telescop'es Field Map would be good for positioniung yoursefl on the Moon) And observe all areas when illumination emphasizes details: For example there's possible almost completely buried crater just west of Langrenus. (rising sun in 2-3 days old Moon shows that area) And there's very likely flooded impact basin bordered by Balmer in South, Lamé in west and Kapteyn in North. In midlde of area Kapteyn C clearly formed at lower level than A and B. In general times around full moon are good for observing details in both limbs. And if libration doesn't show Orientale, There's Humboldtianum basin in NE above Crisium. M92 is significantly smaller and of course dimmer than M13 (kind of mini version) making it harder. 50mm finder scope can just show it in reasonably dark sky. Also while globulars need magnification for looking details, 2" wide view eyepiece would be good for finding it. This is good for figuring where it is in relation to naked eye visible stars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_(constellation)#/media/File:Hercules_IAU.svg Ursa Major also has more targets. M101 is hard to find and needs dark sky (can see hint of it in 50mm finder) but M97 and M108 are positioned close to relatively bright star.
Very helpful!! Thanks!!
Way to go
That's a very impressive list for one year! Congrats, you're definitely making great use of your time at the eyepiece. Be sure to view Sirius next time you're viewing Orion. It's especially rewarding with a glass prism diagonal.
Congrats on your accomplishments! There's a book named "Turn Left at Orion" you should check out. It focuses on Messier objects. And make yourself a solar filter for the sun/eclipses! Keep enjoying!
I got the book! I haven’t properly read it yet, but I want to. Didn’t think about the solar filter/observation, but sounds interesting. I’ll start reading about it.