Easy astronomical objects to see from the city

[Greg Bernhardt]

This is a nice quick little list of easy objects to look for.

1. Moon
2. Planets
3. The Pleiades, M45
4. Albireo
5. Betelgeuse

etc.

http://www.learnastronomyhq.com/articles/10-easy-astronomical-object.html

Does anyone have more?

 

[davenn]

any of the bright globular clusters like M13 in Hercules for the nthrn Hemisphere

For those in the southern hemisphere Omega Centauri is a huge and bright globular.

Double and variable star observing can be done for both hemispheres from the city
there's a lot of satisfaction to be gained from plotting the light curves of some of the short period variables

Dave

 

[davenn]

meant to add to the previous post ...
when it comes to planetary observations, there are several things that can easily be done from in the city...

observe and time occultations and transits of the Galilean moons of Jupiter and compare/use the published timing data
observe the changing angle of the rings of Saturn as the months and years go by
observe the changing phases of Venuscheers
Dave

 

[Chronos]

Andromeda, ring nebula, crab nebula to name a few. Most of these should be viewable on a reasonably clear night with a 4" + scope.

 

[cpman]

I'd say M57 is fantastic. It has a good surface brightness and looks amazing through my 10" Dobsonian.
M1 looks pretty good from here in Austin. M17 is faint, but can be seen if you are experienced. M27 is also quite good.
M31 is OK, but you don't get many details. M13 is fantastic! I spent over an hour observing it a few weeks ago. The Perseus double cluster is quite good, and so is M42.
Alpha Herculis (Rasalgethi) is a good double star, but requires higher magnification to split than Albireo. Mizar is another good double star, but is not colorful like Albireo and Rasalgethi are. I've caught very faint glimpses of M51's spiral structure, but even the core is very, very faint from here. This one is definitely for larger telescopes only.

For reference, the NLEM here ranges between 4.6 and 5.2. Occasionally, if the night is good, you can catch a glimpse of the Milky Way with direct vision. Otherwise, it is fairly difficult even with averted vision.
I've got a fair amount of observing experience. I've seen the Triangulum Galaxy from a very dark sky site with the naked eye. At the darkest place I've ever been, the Milky Way cast faint shadows on white surfaces, and my NELM was around 7.5.

 

[Ibrahim Hany]

It all depends on the intensity of the city lights and the scope one's having !

Generally a faint city light with a good scope are the only thing one needs to view almost all Messier objects available on one's sky.

Yet, it is very interesting to view different double stars, or stars with different temperatures and see how their colors differ and have an insight about the physical reason behind that (black body radiation); ex. comparing Betelgeuse and Rigel..

 

[Ritzycat]

I found Ring Nebula tonight. A very faint cloud - but was nonetheless excited that I actually found it. I was every so slightly able to make out the outline of the ring.

 

[Andy Resnick]

The Pleiades are favorably located for me this time of year:

 

[Ritzycat]

Is that them through your telescope? The Pleiades have been coming into viewable range for me around midnight this time of year. May have to wait a month before they're in a good place for me to see at a reasonable hour.

 

[Razorvox]

The Pleiades are favorably located for me this time of year:

Yea their beautiful, it's like their in the sky almost every night up here! They seem to have very weak light when looking at directly with the naked eye, but when you look away slightly the rods in the eye are more sensitive and they brighten. Freaked me out first time I noticed! Easy way to find em' too. :)

 

[Borek]

Sun.

 

[Razorvox]

Sun.

Yea, I can't see it much anymore where I come from. I heard it's a bright, very bright. My cheapo telescope thankfully was powerful enough to see it. Too bad I stared too long, I was permanently blinded... Now I can't find the dang telescope to look at it again! Misplaced, I use my Binoculars instead, but all black. To my surprise the caps were on so I took em' off, everything was clear...I could still not see with blind eyes.

 

[Borek]

With a screen and some lenses you can easily watch the Sun and observe spots. Quite simple.

 

[Andy Resnick]

Is that them through your telescope?

Yep.

 

[Razorvox]

My high powered binoculars with a tripod are much more fun to use I think, the telescope doesn't give me a much closer view, aside from the moon. But it was like $300 so what do you expect? Has auto target though! ): Can't wait to see some northern lights too!

Last year I modeled a telescope inside 3d software using refraction and all. In any case it ballooned the high-res panoramic image of stars around me through the eyepiece!