Gerd Waloszek       

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Deep Sky Objects

Table of Deep Sky Objects | Deep Sky Suggestions by Marcus Shaw | References

The following table of easy to find and larger Deep Sky Objects (DSO) was put together by me from the books Deep Sky Reiseführer/Reiseatlas (Stoyan/Feiler & Noack) and Atlas für Himmelsbeobachter (Karkoschka) (see References). I added a few objects based on my own experiences. This list is intended to help me - and perhaps others - to select deep sky objects for observation in the course of the year. The Deep Sky Reiseführer/Reiseatlas rating/ranking might help here (the rankings are based on observations with telescopes of an aperture of up to 150 mm (6") and a dark countryside sky).

In addition, I share suggestions that a hobby astronomer made to a newcomer and that I find quite useful. Perhaps, this helps to spread these suggestions a little further. I edited the suggestions a bit, also the text (a German gave them to a Greek woman in English - the Internet is international ...).

Note: For objects that I observed myself, I am creating additional pages, which contain star maps (created with SkySafari) that help find the objects in the sky. These pages are accessible via links in the table below and open in a new window.

See also page My Deep Sky Observations - Overview

Table of Deep Sky Objects

Column "Rec.": Objects labelled with "+" seem, in my opinion, particularly attractive and (mostly) easy to find. They correspond more or less to my former short list.

Legend

*) The English constellation names were taken from Constellation Guide - Constellation Names and are often more "meanings" than "approved names"; there you can read more about the names and their background.

Type: G = galaxy, GC = globular star cluster, OC = open star cluster, PN = planetary nebula, GN = galactic nebula (GNE = emission, GNR = reflection), SP = star pattern

Deep Sky Suggestions by Marcus Shaw

The following suggestions for the observation of deep sky objects were made by Marcus Shaw (Schorhr) 2014 to a Greek woman (Trillian!) in the Stargazers Lounge forum (see also link below). After consulting the forum, she had bought a Skywatcher Heritage P130 Dobsonian telescope (5"), and the suggestions naturally take the performance of the telescope into account. I find these suggestions very useful for myself and for other beginners. I therefore publish them here in an adapted form. The contributions range from the end of May 2014 to the beginning of July 2014, so that the suggestions mainly relate to objects which can be observed at that time (that is, in summer).

Legend

Type: G = galaxy, GC = globular star cluster, OC = open star cluster, PN = planetary nebula, GN = galactic nebula (GNE = emission, GNR = reflection), SP = star pattern

Remarks as to Albireo and the Ring Nebula

Albireo (double star) should split at as low as 8 x. ... It's much more pretty with your own eyes, the colors are much more noticeable than with a deep sky camera.

The ring nebula (M 57) or M 13 (as another example...) are a faint smudge in low magnification, larger than a star. When increasing magnification under light pollution, they may not show more details. That gets kind of frustrating.

I have observed the ring nebula under a full moon before. It works, but yesterday the moon was so close it did not work well. Under dark skies it is really obvious, if you find it. So save yourself frustration and wait for darker conditions when attempting DSO. It will still be a faint smoke ring, not the colorful explosion you see on images from the Hubble telescope.

For some it looks like a faint smudge. But it's kind of fascinating to see the remains of a super nova with your own eyes, far, far away. With larger telescope you could even see the small center star remain.

My "first ring nebula" took me 30 minutes as I just did not know what I had to look for, much like you now. We all have been there. After one or two successful observation of objects you kind of get a sense for scale, what to look for and frustration is blown away. And always have a "plan b": If you can't find something, observe something you already know for practice and to avoid wanting to throw the telescope down the balcony.

In the 25 mm eyepiece, it almost looks like when a star is just slightly off focus, but no matter how carefully you try to focus, all the stars next to it are sharp, small dots, the ring nebula looks like a faint blurry star. With 8-12 mm it already looks like a tiny ring. If light pollution is an issue, the darker center might be less obvious.

References

• Michael Feiler & Philip Novak (2023). Deep Sky Reiseatlas (5. Auflage), Oculum Verlag (ISBN 978-3-949370-04-5)
  www.oculum-verlag.de/detailview?no=608
• Ronald Stoyan (2021). Deep Sky Reiseführer (6. Auflage), Oculum Verlag (ISBN 978-3-938469-72-9)
  www.oculum-verlag.de/detailview?no=603
• Erich Karkoschka (2022). Atlas für Himmelsbeobachter, Kosmos Verlag (EAN: 9783440173602)
  www.kosmos.de/de/atlas-fur-himmelsbeobachter_1074889_9783440173602
• English constellation names taken from:
  Constellation Guide - Constellation Names: www.constellation-guide.com/constellation-names
• Stargazers Lounge: Choosing the first telescope: Heritage 130 or Virtuoso (Trillian): stargazerslounge.com/topic/217446-choosing-the-first-telescope-heritage-130-or-virtuoso/ (two pages)