The Scruffy Astronomer

With the winter solstice coming up, it's time to send around my regular viewing list. Those of you who have small telescopes or (like me) are stuck in the city, start by searching for clusters, either open clusters (which are pretty groups of stars) or globular clusters (which are tight spectacular swarms). Once you've done that, start looking for double stars, which are pretty in a different way. One day I'll get around to photographing some... For planets, Saturn and Jupiter are currently your best bet. Here's a photo I took of Saturn. I used budget equipment (about $1000), which I was testing for work. Open cluster: Mel 111 - Coma Berenices Star Cluster (06:55 PM) Galaxy: M 87 - Virgo A (01:55 AM) Galaxy: M 104 - Sombrero Galaxy (02:09 AM) Dark nebula: C 99 - Coalsack Nebula (02:24 AM) Open cluster: NGC 4755 - Jewel Box Cluster (02:24 AM) Galaxy: NGC 5128 - Centaurus A (02:52 AM) Globular cluster: NGC 5139 - Omega Centauri (02:52 AM) Galaxy:...

You've got a new telescope, and you've seen the Moon and something of the planets (yes, they're small), and you're wondering about what to look at next. If you live in the city or the suburbs, you will probably already have found that nebulas and galaxies need telescopes with large apertures, such as a Dobsonian. They will also have to wait until you can get into the country (this was written while we were still locked down in Victoria). Instead, have a look for star clusters. They're just stars, so you can see them through the city's haze. What's more, they're pretty, and all different. Generally, they come in two classes, open (meaning scattered) and globular (meaning a swarm). Closed clusters are normally pretty small, but open ones can be large or small. This is my photo of an open cluster, M47. The poor thing doesn't seem to have a common name like a lot of them do. Here's how to find it: At this time of year (Apr...

High clouds! I've been taking photos of star clusters for a while now. I've been trying to demonstrate how much people with small telescopes in the city should be able to see. This one didn't go so well. Clusters are not only pretty, and most don't need lots of magnification. They're also largely immune from the city's light pollution. So I went out a week or two back to the dark sky site with my largely autonomous equipment all programmed to take photos of five different clusters. I set up, polar aligned, sorted out the inevitable technical problem that cropped up (urghh) and then got started on the first of the five targets. The night was pretty good, with the Moon setting in the west and not being too much of a problem (remember star clusters aren't badly affected by stray light). The first two images went without a hitch, and so I decided to leave the telescope doing what it was programmed to and I retired to my tent. ...

Lots of clients ask me what they can see with their new telescopes from the city. Sure, you can see the Moon and the planets. But right now, most of the planets are hiding behind the Sun, and irritatingly, the Moon disappears every couple of weeks. So what is there to look at? Star clusters! They're pretty, easy to find, easy to see from the city, and completely under-rated. The Little Beehive cluster, which is also known as Messier 41, or simply M41, might be a little trickier than others to find. If you go outside at around 9pm and look towards the north-north-west, you'll see Orion with his three belt stars. If you're from the Southern Hemisphere, you'll call it the Saucepan, with its three base stars. From here, look higher and slightly towards the left. You'll see Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Sirius is the eye of Canis Major, Orion's hunting dog. The dog stretches even further away from Orion, and the Little Beehive is in the...

Today's summer solstice post is overshadowed a little by the Grand Conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn. I know you'll all be out watching that - weather permitting, of course, I wrote this post a week or so beforehand. After that, Saturn and Jupiter will go hiding behind the sun, but there are still plenty of things to watch in the sky, including Mars, which is still high, although it's beginning to get small as it moves away from the Earth. I've added a couple of clusters to my list this time. I got both of them from my light-polluted back yard a week or two back. This is my photo of M41, which I took from my back yard using a saxon 1021 doublet refractor of the type that many of you have bought for Christmas. It's very similar to our most popular refractor, the saxon 909AZ3, just a tiny bit bigger. I had it on a tracking mount though, my own NEQ6. This photo gives you an idea what you're likely to see with a small telescope. The photo also shows a fair a...

Melbourne seems to be making progress in getting the Coronavirus outbreak under some control, finally. However, for the moment we're still in lockdown and can't get out of the city for astronomy. Light pollution plays havoc with astronomy, and especially astrophotography. Light pollution is when light from street lights, house lights, sports stadiums, outdoor advertising and all those other reasons for turning lights on gets reflected off any dust in the air above us. It turns into a barrier separating us and the sky, effectively blotting out all the dim and interesting things out there. But that doesn't mean we can't see anything. Right now, even if the Moon isn't in the right spot (it changes all the time, of course) Jupiter and Saturn are nicely available. They're both high overhead soon after sunset. If you stay up much later, Mars will rise in the East, and because it's near opposition, it'll look good in a long focal-length telescope like an Novo 9...

Over the last few weeks I've posted about a few star clusters. These are groups of stars you can see using an inexpensive telescope from the suburbs while you're under lockdown. Here's another one. This cluster was named after its (supposed) discoverer, the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy. It's in all sorts of catalogues, including Messier's catalogue as M7 and the New General Catalogue as NGC 6475. You don't actually need a telescope to see this one. A pair of binoculars will do, because not only is it made up of nice bright stars, it's also quite large. In fact, if you're in a dark sky area, you might see it with your naked eye. The cluster itself is just outside Scorpio. This is a very recognisable constellation that's rising in the East in the evening at this time of year (July). I always think that it looks like a gigantic backwards question mark. I've attached a screenshot from Stellarium, but of course you can use your own: there are lots...

A while back I posted a photo of the Jewel Box star cluster , NGC 4755. I did this for two reasons. First, I wanted to show you something you could reasonably expect to see using a small telescope in the suburbs (say, when you're in lockdown). Second, I wanted to show how large a field of view you'd get. I used two popular focal lengths, 650mm and 900mm, and the two eyepieces commonly supplied with our scopes, 25mm and 10mm. Then I said I'd post a few more of these clusters, hopefully to give you an idea of what you might be able to see with your own telescope. This has the somewhat curious name of the "Wishing Well Cluster", properly known as NGC 3532. It's also known as the Pincushion Cluster. Here it is: To find it, start from the Southern Cross and its pointers. This is high in the Southern sky in the early evening at this time of year (July). With your hand, measure the distance between the right hand pointer (Hadar) and the left hand Cross star (Mimosa)...

I think you've seen this photo before, but I'm hoping to talk more about clusters you can see from suburban back yards. I also want to talk about what you'll see with telescopes of less than $500. This is NGC 4755, the Jewel Box. It's probably the most well-known and popular star cluster in the Southern Hemisphere. Why? There are several reasons. The cluster is easy to find - it's just outside the very recognisable Southern Cross. It's also very pretty, with a range of coloured stars in it. There are white stars, a number of red-yellow stars, one really red one, and some blue ones. It's just made up of stars, which sounds obvious, but this means you don't need to find anything really dim. In turn that means it's good for inner-city viewing where the background is grey or brown rather than black. One catch, it's not very big. If you've got a telescope with a focal length of less than about 700mm, you will need a 10mm eyepiece to get a nice vie...

18 October 2019 The other day I read on the ABC website that our Milky Way galaxy is likely to be “eaten” by Andromeda . If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s clickbait. No, we’re not all about to die. First, it’s not expected to happen for another 4.5 billion years. So I wouldn’t be too fussed about it if I were you. Second, galaxies might look pretty substantial, but honestly, they’re not. Probably the most crowded place I can think of in the current universe would be a globular cluster, such as Omega Centauri (this is my shot). To give you an idea of how crowded these places are, Alpha Centauri, the closest star to the Earth, is about four light years away. The stars in a cluster like this are about one light year apart on average. Of course, in the densest part, they’re much closer - down to one light day apart. Life as we know it (Jim) in there just wouldn’t be possible. Star collisions here are a genuine possibility. Not only that, any planet would be torn away from ...

The Spring Equinox might be great for bird watchers, but it’s pretty slim pickings for astronomers. The list of things to look for isn’t as long as at other times of the year. Not that there’s nothing to see, of course! Here’s my list of springtime objects. Remember, new Moon is the best time for seeing the dimmer targets such as the nebulas. Remember also that the size of the target will determine how well you’ll see it in any particular scope. Sometimes magnification isn’t your friend! The list is ordered by the time targets pass the meridian – that is, their highest point of the night. So the Omega Nebula is starting to set after 6:45pm, so look for that one first. Also, depending where you live, some of these targets are “circumpolar”, meaning they don’t set at all. To this list you can add a number of summer objects, as Orion is rising in the early morning even now.  I’ve already seen a few photos of the Orion and Horsehead nebulas published by keen astronomers. This...

One of the telescopes that we demonstrated at the recent open night was the 127mm saxon FCD100 triplet refractor. This is an astounding piece of equipment (people probably noticed me hogging it all night). I'd actually taken it home to do some testing on it previous to the open night. After all, I can't properly demonstrate something I haven't used, can I? One of my favourite test subjects was 47 Tucanae. It's bright and not hard to photograph, but it's complex enough to show up any problems with your equipment such as chromatic aberration (or coma if you're using a Newt). These photos were taken from my front yard in suburban Kew, so light pollution was always going to be a major problem. This is the image I got, without much processing. All I did was boost the whites (but not the highlights because I didn't want to overexpose the stars) and deepen the blacks (to get rid of the worst of the light pollution). It's fairly heavily cropped. To give you...

  The Winter Solstice is here, and the nights are long and cold. For “normal” people, this is a bad thing, but for astronomers it means hours of viewing with cold crisp air making for good seeing conditions. If the clouds stay away, of course. I've prepared a list of things to look at in winter. Of course, new Moon is the best time for seeing the dimmer ones such as the nebulas. Remember also that the size of the target will determine how well you’ll see it in any particular scope. Sometimes magnification isn’t your friend! I've ordered it by the time each object reaches its highest point, so it'd be best to start at the top of the list, as these will be starting to set (some don't set at all). The picture is my unguided attempt at Rho Ophiuchus, the neighbour of the Dark Wolf nebula. This is highest at 10:10pm on the 21st of June - you’ll need a good dark site though. Dark nebula: C 99 - Coalsack Nebula (07:15 PM) Open cluster: NGC 4755 - Jewel Box Cluster (0...

22 March 2019 Welcome to the Autumn Equinox! For the stargazers among us, I've prepared a list of things to look at at this time of year - better when the Moon goes away, of course. Some are suited to larger scopes, but clusters work well in small ones. I've ordered it by the time each object reaches its highest point, so it'd be best to start at the top of the list, as these will be starting to set (some don't set at all, remember). For example, the picture is my dodgy effort at M83, which rises at 20:18 and sets at 09:45 tomorrow, reaching the meridian at about 3am. Good hunting! Galaxy: Large Magellanic Cloud (06:49 PM) Globular cluster: M 79 - (06:50 PM) Bright nebula: M 1 - Crab Nebula (07:00 PM) Bright nebula: M 43 - De Mairan's Nebula (07:01 PM) Diffuse Nebula: M 42 - Orion Nebula (07:01 PM) Bright nebula: NGC 1977 - Running Man Nebula (07:01 PM) Bright nebula: NGC 2070 - Tarantula Nebula (07:04 PM) Dark nebula: B 33 - Horsehead Nebula (07:06 PM) Diffuse nebu...

13 March 2019 This is my third "you can do this" post (there might be more, because I'm taking the telescope up to the dark sky site for a shot at Jupiter next). Just to recap, I borrowed the monster 127mm saxon FCD100 triplet APO refractor from work the other day (did I say I love my job?) and set it up in my front yard. The pictures I've published so far have been without any of the magic stuff that the pros use, like autoguiding, stacking or complex Photoshopping. This is a final photo of stars - it's 47 Tucanae, the famous globular cluster near the Small Magellanic Cloud. The first photo you can see is the whole field width (cropped and resized for Facebook, so it's a little postboxy). The photo shows roughly how large 47 Tuc is in the field when using a telescope of 952mm focal length and a normal sized (not full frame) DSLR. This second photo is a crop of the first, because the camera sensor gives us heaps of pixels to play with. I've also used the P...

1 March 2019 You can do this! I've been contacted by a couple of people who say that the photos I publish don't give a realistic impression of what a customer can expect to be able to get. So, in something of up-to-date news, I'm in the middle of evaluating (see also playing with) a saxon FCD100 127mm triplet APO refractor (https://www.saxon.com.au/saxon-deluxe-127mm-apochromatic-air-spaced-ed-triplet-refractor-telescope.html). The idea here is to see what sort of photos you can get with JUST this telescope and a DSLR (and a $30 t-ring to hold them together). Yes, that's right, no chilled CMOS, no filters, no autoguiding, no autofocus, and no magic post-processing. Just a tracking mount (in this case an unvarnished, slightly used, NEQ6, driven by a handbox). So last night I went out into my front yard, under the street lights and Kew's light pollution, polar aligned by finding Sigma Octantis with my binoculars (which was pretty rough), and fired off a SI...