Pls help. May I know where's Cancer and Taurus now?

[vivid]

Hi guys,

@ 1930-2200h now :
Can I ask if Taurus is due West just near Venus? Wanna check out Pleaides/M45.

And for Beehive M44 it is in Cancer, and now it's near the 70% moon? (ie bright, but hey it's idiot-proof to spot).


Just to double confirm... Coz star hopping lah.... that makes it fun. Thanks...

PS. Darn, no way to check out Jupiter now to see CA. Saturn has no CA. Funny thing is, on the AR152 and ES82 6.7mm, there is no blue CA visible on the moon's terminator region....only can see blue CA on the limb. I will check again carefully to see if there is yellow CA but seriously I could not see anything that is obstrusive like the blue CA. It's very detailed and sharp @ terminator though contrast is more like haze/high-clouds limited rather than optics limited here @ Singapore (at least coming from my photographic background which magenta CA is obstrusive), i am surprised.

Always checking NEA's PSI levels here...hehe. But high level clouds need to see if there's halo esp at the moon. Days in which PM10 is below 20 is quite transparent, i have seen below 15 and those days are quite spectacular and M42 is easily with naked eyes to be "not a star" as there is some nebulosity. http://app2.nea.gov.sg/psi.aspx

Ugh...i expected more from M42 with a UHC (DGM Optics NPB). Can only see central core and no crab. heh....

Cheers and clear nites!

[Gary]

Hi Vivid. You can print out this sky map for use in Singapore for April 2012 and bring to the roof

http://skymaps.com/skymaps/tesme1204.pdf

Feel free to print it big in A3 or in 2 A4 and join them together.

You are in luck for finding M45. Venus will be closest to M45 tomorrow. Should fit BOTH into the same FOV in your refractor.

As for m44. Refer to the skymap. I use a rough triangulation to find it using Pollux (one "head" of the Gemini twin) and bright star Procyon to form a triangle with m44.

In dark clear skies, beehive looks like fuzzy nebula with naked eyes, no need triangulation or hopping.

[vivid]

Bro, thanks for the map. Yeah so i'd aim at Venus, very easy. I know it's venus and not something bright like Sirius, coz (1) nothing to see LOL! (2) it has phase. I have 2.5 deg TFOV with the ES82 30mm.

Looking forward in meeting you to learn the ropes esp with a low powered pointer, like that faster!

Damn, it's just 30 deg above west horizon at 8pm. Need to faster see.

[Gary]

Wow. 2.5 TFOV with 82 afov. Will be shiok! Perhaps can go to a place with good unobstructed view of the west like Labrador Park and observe this conjunction longer.

[vivid]

My place has 101% unobstucted view for nearly 360 deg ard so only limited by clouds and HPS sky glow for lower altitudes....coz it's 156m ASL. Can't get past the part above CBD though, too bright. Jurong Island direction is predominantly amber HPS but limited to about 15 deg Alt. Venus is north west, that direction quite dark. Pity Singapore has so many buildings, but seriously if you ask me we are still lucky as the buildings are not bright compared to USA mega cities and for still much dimmer than for eg HK, Shanghai, Beijing and also the area which we are dealing with is actually small. Beijing i think only 1 day per year suitable for astronomy.

Will SMS you once the weather stabilises and see if we can do it after full moon preferably.

[Gary]

Thanks for the invite! Looking forward to my first ob at P@D.

[vivid]

No problem, just bring your OTA. I am also interested in Carina nebulae, due South now at max of about 25 deg above horizon. We will have a 101% totally unobstructed view of the Southern skies. (Too bad about the PSA though and perhaps lack of aperture, but we'll make do with UHC).

PM10 is 22 for Southern part of SG today. Batam is pretty clear, on a clear day like today you can even see Gunung Jantan (about 400+ metres) on Pulau Karimun besar which is 58km away according to Google Earth.

[cloud_cover]

Hi Vivid,
What worked for me in learning the night sky, mostly solo, was to download Stellarium, then use it to try to find objects in the night sky. Since it displays a real time sky view specific to your location, its an exact representation of what you see. you can even zoom its FOV to match your scope. Just remember its usully left-right inverted in your eyepiece.
To find the Carina area, I suggest you start with the bright stars of Acrux/Gacrux which are usually visible on most clear nights. Pan to the right about 7deg and just very slightly lower and you will run into a prominent cluster of stars known as the Southern Peliades. If getting here is a problem due to narrow FOV, there are quite a few bright stars you can easily find in Stellarium to guide you as you star hop. From here you can pan around; you are in the Carina area Pan up about 4 deg and you're at the Eta Carina area. Don't expet to see the nebula though! Along the way, don't forget to take a side trip from Acrux to catch the very lovely Jewel Box cluster in the Crux (southern Cross)
Hope it helps!
P.S. If you're calling an obs session from P@D, can I be invited? (shameless plug )

[Gary]

For Stellarium, can activate the "Show flip buttons" option and use that. Then no need to imagine one more step and match the exact orientation of stars in a particular FOV. Under "Configuration Window (F2)" -- "other".

[cloud_cover]

For Stellarium, can activate the "Show flip buttons" option and use that. Then no need to imagine one more step and match the exact orientation of stars in a particular FOV. Under "Configuration Window (F2)" -- "other".

Thanks for the tip! Is there also a similar thing for Skysafari?