Top 20 things to see with a small 4 inch reflector scope

chris shaw · Post by **chris shaw** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 12:29 pm

My friend just bought a second hand 4.5 inch Newtonian reflector and he was searching the web for a list of top 10 things to see with a small reflector but have come up with nothing. Anyone has any ideas of any website providing such info or maybe we can start a thread of top 20 things to see with a small 4 inch reflector scope?

Chris

harlequin2902 · Post by **harlequin2902** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:12 pm

Hm, ok, here's my contribution.

(I've seen the following in Singapore with my ex Nexstar 4. They are all also within reach of smaller scopes)

Not in order of preference :

1. Saturn
2. Jupiter
3. Moon
4. M6 - "Buttefly Cluster" Open Cluster in Scorpius
5. M7 - Open Cluster in Scorpius
6. M42 - "The Great Orion Nebula" Nebula in Orion
7. NGC5139 - "Omega Centauri" Globular Cluster in Centaurus
8. NGC 4755 - "Jewel Box Cluster" Open Cluster in Crux
9. M31 - "The Andromeda Galaxy" Galaxy in Andromeda
10. M57 - "The Ring Nebula" Planetary Nebula in Lyra (may need Narrowband filter)
11. NGC 3532 - Open Cluster in Carina
12. NGC 6231 - Open Cluster in Scorpius
13. M22 - Globular Cluster in Sagittarius
14. The Eta Carinae Nebula in Carina (may need Narrowband filter)
15. NGC7662 - "The Blue Snowball" Planetary Nebula in Andromeda (may need Narrowband filter)
16. NGC 2392 - "The Eskimo Nebula" Planetary Nebula in Gemini (may need Narrowband filter)
17. M27 - "The Dumbbell Nebula" Planetary Nebula in Vulpecula (may need Narrowband filter)
18. Beta Monocerotis - Triple star system in Monoceros
19. Zeta Lyrae - Coloured double star in Lyra
20. Albireo - Coloured double star in Cygnus

A very handy guide as to what you can see in a small scope (up to 4")comes in the form of the book "Turn Left at Orion".

Hope this helps.

chris shaw · Post by **chris shaw** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 2:37 pm

Nice job dude! Except for the benefit of newbies (I'm NOT talking forum newbies!) can you at least tag each entry with rough compass co-ordinates eg. Jewel Box in Crux (South)

Thanks,
Chris

harlequin2902 · Post by **harlequin2902** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 2:52 pm

Hm...now that's a little tricky. Because depending on which time of the year you are looking at the constellation (and also depends on what time of the night/morning), they do appear to the observer in different parts of the sky.

It's possible to indicate what you requested for Northern and Southern sky constellations because they always remain in that general area. For the others, they will rise from the East and set in the West over a period of time, thus making it difficult to generalize.

Take Mars for example. You can tell people that Mars is visible in the Eastern sky during this period, but for those who stay up late (e.g 2am) and look towards the East, they won't see it there and instead ask you about this "bright red starlight point" in the West (because Mars starts to set over the Western sky in the early hours of the morning during this period)

I think the constellation names which I indicated would be a very good rough guide as to where they can be found in the sky. That's why a star atlas is still necessary.

Kamikazer · Post by **Kamikazer** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 3:51 pm

how about a 6" reflector?

harlequin2902 · Post by **harlequin2902** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 4:07 pm

A 6" reflector will definately be able to pull in many other fainter objects which may even be beyond the reach of the 4.5", and it will also give you brighter, prettier and higher resolution views of those objects in the list above.

For a 6", those entries above marked with "may need Narrowband filter" for the 4.5" may not apply as some of those objects will be relatively brighter enough in a 6" to be observed directly through the eyepiece without filter for a more 'natural' view without extra photon-robbing glasses in between.

chris shaw · Post by **chris shaw** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 4:41 pm

Maybe we should rename the thread 'Top 20 things to see with a small 4 inch reflector in Singapore'.

Chris

kcy · Post by **kcy** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 5:05 pm

Messier's 110 DSOs!!!!

Though in singapore there is easily over 10 objects bah.

CY

harlequin2902 · Post by **harlequin2902** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 9:49 pm

Actually, there are many more Messier objects visible from Singapore. The following was gathered from my past personal observing logs with the 70mm Pronto (!) in Singapore :

(Messier objects)

Considering the size of the scope I used in gathering this list, these are visible and definately detectable through a 4" (does not mean each one is easily and nicely observable though, some may require putting observing skills into practice or slipping on of a nebular filter to pick out from the background)

M2 - Globular Cluster in Aquarius
M3 - Globular Cluster in Canes Venatici
M6 - Open Cluster in Scorpius
M7 - Open Cluster in Scorpius
M8 - The Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius
M11 - The Wild Duck Cluster in Scutum
M13 - Globular Cluster in Hercules
M15 - Globular Cluster in Pegasus
M22 - Globular Cluster in Sagittarius
M28 - Globular Cluster in Sagittarius
M27 - The Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula
M30 - Globular Cluster in Capricornus
M31 - Andromeda Galaxy in Andromeda
M35 - Open Cluster in Gemini
M36 - Open Cluster in Auriga
M41 - Open Cluster in Canis Major
M42 - The Great Orion Nebula in Orion
M44 - The Beehive Cluster in Cancer
M45 - The Pleiades in Taurus
M53 - Globular Cluster in Coma
M54 - Globular Cluster in Sagittarius
M57 - The Ring Nebula in Lyra
M70 - Globular Cluster in Sagittarius
M79 - Globular Cluster in Lepus
M80 - Globular Cluster in Scorpius
M92 - Globular Cluster in Hercules

In total, about 24% of the catalogue is visible with a 70mm. I'm sure a 4" will be able to pull in many more.

Chris : I think this will serve as a very good encouragement for your friend ?

Terry · Post by **Terry** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 9:23 pm

I can only see the moon with my 70mm scope LOL. Mars look as tiny as a orange star in 150x which is the maximum power of my scope.