The first thing your team should do is pick out the kind of celestial object you wish to observe. The second thing, is to pick back-up targets (preferably of the same type) for right ascensions that are applicable through April and May, figuring you may have another chance at observing every 2 weeks or so if your initial attempts are unsuccessful.
After choosing your target(s), you need to put together an observing plan. We will be covering this more in detail in class, but basically a plan involves 1) a finding chart, 2) estimate of the exposure time to get the desired signal-to-noise, 3) determination if the phase of the Moon will be a problem, 4) selection of comparison stars, 5) filters to be used, and exposure estimate through each filter, plus others to be discussed.
| Globular Clusters
http://dipastro.pd.astro.it/globulars/ | |
|---|---|
| ID | RA (2000) DEC |
| M 68 | 12 39 28.0 -26 44 34 |
| M 53 | 13 12 55.3 +18 10 09 |
| M 3 | 13 42 11.2 +28 22 32 |
| M 5 | 15 18 33.8 +02 04 58 |
| Open Clusters
http://obswww.unige.ch/webda/ | |
| NGC 2682 (M67) | 08 51 18 +11 48 00 |
| IC 4665 | 17 46 18 +05 43 00 |
| Minor Planet & Comet Ephemeris Service
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/MPEph/MPEph.html | |
| RR Lyrae Stars
RR Lyrae 2006 Ephemerides from AAVSO | |
| Eclipsing Binaries
Ephemerides 2006 from AAVSO | |
| Planetary Nebulae
http://www.blackskies.org/seasonbst2.html from blackskies.org | |
| Galaxies | |
| NGC 2903 | 9h 32.2m +21o 30.00' |
| M 66 | 11h 20.2m +12o 58.98' |
| M86 | 12h 26.2m +12o 57.00' |
| M 87 | 12h 30.8m +12o 24' |
| NGC 4565 | 12h 36.3m +25o 58.98' |
| M 104 (Sombrero) | 12h 40.0m -11o 37.02' |
| M 64 (Black Eye) | 12h 56.7m +21o 40.98' |
Other Relevant Links:
Constellation Finder Charts | |