NGC and M Field guide

Hi All

Need some more advice from the experienced observers here. Is there any such thing as a pictorial field guide to the main NGC's and M objects. Now that I have my star charts it would be handy to know what is on them when in the field. I am not one for doing a hell of a lot of planning before I go out. I am still at the learning stage so I just turn my scope to whatever I feel like at the time. I know this is a little haphazard but it leaves a lot of scope for a nights observing. Tonight for eg apart from regular run of mill clusters and nebula i came across sigma orion, NgC 1647 in taurus, and NGC 752 as well as M33 in and around triangulum. (unfortunateley..the free Mag 7 charts do not differentiate between clusters, galaxies etc)...Thanks in advance

Hey Trevor,

Not sure if I'm fully qualified to give an answer here. To be honest I'm not fully sure what you're looking for. Are you basically looking for a constellation-by-constellation map of the sky, showing what's out there or just what's out there that's good and bright?

The Night Sky Observer's Guide (2 vols) seems like an excellent resource with simulated views of all sorts of objects that can be reasonably expected through scopes of various apertures. I say 'seems' 'cos I've only looked through the books in generally rather comfortable surroundings, rather than taken them to the eyepiece.

I like the charts provided in Terence Dickenson's Nightwatch which are very practical and cover all sorts of things, form Doubles and Variables through to asterisms, clusters and all sorts of galaxies. They're very handy to use in the field (or garden) but also rather basic.

Pennington's guide to the Messier's is the best regarding pictures, or rather realistic, representative sketches. O'Meara's guide is good but his pictures are just depressing! Not sure if this is any help.

The whole thing of pictorial guides is perhaps a bit of a problem, with unrealistic expectations being created and so forth, but you still can't beat a nice inspirational photo!

Hi Shane, thanks for your response. Just to clarify, what I am looking for is a guide that can tell me what for eg NGC 785 is. If I see it in my chart, I would like to know what is it, how bright is it, what size is it, etc..

say for eg I am looking around gemini, I see on the chart..NGC 1234, It would be nic to know what it is before I go looking fo it...hope this helps

There's a great book I bought called the "Year-Round Messier Marathon Field Guide" by Harvard Pennington which has charts of all the M objects including 10*50 FOV charts. AI have it in Artaine for about €24.

hi Trevor,

have a look at . . .

NGC/IC Project:- www.ngcic.org/default.htm

and

Messier Objects:- www.seds.org/messier/

along with the Digitised Sky Survey;

stdatu.stsci.edu/dss/

John

Hi Shane, thanks for your response. Just to clarify, what I am looking for is a guide that can tell me what for eg NGC 785 is. If I see it in my chart, I would like to know what is it, how bright is it, what size is it, etc..say for eg I am looking around gemini, I see on the chart..NGC 1234, It would be nic to know what it is before I go looking fo it...hope this helps

Trevor,

Does it have to be pictorial? Long-exposure photos rarely show what is seen through eyepieces. Sketches are best with loads available on the Internet but printed guides with comprehensive portfolios of sketches to take to the eyepiece are rare. Even then, the observers could be using scopes of different aperture to yours. Steve Coe's Deep Sky Observing (Springer) has quite a number of sketches using a mixture of 6" to 13" scopes but it couldn't be considered comprehensive by any means.

Shane has already recommended the Night Sky Observer's Guide (2 volumes), which has numerous descriptions, sketches, photos and information. Could I also suggest the Observing Handbook and Catalogue of Deep-Sky Objects by Luginbuhl and Skiff (Cambridge). No photos or sketches but does include over 2000 excellent descriptions of deep sky objects as seen with 6cm to 30cm aperture. This is one of the best observing guides available and the one I use most (even though I have the Night Sky Observers Guide). I've recommended it to others and all have been delighted with it.

Gordon