Star Charts
List of 93 Treasured Objects in the Sky
Good Binocular Objects
Charts to Get Oriented in the Sky
Messier Objects
Messier
Thumbnail Photos
Most star charts I have seen have way too many objects listed to be able to read in the dark with a red flashlight, so I made my own charts using the Deep Space Astro Card software. I only included the objects you can see with a small telescope or binoculars. The darker the sky, the more objects you will be able to see. You know when you are looking at a dark sky when the clouds appear black instead of white! Of course, the bigger the telescope the more detail you can see!
The planets always travel the same path through the sky, called the Ecliptic. I have not included this line on the charts to keep them simple. You can always check the almanac data in the newspaper to find which planets are visible. While stars focus to a point of light, planets focus to a solid object. Venus can only be seen in the morning and evening, and Jupiter and Saturn can be seen during the night as well as evening and morning depending upon where they are in their orbits around the sun. Often, these very bright objects are miscalled the Morning or Evening Stars. Mars is visible only every 2 years and looks red. You can tell if you are looking at Jupiter because you can almost always see at least 3 little moons near it. Saturn is the most impressive object in the sky next to the moon!
I have included in these charts few double stars on my list of objects- mostly because I have no interest in them. The sky is full of them, and two easy ones to see with a small telescope are Mizar in the handle Big Dipper and Albireo in the constellation Cygnus. My charts contain Open Clusters, Globular Clusters, Nebulas and Galaxies. Because galaxies are so diffuse they are hard to see in light polluted skies. You need a larger telescope to see most of them, however, the closest one, the Andromeda Galaxy, is best viewed with binoculars. Galaxies can only be seen when looking out of the plane of our own Milky Way Galaxy which appears as a narrow, bright celestial cloud spread across the sky. The Open Clusters will also be best viewed in binoculars. Globular clusters and nebulas will appear as "faint fuzzies" in the sky. Aiming larger telescopes at these objects show beautiful detail.
List of 93 Treasured Objects in the Sky - This a list of 93 things you can see in the sky with a small telescope or pair of binoculars and 15 star charts to help you find them. The moon, planets, and comets are NOT included because they are in different places each night. The chart also includes a map key to assist you in finding these treasures. There is also a column that least each objects magnitude - the lower the number the brighter the object. Under light -polluted skies, or nights when the moonlight is bright, you may only be able to see Mag 4 or less. Some objects are best viewed in binoculars because they are so large. See the list below for good binocular viewing.
Good Binocular Objects - You can find the objects below by referring to the Chart and Maps of 93 Best Objects in the Sky and the associated sky maps listed above.
Nebulas
Orion Nebula, M42
Nebulas in Sagittarius, The Lagoon (M8), the Trifid (M20),
the Swan or Omega (M17) and the Eagle (M16)
The North American Nebula, NGC 7000 in Cygnus
The Dumbell Nebula (M27) in Vulpecula
The Helix Nebula, NGC 7293 near Aquarius
Open Star Clusters
The Peiades, M45
The Hyades in Taurus
The Alpha Persei Group in Perseus
The Double Cluster in Perseus
The Coma Cluster in Coma Berenices
The Beehive (Praesepe, M44) in Cancer
M6 and M7 above the tail of Scorpius
Globular Clusters (look like fuzzy balls in
binoculars as do comets)
M13 and M92 in Hercules
M22 in Sagittarius
Omega Centauri in Centaurus - usually too far South to see in
Maryland but try in March and April
Galaxies
The Andromeda Galaxy, M31 - easiest to find
looking between Cassiopeia and Pegasus
The Triangulum Galaxy, M33
Star Chains
Kemble's Cascade in Camelopardus (between
the North Star and the Double Cluster in Perseus)
Charts to Get Oriented in the Sky
The
Big Dipper Connection (from the Edmond Sky Atlas)
Celestron Sky charts
(all year)
Charles Messier (1730-1817) was a French astronomer, and along with his friend, Pierre Mechain, compiled a list of 103 "faint fuzzies" they observed with small telescopes over the skies of Paris. Comet hunting was a very popular pastime back then, and since comets also appear as "faint fuzzies" in the sky, Messier compiled this list so they would not be mistaken for comets. I did not create these charts, but I really like them. Many of these objects are included in the 93 Objects Charts and Maps listed previously.
Messier List of Objects and Map Key
Messier Object Thumbnail Photographs
These are extremely beautiful photos; probably taken by the Hubble and others who know how to do this. Astrophotography is a Pandora's Box all unto its own. You will NOT be able to see these beautiful colors through a small telescope, however using a Nebula filter, you will be able to see some nebulosity as green.
Messier Object Thumbnails M1-M35
Messier Object Thumbnails M36-M70
Messier Object Thumbnails M71-M110