HellsKitchen
sage
Reged: 09/05/08
Posts: 356
Loc: Melbourne Australia
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What types of DSOs do you favour at the eyepiece?
I like hunting planetary nebulae and get a kick out of faint galaxy clusters.
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S 38º 00' E 145º20'
Custom 12" F/4.6 dob
10" GSO dob
Intes M500 Mak
4.5" Meade Newtonian
Set of Vixen LVWs + TV barlows + powermates
Astronomik 0III, UHC, H-beta filters
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Jeff Young
Post Laureate
Reged: 08/04/05
Posts: 4115
Loc: Ireland
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Used to be galaxies and globulars for me, but I've been spending a lot more time with planetaries lately. For instance, I'm finding that a lot of the Abell PNs are reachable with my instrument, while I've yet to find a single Palomar globular.
I've done a few galaxy clusters, but I can usually only get a handful of members under my conditions.
-- Jeff.
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Nikon 18x70s / UA Millennium Colorado:
Solarscope SF70 / TV Pronto / AP400QMD Coronado SolarMax40 DS / Bogen 055+3130
APM MC1610 / Tak FC-100 / AP1200GTO Tak Mewlon 250 / AP600EGTO
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tigerroach
sage
Reged: 08/13/08
Posts: 465
Loc: Houston, TX
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I am pretty much of an equal-opportunity observer, but I especially like galaxies. Especially the "showpiece" galaxies like M51 and 253 that have visible structure, or multiple-galaxy fields like the Leo Triplet or the Fornax Cluster.
It's all good though. Last time I went out my favorite object was the North America Nebula. Who knows what will surprise me tonight? 
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Brian
TeleVue TV-102, Gibralter alt-az mount
Webster 14.5" f/4.3 truss dob *under construction*
Canon 10x30 & 15x50 IS binocs
Edited by tigerroach (10/25/08 08:45 AM)
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Achernar
Postmaster
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 5025
Loc: Mobile, Alabama, USA
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By far my favorite objects to observe are galaxies, especially when they're in pairs, trios or quartets.
Taras
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15-inch F/4.5 Dob under construction
10-inch F/4.5 Discovery Dob
6-inch F/8 Homebuilt Dob
4 1/4-inch F/4 Homebuilt reflector
A whole bunch of eyepieces, filters and other accessories....
Two curious cats
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WadeVC
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/02/05
Posts: 2831
Loc: Lodi, California,
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I am partial to Open Clusters and Double Stars myself, although much like Brian, I am an equal opportunity observer...enjoy them all!
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Orion XTi10 f/4.7
Orion XTi8 f/5.9
Meade NGC 70mm f/10
Orion UltraView 10x50 Wide-Angle Binoculars
My Sketch Gallery
My Astronomy Blog
A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top.
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rocco13
Got Milk?
Reged: 07/29/06
Posts: 2648
Loc: Phoenix, Arizona
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Galaxies first, then Globular Clusters.
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Rocco
Zhumell Z12
Super C8 (1984 vintage)
Celestron 102 f/5
and a cheap pair of binoculars
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star drop
Guilty as Charged
Reged: 02/02/08
Posts: 16264
Loc: Snow Plop, WNY
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Globular clusters are my favorite type of deep sky object to observe.
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Ted
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NerfMonkey
sage
Reged: 06/12/08
Posts: 482
Loc: NE Ohio
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Under my suburban sky planetaries are the easiest and most rewarding in my Dob but for binoculars open clusters rule. I've found 15 new ones since I got my binoculars at the beginning of this month!
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Mike
Zhumell 12", Oberwerk 15x70s
107 Messiers, 247 total DSOs, 6 planets, 1 comet
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gladestar
sage
Reged: 07/05/08
Posts: 233
Loc: Western Colorado
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Galaxies first, Globular clusters second, everything else third in a photo finish.
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ZielkeNightsky
sage
Reged: 10/01/06
Posts: 378
Loc: Denmark
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Faint galaxies first.
But what really gets me, is a good story, others observations and the facts/science behind many objects.
So facts and the story normally gets to choose what objects I'm looking for.
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Lars
10", 8", 4" Newton
80mm Scopos
4" Achro
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Jim Moscheck
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/08/07
Posts: 1619
Loc: Under the SE Michigan lightdom...
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I like them all. 
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Jim Moscheck
Ford Amateur Astronomy Club
ATM truss dob
Stevens 14.5" f4.3
"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it's not open." - Frank Zappa
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Patricko
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/30/07
Posts: 1533
Loc: SE New Mexico USA
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Open clusters and binary stars with my 10x50s and Pronto. Planetary nebula with the C5 are the DSOs I like the most; however, all DSOs interest me greatly. 
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Clear skies,
Patrick
INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY ASSOCIATION
60MM TELESCOPE CLUB!
"You can always have better, but will you ever be happy with what you have?" - Me, myself, and I
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AlanK
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/26/07
Posts: 512
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
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Faint galaxies / galaxy clusters and the obscurer they are, the better! Also enjoy tracking them down in constellations not very well known for easily observable galaxies or those appearing close to much brighter messier or ngcs. Planetries and QSO's come next followed by globulars.
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Clear skies!
18 inch f4.5 Obsession #1637
12 inch f5.4 reflector
Just another frozen astronomer
Kumeu Observatory
Auckland NZ
7,276 deep sky objects incl 4,670 ngcs
Who dares - observes!
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Crusader
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 08/14/05
Posts: 756
Loc: Prince Albert, South Africa
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Currently I'm fixated on nebulae - especially emission nebula so I can make full use of my new O-III filter. Globular clusters come in a close second.
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Orion Skyquest XT10 10" dob.
Skywatcher Evostar 90mm F/10 Refractor on AZ3 mount.
8mm, 17mm Hyperion
25mm and 10mm Sirius Plossl eyepieces, Skywatcher 8-24mm Zoom EP. Orion O-III filter & Shorty Plus Barlow. Celestron 8SE and Neximage.
Spacewallpapers.net - The Ultimate Free Space wallpapers
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GlennLeDrew
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 06/18/08
Posts: 1269
Loc: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Dark nebulae and reflection nebulae, in about equal measure.
It's all about dust!
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Home-made 11X50 right angle bino, 8.1 deg. FOV
Modified 26X100 bino, 3.5 deg. FOV
Home-made Mk II RA bino, using interchangeable objectives and eyepieces
My Gallery
Mediocre minds discuss people. Good minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas.
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Tony Flanders
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 3468
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Funny -- I was totally unable to answer that question until somebody else asked about people's favorite open cluster. Then, thinking about all my possible answers to that question, I realized that open clusters pretty obviously are my favorite class of DSO.
Globular clusters have bigger gee-whiz value -- at least through big scopes. But I tend to get a little bored by them; there's a certain all-the-sameness to them. Yes, I know that's not really true -- think of NGC 5053 for one obvious counterexample. But you know what I mean, don't you?
Open clusters, by contrast, come in an infinite variety of shapes, sizes, and morphologies. No two are even seriously similar, much less alike.
Also, globs really do need big scopes and/or dark skies. There's always some open cluster that's appropriate for any instrument -- and even under heavy light pollution.
Planetary nebulae are the only other class of DSO with as much diversity as open clusters. But planetaries are such a pain; they're the one class of objects that really need both good transparency and good seeing, both high power and dark skies. That's not always easy to come by!
Under dark skies, diffuse nebulae bright and dark might just trump open clusters as my favorite targets. Unfortunately, I'm rarely under truly dark skies.
External galaxies are entertaining. But really, it's only possible to see decent detail in about a dozen of them -- and most of those are far-southern objects. Observing in the spring or autumn is funny. I start out with all those faint galaxies in Pegasus (fall) or Virgo and UMa (spring). And then, when the Milky Way is finally well-placed, I feel a huge sense of relief and joy as I turn from those tiny fuzzballs to the one galaxy that truly offers infinite possibilities: our own Milky Way.
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Tony Flanders
First and foremost observing love: naked eye.
Second, binoculars.
Last but not least, telescopes.
And I sometimes dabble with cameras.
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Mr. Mike
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 11/08/05
Posts: 915
Loc: Churchville, NY
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Open clusters...by far. I love when they are in areas of the sky without much else around. They really stand out!
And, you can view them for long periods of time and really see some deep, faint stars poking through. Every time I check the double-cluster in Perseus, I swear I make out a few more stars! 
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Stellarvue NG 80mm ED
Meade 7x50 Binos
Pentax XW 5mm
Meade 5K UWA 8.8mm
Vixen LVW 13mm
Vixen LVW 22mm
TV Panoptic 35mm
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