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ESHall
member
Reged: 05/26/09
Posts: 24
Loc: Mufreesboro, TN
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Does anyone know of an online quick reference to DSO distances? It seem that whenever I show DSO's to family or friends they always ask how far that particular object is. I use Stellarium and it gives distances to planets but not to DSO's. Some sort of a quick reference that I could print out would be great. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Ed
CPC9.25 XLT
Jason 60x910mm (1984 vintage)
10x50 Binoculars
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joelimite
sage
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 235
Loc: Fayetteville, AR
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Yes, I'm often inundated with the same questions and would appreciate a concise list as well. I'm sure there's at least a complete list of the Messier objects out there somewhere.
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Orion XT8 Dob w/ Moonlite 2-speed Crayford focuser, Vixen A80MF w/ GSO 2-speed Crayford and Porta Mount
32mm Televue Plossl, 31mm Hyperion Aspheric, 24mm Meade SWA, 17,13,8mm Hyperions, 6,5,4mm TMB Planetary, 5mm Baader Genuine Ortho
Garrett Optical 20x80 UL Binoculars, Nikon Action Extreme 10x50 Binoculars
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RobertPL
member
Reged: 03/04/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Austin, TX
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There is a neat software by Bill Tschumy called "Where is M13?" For M objects, it not only gives distances, but also shows the location of the object within (or relative to) our galaxy:
http://www.thinkastronomy.com/M13/index.html
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Fujinon 16x70 FMT-SX
Canon 10x30 IS
Orion MegaViews 30x80
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Hrundi
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/06/08
Posts: 1249
Loc: Estonia
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The distances for a lot of DSO's are not very well known though, and it takes a bit of searching.
One thing to remember, though, is that often galaxies, for example, tend to belong to groups, and even if their distance is not known, you can probably find a figure for the 'showpiece' of that group of galaxies, which'd give a passable distance estimate.
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nobody special
sage
Reged: 12/30/08
Posts: 405
Loc: Connecticut
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Quote:
There is a neat software by Bill Tschumy called "Where is M13?" For M objects, it not only gives distances, but also shows the location of the object within (or relative to) our galaxy:
http://www.thinkastronomy.com/M13/index.html
Robert.
Thanks, thats a very useful program 
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Tom
Orion XT8 Classic
Hyperion 13mm (With 28mm Tuning Ring)
Orion Sirius 25mm
Meade Series 4000 Plossls 32mm 6.4mm
Orion Shorty Plus 2x Barlow
Telrad
OPT OIII Filter
ND Moon Filter
80a Blue Filter
Smart Seat III
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ESHall
member
Reged: 05/26/09
Posts: 24
Loc: Mufreesboro, TN
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Thanks Robert. That is a neat program. It looks like it will take care of most of the objects I would show to others. Again Thanks.
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Ed
CPC9.25 XLT
Jason 60x910mm (1984 vintage)
10x50 Binoculars
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astrokido
space wanderer
Reged: 06/09/08
Posts: 666
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
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Distances to DSO's are constantly being refined, and they can disagree substantially between different sources. They all depend on some vast distance measurement standard, many astronomers are trying to come up with more accurate measurements.
Redshift is probably the most common way of determining distance to objects beyond the local group of galaxies (some 50+ MLY). It depends on many factors, one of them is the Hubble Constant for the expansion rate of the Universe which has been accurately determined only very recently with the HST.
Another very approximate way of determining the distance of some types of distant galaxies is by their dimensions. If there's an indication of a galaxy's diameter in LY, it's distance can be obtained.
I've never seen a method claiming any degree of accuracy. There's some good data and interesting info at Atlas of the Universe.
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- Gill C. - Celestron Cometron CO-100, 10x25, 20x80, Binochair, Nikon D40
The Night Sky Atlas: www.nightskyatlas.com
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RobertPL
member
Reged: 03/04/08
Posts: 35
Loc: Austin, TX
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Tom, Ed, you are welcome, but thank Bill instead.
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Starman1
Vendor - Scope City
Reged: 06/24/03
Posts: 12230
Loc: Los Angeles
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Try
http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/
The most complete on-line source for info on all objects.
Also
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/
I'll go so far as to say that these two sources pretty much cover all reference needs.
I'd also add
http://www.ngcicproject.org/
Just because it's a wonderful reference site.
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Don Pensack
12.5" Truss Dob, 5" Maksutov, Fujinon Binos
Sustaining Lifetime IDA member
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