33 replies to this topic

[Dean Norris]

I've had success using SkySafari with my 15"on 2 occasions. Both times I was at a Bortle 3 site. High magnification was also needed. The seeing was above average with good transparency.  

[careysub]

I like to recommend that before people try to find Pluto they practice on spotting the moons of Uranus and Neptune that as about as bright or brighter.

 

For Uranus these are Titania (13.9), Oberon (14.1), and Ariel (14.8)* and for Neptune it is Triton (13.5). There was a time that when I said this to people I could say "its as bright as Triton".

 

 

*Uranus is sort of my favorite planet (sorry Saturn, Mars and Jupiter) because of the names they gave to its moons. I like them so much I named a daughter Ariel (my other daughter I named Eridani).

[careysub]

I have just used the Sky & Telescope chart each year in the past decade.  That provides the best background star presentation in the magnitude range needed (to ~15.)  

 

The other way I go after very dim solar system bodies is generating an ephemeris table for several nights, locating where that corresponds to in Wikisky, then doing taking a screen capture of the DSS image.  I then invert color and crop it to fit well on standard paper (horizontal).  From there I pencil in the position dates, and I label magnitudes of stars in the area down to about 15 (for things like Pluto) or 17+ for things like MakeMake and Haumea.  

 

The problem with planetarium programs is that the completeness for stars in the 14 - 17 mag range tends to be poor, and tiny galaxies are sometimes shown as stars etc.  I can do better interpreting the field with imagery for the most part, although this is not readily done in the densest Milky Way fields.

 

A 12" should make it a lot easier since it will reach about 0.9 magnitude deeper than an 8".

How do you calibrate (or set) the magnitude limit in the view and get the sky coordinates scale?

[ButterFly]

I like to recommend that before people try to find Pluto they practice on spotting the moons of Uranus and Neptune that as about as bright or brighter.

 

For Uranus these are Titania (13.9), Oberon (14.1), and Ariel (14.8)* and for Neptune it is Triton (13.5). There was a time that when I said this to people I could say "its as bright as Triton".

 

 

*Uranus is sort of my favorite planet (sorry Saturn, Mars and Jupiter) because of the names they gave to its moons. I like them so much I named a daughter Ariel (my other daughter I named Eridani).

M'eh ... only if Pluto happens to be near a brighter star.

 

General asteroid observations are better practice.  They move around too, and get dimmer than anyone can see with any particular scope.  The also need the same thing for confirmation - field matching and motion.

 

By the time one is observing Elara and Phoebe, it's much more like asteroid observing than anything else.  A good ephemeris service and a good star chart are a must.  That's one of the reasons I wrote CodeTalker.

[Redbetter]

How do you calibrate (or set) the magnitude limit in the view and get the sky coordinates scale?

I don't since I am plotting on the DSS image capture.  Wikisky has fixed zoom scales, so I select the zoom level that makes sense for showing enough separation and enough field for a star hop from some known object (e.g. a star in Uranometria.)  For stars that are visible in Uranometria I will circle the magnitude of the ones that are on my finder chart, and for a footer I write down the Uranometria page/proximity that this corresponds to.  

 

I do this a lot for supernovae that lack visible host galaxies, or hosts so dim that it is a toss up if the SN will be visible.  I also target many "anonymous"/PGC/MASX galaxies in the same fields that are near threshold.   Another thing I have to remind myself of is that the USNO A2 stellar magnitudes can be substantially off at 14 magnitude and beyond, so a great deal depends on the quality of the surveys in given portions of the sky.  

[Redbetter]

I like to recommend that before people try to find Pluto they practice on spotting the moons of Uranus and Neptune that as about as bright or brighter.

 

For Uranus these are Titania (13.9), Oberon (14.1), and Ariel (14.8)* and for Neptune it is Triton (13.5). There was a time that when I said this to people I could say "its as bright as Triton".

 

 

*Uranus is sort of my favorite planet (sorry Saturn, Mars and Jupiter) because of the names they gave to its moons. I like them so much I named a daughter Ariel (my other daughter I named Eridani).

One of the main things I recommend for preparing to search for Pluto is to do some limiting magnitude work with whatever scope a person plans to use.  Once a person has some feel for how deep they can go at their typical sites with their gear, they will also have some appreciation of how to reach their TLM.  The understanding of their own TLM and how to achieve it is most valuable in selecting targets and interpreting what might or might not be visible in the field.  

[careysub]

M'eh ... only if Pluto happens to be near a brighter star.

 

General asteroid observations are better practice.  They move around too, and get dimmer than anyone can see with any particular scope.  The also need the same thing for confirmation - field matching and motion.

 

By the time one is observing Elara and Phoebe, it's much more like asteroid observing than anything else.  A good ephemeris service and a good star chart are a must.  That's one of the reasons I wrote CodeTalker.

For testing their limiting magnitude capability the planetary moons are better because they know they should be able to see them and where they are. If you see two moons of Uranus then you aren't seeing to 14.8, and may not make 14.5.

Edited by careysub, 17 November 2024 - 10:42 PM.

[ButterFly]

For testing their limiting magnitude capability the planetary moons are better because they know they should be able to see them and where they are. If you see two moons of Uranus then you aren't seeing to 14.8, and may not make 14.5.

Having a big bright thing in the field will skew the limiting magnitude, particularly when it's right near the target. If you're seeing to 14.8 with Uranus right there, you will likely go deeper without it right there.

[Stratguy]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has seen Pluto. Also, would I be able to see Pluto with my setup and location? I have an 8” classic dob. but live in a bortle 5.

 

What did it look like when you guys saw the planet?

 

From, Maximus

Ive seen it, I think.  In the South East sky during the spring, on my Nexstar 8se.  I think I seen in that is. Was very small, hard to distinguish anything further.  Barely visible.