3 replies to this topic

[Minh.V]

Hello, 

 

I'm a student and I had a passion in astronomy for a long time. Some friends of mine also love astronomy and we decided to start an astronomy club in my high school. We have a 4" f5,6 archo refractor, 4.5" f8 reflector, 5" f5 reflector (astromaster 130eq) , a 70mm or 80mm long reflector and some binoculars.

 

We want to have a small star party at the local stadium near my house and the magnitude of the sky is around 19.77, which is around bortle 5 to 6. The party will be held around 28th of July to 2nd of August depend on the weather.

 

We want to show our club member the beauty of the sky and now we are planning what we should do and what we will see for the member who had never used a telescope. 

 

As can be seen on Stellarium, we only have moon (great target) and mars as a planet (venus and saturn will rise around 4a.m in the morning but I don't know will their family allow them to stay at my house full night, especially staying outside). 

 

I had read some topics and articles about stargazing and they all said that we should observe double stars, open and globular clusters, while galaxies and nebulars are too dim and hard for people to observe (I think I will try andromeda but I have no idea about it)

 

We live in Hanoi, Vietnam (latitude: 20° 56' 33.62" - longitude:105° 45' 15.08")

 

I start this topic to ask everyone who have any idea or tips or should we do some activities like sketching in our star party and what targets we should view, please leave a comment and we all appriciate it! 

 

(i just start learning english for a year and half so if any think wrong or hard to understand or some synonyms i should use, please tell me so i can check and learn from it  )

 

Some of the images I took where we will go

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Edited by Minh.V, 23 June 2025 - 01:56 AM.

[Minh.V]

some pictures of milky way i captured from old iphone 8 plus and nocture app (1 was edited and 1 didn't)

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[BrentKnight]

Any Messier objects should be good targets.  I got this list from Dr. Google for my location at 31°...

 

Messier Objects Visible June 22nd-23rd, 2025 (8 pm to 3 am CDT):

 

M11 - Wild Duck Cluster: Open Cluster
M12 - Gumball Globular: Globular Cluster
M13 - Great Globular Cluster in Hercules: Globular Cluster
M14: Globular Cluster
M24 - Small Sagittarius Star Cloud: Association of stars
M39 - Open Cluster
M25 - Open Cluster
M10 - Globular Cluster
M34 - Open Cluster
M4 - Globular Cluster
M7 - Open Cluster
M6 - Open Cluster
M8 - Lagoon Nebula: Emission Nebula
M22 - Great Sagittarius Cluster: Globular Cluster
M62 - Globular Cluster
M92 - Globular Cluster
M2 - Globular Cluster
M31 - Andromeda Galaxy: Galaxy

 

Notes:

• This list combines information from various sources.
• Visibility can be affected by factors like light pollution and atmospheric conditions.
• For the best viewing experience, especially for fainter objects, darker skies are recommended.
• The Sagittarius constellation, including objects like M22 and M8 (Lagoon Nebula), will be visible late in the evening and throughout the night, rising higher as the night progresses.
• Some sources indicate specific viewing times for certain objects, such as M6 being visible between 23:38 and 02:00 CDT, and M8 being visible between 23:07 and 03:17 CDT.
• Software or apps like Sky Tonight can help you plan your observations and locate objects in the sky based on your specific location and time.

Happy stargazing!

[Jehujones]

I might add M27 and M57 to the list for examples of planetary nebulae, Albireo for an example of a double star and since M31 is such a late night / early morning target, perhaps M81 & M82 to catch a galaxy for those who have to leave early.