11/11/2012 Archives: Astronomy 10 Must See Objects/Phenomena

Nathan P. Hoffman
Jul 21, 2017 · 7 min read

1) A Total Solar Eclipse (No aid necessary during totality, otherwise: solar glasses, binoculars with filters, telescopes with filters)

There is perhaps, no more spectacular astronomical event than a total solar eclipse. Total solar eclipses occur when the moon passes in front of the Sun and blocks all of its light. Although such an event occurs every 1–2 years, these eclipses only appear 360–410 years at any given place on the Earth. When a total solar eclipse occurs, the sun can disappear for several minutes revealing an atmospheric haze surrounding the sun, known as the Corona. For thousands of years these eclipses have been observed by humans and were often regarded as bad omens, but today such eclipses are sought out by excited spectators hoping to see the Sun’s corona and experience a blackout during daylight. On August 21st, 2017, a Solar Eclipse will occur from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast of the continental United States. Most people will only see a partial eclipse, but those willing to travel will have an opportunity to see a Total Solar Eclipse.

Please remember to use appropriate eye protection when looking at the sun. Only totality can be viewed safely without solar filters.

Credit: Luc Viatour / http://www.Lucnix.be

2) A Great Comet (No aid necessary, binoculars or small wide-field telescopes may help)

Comets, or ” dirty snowballs”, are very numerous in our Solar System. There are dozens of comets that can be observed by amateurs at any given time, but in most cases, none of them are visible to the naked eye. Occasionally, a comet will pass so close to our sun that it will bloom into a so called Great Comet, often visible to the naked eye. Such comets can be spectacular, with tails stretching from one horizon to the other. Around Thanksgiving of 2013, just over a year from now, comet ISON could easily be bright enough to be considered a Great Comet.

Credit: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos

3) Total Lunar Eclipse (No aid necessary, binoculars or telescope may help)

A Total Lunar Eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into the Earth’s shadow. (The Earth eclipses the Sun) If the Earth did not have an atmosphere, the Moon would simply be covered by a black disc, but because the Earth has atmosphere, the Moon still reflects red light that is refracted by our atmosphere (the same phenomena that turns the sun red during sunrise and sunset). During the course of a total lunar eclipse, the moon may be bright red for more than an hour, and since a total lunar eclipse is visible over a much larger area than a solar eclipses, the overall rarity of a lunar eclipse, visible at any one location, is much less than that of a total solar eclipse.

Credit: Oliver Stein

4) The Milky Way (Dark site required, use your eyes, any equipment will simply take away from the awe of a 180 degree band stretching horizon to horizon)

One of the most astonishing things about travelling outside of city lights is the revelation of the Milky Way. To see the Milky Way (a view along the disk of our galaxy), you will need at least a category 6 sky (Bright Suburban Sky) but 4 (Rural Transition) or less will be necessary to see any detail in the Milky Way. To find out what these categories mean see the Bortle Scale Wikipedia page. If you would like to find a dark sky location by seeing a map with Bortle color assignments, see the Dark Sky Finder. Viewing the Milky Way can be difficult to see, even in relatively dark skies, just be patient and give your eyes at least 5–10 minutes to fully adjust. You should not need help finding the Milky Way once your eyes have adjusted, it should be quite apparent as a band stretching from horizon to horizon.

Credit: ESO/European Southern Observatory

5) The Moon Through a Telescope (Telescope with focal lengths greater than 500mm)

The Moon may seem like a peculiar object on my top 10 list given that we have all seen it, but our view of the moon without optical aid is very limited. Estimations of human eye resolution puts 20×20 vision at 1 arc minute, this gives us a 707 “pixel snapshot” of the moon with our eyes. However, a telescope with an aperture greater than 4.5 inches, in excellent conditions, can achieve resolutions of 3,597 times that (2,543,400 pixels) Such views can astonish the observer, revealing countless craters among vast “seas” of basaltic rock. The moon may be one of the most astonishing objects when first seen through a telescope. It is recommended that you look at the moon when it is not full, this gives the ability to see greater detail in craters along the terminator between night and day.

It is strongly recommended that you use lunar filters for telescopes greater than 3 inches in aperture as the moon can cause permanent eye damage when amplified by optical equipment.

Credit: Gregory H. Revera

6) Saturn (Telescope with focal lengths greater than 500mm)

Saturn is one of the most easily recognizable objects through a telescope. Its rings, believed to have been formed by a demolished object like a large asteroid or small moon, rotate with the planet and tilt with Saturn around its orbit. The result is a truly unique planet, capable of changing its views over time like no other planet can: sometimes appearing with its rings at a variety of angles, and at other times, invisible as they appear edge-on. Saturn also can have temporary storms which cover a great deal of its surface, and although these storms are typically not visible by amateurs, there have been some claims of individuals being able to see them.

Credit: NASA

7) Jupiter (Telescope with focal lengths greater than 500mm)

With more than twice as much mass as all of the other planets combined, Jupiter is a true giant. Jupiter’s cloud details can be easily made out in a telescope with a focal length greater than 500mm. Because Jupiter has a relatively fast rotation, it is possible to witness its rotation over the course of a single night. One of the most fascinating things to look for is the great red spot, though depending on when you choose to look at Jupiter, the red spot may not be visible on the side facing Earth.

8) The Pleiades (Easily visible to the naked eye, though moderate sized telescopes will allow the Maia Nebula to be seen)

Known since ancient times, The Pleiades (also known as the seven sisters) is a young and extremely bright Open Cluster of stars. In exceptionally dark skies, or with optical aid (binoculars/telescope) the Maia Nebula, from which these stars formed, can be observed (the blue nebula in the image below) In a wide field, large aperture, telescope, the Pleiades is truly an awesome thing to behold.

Credit: NASA

9) The Orion Nebula (No optical aid necessary in dark skies, otherwise any telescope or binocular pair should help see the nebula)

The Orion Nebula is one of the brightest nebula in the Northern Hemisphere. In low levels of light pollution, the nebula can be seen with the naked eye, but in moderate levels of light pollution a telescope is required to view it. Large apertures (greater than 6 inches) can help to see greater amounts of detail in the nebula. The nebula is located within the constellation Orion, and it is situated near the middle of Orion’s sword (directly below Orion’s belt) Due to Orion’s great brightness, size, and ease to locate, there is no reason you shouldn’t look at this object when you can see the constellation Orion.

Credit: NASA

10) Andromeda and Satellites (Telescope with aperture greater than 6 inches strongly recommended)

The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest galaxy in our local group, surpassing even The Milkyway in size. Andromeda is so large and so close to the Milky Way, that the extent of its structure stretches 6-moons in width across the sky. Unfortunately, Andromeda has only a moderate amount of surface brightness which makes the entire galaxy very faint compared to the other objects on this list. You will need a telescope of greater than 6 inches to really see Andromeda in any detail, though it can be seen as a fuzzy blob in binoculars and small aperture telescopes. When looking at Andromeda, also look for its much smaller satellite galaxies: M32 (less elliptical in shape) and M110 (more elliptical in shape). The impact of looking at three galaxies, in one view, at over 2.5 million light years away, is simply astonishing.

Credit: Adam Evans
Nathan P. Hoffman

Written by

Application Developer, Space Enthusiast and Casual Gamer

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade