Here we present a consolidated means of viewing the references to some of our favourite Deep Sky objects, as well as useful associated information, all of which are found on pages subordinate to this one. We trust this "planner" presents an interface that will assist in locating relevant information in a way that will smooth the planning of your deep-sky observing evening.

Our Favourite Deep-Sky Objects

Comments

• This site is not meant to be a comprehensive observing guide - there are plenty of books and websites dedicated to the purpose. Rather, the objects listed here are those that our Members have found of interest. Some will be familiar, some obscure, some easy, some a challenge.
• The value and content of this family of pages are determined by you, our observing companions. If you spot mistakes, or can fill in gaps in our information, please let us know.
• Share your favourites! Mail the webmaster to nominate them for inclusion. Please supply all appropriate information available, as per the table format, and verify it for correctness. Co-ordinates should be Epoch 2000.
• You can supply pictures you have taken, and comments arising from your observations, to augment this resource. We would love to keep this a "live" resource, continually updated with your observation notes.
• Eat your hearts out, Northerners - we have the best skies here in the South!

Tips

• Each of the pages presented in the frame is available separately via the navigation buttons at the top of the page

  • You can thus view an individual source page directly, if you wish to print it or if your browser has difficulty displaying it in the frame.

• The consolidated table of favourite objects is sorted by increasing RA.

  • This enables one to plan more effectively, as it automatically groups things in order of rising/setting and by season.

  • A Key to the table fields is available

• Further Navigation aids:

  • Click on RA shortcut links at the left of the table to display objects for a particular hour

  • Click on the other shortcut links at the top of the frame to display information on constellation names, visibility, siderial time and pages dedicated to constellations for the given seasons. If you want to see information on objects grouped by constellation, this is how you will get it.

  • Scroll within frame to browse

  • Search for keywords using your browser's "find" facility (typically control-F).