Laurence
066db7222d
The user holds 2,638 iTelescope points. Adds a budgeting section built on the published standard-plan rate shape (affordable scopes ~$19-54/hr, premium ~$54-118/hr, ranges reflecting moon-phase and plan discounts; exact per-scope rates live in the login portal planner). Estimates points per finished target (150-350 narrowband on fast scopes, 300-500 dark-of-moon LRGB galaxies, 200-350 for the T8 Magellanic shot), concluding ~2,600 points covers 8-12 showpiece targets. Stretch tactics: free full-moon weeks for clusters, the daily free 30 minutes for framing tests, and booking narrowband at bright moon when rates bottom out.
7.8 KiB
7.8 KiB
Southern targets: what the UK can never show you
A target guide for imaging objects that are invisible (or hopeless) from the UK, using the southern half of the iTelescope network: Siding Spring, Australia (Q62) and Deep Sky Chile (X07). Companion to TELESCOPES.md.
The visibility rule from the UK
From latitude 51.5°N (southern England), an object's maximum altitude is
90° - 51.5° + declination:
- Dec below about -38°: never rises. These objects cannot be imaged from the UK at all, ever.
- Dec -25° to -38°: technically rises, practically hopeless. Culminates under ~15° altitude, buried in atmosphere and murk.
- Dec -10° to -25°: imageable from the UK but always low and compromised; far better from the southern sites.
Everything below is grouped by those tiers, then matched to scopes and to the time of year when it is best placed from the southern sites.
Tier 1: never visible from the UK (dec < -38°)
The Magellanic Clouds (the headline act)
| Target | Dec | Best scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large Magellanic Cloud | -69° | T8 | The whole LMC just fits T8's 4 x 4 degree field |
| Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070) | -69° | T73, T17 | Core detail; the finest emission nebula in either sky |
| Small Magellanic Cloud + 47 Tucanae | -72° | T8 | Both in a single T8 frame, a unique composition |
| 47 Tucanae (NGC 104) alone | -72° | T33 (free), T73 | Second-finest globular in the sky |
Carina and Crux region
| Target | Dec | Best scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eta Carinae Nebula (NGC 3372) | -59° | T71 | Fills T71's 2.7 x 1.8 degree field perfectly; narrowband showpiece |
| Carina to Crux widefield | -60° | T70 | The richest stretch of the Milky Way in one 8-degree frame |
| Southern Pleiades (IC 2602) | -64° | T71, T75 | Bright open cluster |
| Running Chicken (IC 2944) | -63° | T71, T75 | Emission nebula with Bok globules |
| Wishing Well Cluster (NGC 3532) | -58° | T71 | Reportedly the best open cluster in the sky |
| Coalsack + Southern Cross | -60° | T70 | Dark nebula composition |
Centaurus and the southern globulars
| Target | Dec | Best scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Omega Centauri (NGC 5139) | -47° | T59, T17 | The largest globular cluster known; needs the ~40 arcmin fields |
| Centaurus A (NGC 5128) | -43° | T17, T32, T73 | Iconic dust-lane radio galaxy |
| NGC 4945 | -49° | T73 | Big edge-on spiral, underimaged |
| NGC 6752 (Pavo globular) | -60° | T33 (free) | Third-brightest globular |
Ara, Norma and the Scorpius tail
| Target | Dec | Best scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fighting Dragons of Ara (NGC 6188) | -49° | T71 | Dramatic narrowband target |
| Prawn Nebula (IC 4628) | -40° | T71, T75 | Large, faint, great in Ha |
| NGC 6231 + Table of Scorpius | -42° | T71 | Rich cluster region |
Far-southern galaxies
| Target | Dec | Best scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| NGC 6744 (Pavo) | -63° | T73, T17 | Milky Way lookalike spiral |
| NGC 1313 (Topsy-Turvy) | -66° | T73 | Distorted starburst spiral |
| NGC 1566 (Spanish Dancer) | -55° | T73 | Grand-design face-on spiral |
| NGC 2070 region galaxies | -69° | T17 | See Magellanic section |
Southern nebulae, supernova remnants and planetaries
| Target | Dec | Best scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vela SNR | -45° | T70 | Huge filamentary shell, needs the 8-degree field |
| Gum Nebula | -43° | T70 | 36 degrees across; even T70 mosaics it |
| Southern Ring (NGC 3132) | -40° | T73 | Small bright planetary |
| Toby Jug Nebula (IC 2220) | -59° | T73 | Reflection nebula |
Tier 2: hopeless from the UK (dec -25° to -38°), excellent from the south
| Target | Dec | Best scope | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cat's Paw (NGC 6334) | -36° | T71 | Narrowband showpiece |
| War and Peace (NGC 6357) | -34° | T71 | Pairs with the Cat's Paw in one T75 framing |
| NGC 1365 (Great Barred Spiral) | -36° | T73, T17 | The archetypal barred spiral, Fornax |
| Fornax cluster core | -35° | T17, T32 | Galaxy cluster field |
| M83 (Southern Pinwheel) | -30° | T73, T17 | Face-on spiral, superb from Q62/X07 |
| NGC 300 and NGC 55 (Sculptor) | -37°/-39° | T17, T75 | Nearby resolved spirals |
| NGC 253 (Sculptor Galaxy) | -25° | T17, T32 | Huge dusty starburst, low and ruined from the UK |
| Corona Australis dust complex | -37° | T71, T75 | Reflection nebula and dust river |
When to book what (from the southern sites)
Seasons refer to what is well placed in the evening-to-midnight sky at Siding Spring and Deep Sky Chile. Siding Spring scopes have 30-35 degree minimum elevation limits, so aim within a few hours of culmination; T70 in Chile can go to the horizon.
- Jan-Mar: Tarantula and the LMC, NGC 1313, Vela SNR and the Gum Nebula, Carina rising late evening.
- Apr-Jun: Eta Carinae at its best, Crux and the Coalsack, Omega Centauri, Centaurus A, NGC 4945, the Musca dark nebulae.
- Jul-Sep (now): the Scorpius tail and Ara at the zenith: Cat's Paw, War and Peace, Prawn, NGC 6188, NGC 6231; NGC 6744; Corona Australis; 47 Tucanae and the SMC in the second half of the night.
- Oct-Dec: Magellanic Cloud prime time, 47 Tucanae, Sculptor galaxies (NGC 253, 55, 300), Fornax cluster and NGC 1365, NGC 1566.
A sensible first campaign (July-August)
- Free warm-up on T33 (30 min/day, Siding Spring): 47 Tucanae or NGC 6752 in LRGB across a few nights. Costs nothing, learns the booking system.
- T71 narrowband run (Chile, f/2.8): NGC 6188 or the Cat's Paw + War and Peace region. Fast optics keep the bill down; use the standard 300 s calibrated subs.
- T73 galaxy shot: NGC 6744, currently well placed, as an LRGB target.
- Book ahead for October-November: T8 for the LMC (or SMC + 47 Tuc in one frame): the single most "you cannot do this from the UK" image on the network.
Budgeting a points balance
Published rate shape (from itelescope.net/standard-plans, 2026-07): affordable scopes roughly $19-54 per imaging hour, premium scopes roughly $54-118 per hour, where the range is the moon-phase discount (dark of moon at the top of the range, bright moon at the bottom) and the plan discount (10% on Plan-40, 20% on Plan-90). Exact per-scope, per-night rates are shown in the login portal's planner; treat the numbers below as planning estimates, not quotes.
What a ~2,600 point balance buys, roughly:
- A strong narrowband image on a fast scope (T71, T75): 2-3 hours of exposure is plenty at f/2.8-f/3.8; booked around gibbous moon the rate is at the low end, so call it 150-350 points per finished target.
- An LRGB galaxy on T73 or T17: wants dark-of-moon time at premium-scope rates; 3-4 hours, roughly 300-500 points per target.
- The T8 Magellanic Cloud shot: 2-3 hours LRGB at a mid-range rate, roughly 200-350 points.
So ~2,600 points is comfortably 8-12 finished showpiece targets, or a full year of the seasonal calendar above at one or two targets a month. Stretch it further with:
- Full moon weeks are free on the standard plans: use them for bright globulars and clusters (47 Tuc, NGC 3532, IC 2602) where moonlight matters least, and keep paid time for faint stuff.
- The daily free 30 minutes (T33 south, T68 north) for framing tests and short targets, never spend points discovering a framing mistake.
- Moon-phase arbitrage: book narrowband (Carina, Ara, Cat's Paw) at bright moon when rates bottom out; the 3 nm filters do not care about moonlight.
Cost-shape notes
- Fast scopes (T71 f/2.8, T75 f/3.8, T70 f/3.5) reach depth in the least imaging time, which is what you pay for: prefer them for nebulae.
- The two free scopes cover both hemispheres of this list poorly (T68 is northern) but T33 covers southern globulars and compact targets well.
- Moonlight: narrowband targets (Carina, Ara, Scorpius nebulae) tolerate moon; save galaxy and globular time (T73, T17, T8 LRGB) for dark-of-moon bookings.