Northern hemisphere astrophotographers, what are some of your favorite objects?

Question

I'm currently in Astronomy 102, and we're going to start working with our 16" and 10" telescopes to take photos of clusters, galaxies, and all that good stuff in the sky and ultimately come up with a portfolio at the end of the semester.

What are some of your favorite objects to take photos of this time of the year up in the Northern Hemisphere? (Either the NGC or Messier name if it's not relatively well-known.)

Any tips for this novice? :D

Answer 1

As an amateur astronomer of many years and live in the southern hemisphere and have all the good stuff down here, heh heh sorrry couldn't help myself, I would suggest you start working your way through the Messier objects first then work on the NGC ones in your skies. Very quickly you will realise that they all have their own beauty and differences. I first used the messier catalogue to give me a very good basis as to where things were and how to find my way around the night sky. 16" and 10" scopes will give you excellent views of all the objects needed. Just remember rule one... magnification to suit your object.

Answer 2

Try the Orion nebula (star forming region). There's some great color in there in only a couple of minutes or less. Or M13 and M92 in Hercules (globular clusters). The Horsehead Nebula is right below the Orion nebula. If you go out early, you can catch the Andromeda galaxy. Oh, and the double cluster in Perseus. And star trails are always fun, especially if you center on Polaris.

Answer 3

THE PLEIADES, an asterism in TAURUS, the bull. also, M1, THE CRAB NEBULA, and POLARIS the north star. CEPHUS and CASSIOPEIA are also areas of interist.

Answer 4

the nebulas have the most to look at check out these.
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/04/image/a/

Answer 5

THE PLEIADES, an asterism in TAURUS,