How Low Can You Go? Journey to the Bottom of the Sky


Star clusters M7 and M6 in Scorpius never get far above my local horizon — 8° and 11° respectively — but they're wonderful sights all the same.
"When it comes to deep sky, I'll do almost anything. Stand on a teetering ladder, travel 100 miles to dark skies, set up the scope at the edge of a mosquito-infested bog, or sit in the dirt to glimpse an impossibly low planetary nebula. One time I tried to (and succeeded in) observing NGC 3132, the bright 'Eight-Burst' planetary nebula in Vela. At declination –40° 26′, it stood just 2.5° above my southern horizon. Atmospheric extinction at that altitude dimmed it nearly four magnitudes, from 10 to 14. Sure, it was faint, but I could clearly make out its shape in my 11-inch scope. Are you a bottom-feeder, too? Some of the best deep-sky objects lurk in the bellies of constellations that scud across the southern sky. Naturally, we want to observe any object when it's high in the sky and least obscured, but for objects with southerly declinations, that luxury requires travel. Under the right conditions — haze-free skies and good seeing — you can see almost anything your latitude allows. ..."
Sky & Telescope

This map highlights 11 delightful objects with southerly declinations visible from the northern U.S., southern Canada, central Europe, and points south. Declinations are labeled at left and stars are shown to magnitude 8. The NGC prefixes are omitted to avoid clutter. The map is drawn for 11 p.m. local time in late June, facing south. Objects on the map that I couldn't see but may be visible to you are lettered in gray. Click to enlarge.

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