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Primary Targets[]

Check nightly coordinates with Stellarium/other.

Moon!

Jupiter -- Good for first half of the year. Can use Stellarium to zoom in and identify the Galilean moons. In March/April will be rising later (~10pm). By the end of August it will be setting early (before 10pm), so observe early.

Saturn -- Good for second half of the year. Starts rising late in the evening (~1030pm) starting in June. By mid-October it will set early (~930pm) so observe early.

Other planets[]

Check availability and coordinates with Stellarium/other.

Venus -- Not super exciting, but can sometimes see the phase (crescent, like the moon, depending on its orientation with respect to the Sun)

Mars -- Red. Can sometimes see color at the poles if lucky and the seeing is good.

Deep sky objects[]

Wait until 10pm or later. Use the "Messier" catalog in ACE and ensure the altitude is above ~20º before slewing.

M45 Pleiades -- Open cluster. Very bright, can distinguish between its seven brightest stars even with the naked eye. Observable in colder months: setting in the west during March/Apr, starts rising in the east in late September.  

M31 Andromeda Galaxy -- With the telescope, the core appears as a faint smudge. Not the most thrilling to observe, but best galaxy. Observable in colder months: very low or below the horizon from March to Aug.

M13 Hercules -- Best globular cluster. Observable pretty much any time. Low in the sky during March and October, but everything between then is safe.

M57 Ring Nebula -- Smoke ring in space. Quite easy to resolve with good seeing. Great one to pull up a Hubble image of on the monitor to show people side by side. Observable May to November.

M11 Wild Duck -- Open cluster. Observable June-October.  

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