NGC 5139 (Omega Centauri)

Has anyone found this one yet this year ? I actually took a stab at it last night, and think I saw a dim blob in the glare of the almost full moon and horizon glow. The blob was almost exactly near the two dim stars as indicated on the chart from "The Sky" below. I was only using a 5" f8 refractor around 40x. With a normal night, I think it would have been plenty, but with all the light wash I think I should have had around 8" It was on the very edge of detection.

Attached Image:

where are you located? 5139 is spectacular, of course it may be so low on your horizon that it is difficult to detect. It is easily a naked eye object from mag 5 skies in southern CA.

Well last month I saw it in a 25" Obsession about 250 miles NW of Sydney. Took a trip there and observed the southern skies for a week near Siding Springs Observatory. Went with Dave Kriege and 14 other Yanks. Second time I've seen it. Saw it from southern Baja on our trip to see the eclipse in 1991. But that was near some light pollution through a Brandon 94 refractor. Last month it was incredible though. I had every intention of getting a good look at it since I don't know if I'll ever get another chance that good. We viewed it in a TV102i, 14.5" Dob, and both a 20" and 25" Obsession.

Don Wyman

I still remember the first time I saw it at the WSP 2003... what a beautiful sight!

You definitely want to look at it with the largest scope available, on a moonless night, and hopefully out of the Horizon Muck...


Clear skies! 8)

I was out chasing it earlier in the year and it maxed out at about 13 degrees at 1:00 am. We had an 8", a 12.5" and a 22" scope all lined up on it. Yes we were all allowed to take a turn on the 22". It was stunning in all 3 scopes.

My first site of it was a month earlier and everyone else bailed because it was getting too late. There was no one there to frown about my hooting and hollering when I saw it. There is no such thing as too late for that object.

Ed

Hi David,

Believe me, if you have never seen this object near the zenith with a large telescope, you have never observed!!

Hi David,

Believe me, if you have never seen this object near the zenith with a large telescope, you have never observed!! The view of this object alone is worth the cost of a trip "down under". And when you add to it all of the other fantastic southern objects........... What are you waiting for!

Cheers,

Maurice

Wow! 8O I got a good look at 5139 last night in my 20x80 Skymasters. Had I tried it as my first object, instead of viewing Saturn and Jupiter first, I could have resolved it in the Starmaster. But it had just slipped behind a hillside by the time I dialed it in on the SkyCommander. Drat! By moving to the other end of the parking lot, I could see it in the binos, but I didn't want to disassemble and move the scope. :S
I was quite impressed, nonetheless, with the sheer size of Omega Centauri compared to M13. Yowza! I hope I can get it resolved in an eyepiece next time out.
Linton