Omega Centauri--When to View?

I tried finding O Centauri from latitude 37 on the Calif. coast, at about 1200 ft. altitude, lookins southwest over the ocean. I think it was too low to see through the atmosphere, though it was dark and clear.

Is there a "best time of year" at which to observe this? Time of night?

TIA

James Adams

Hi James, from about April to late May I believe it will cross the meridian at some point in the night. Its fairly low from 33* north but looking over the ocean it should visible from 37*

James
I see it at 38 degrees north latitude in Missouri just before morning astronomical twilight begins in January every year. Omega peeks over the southern horizon just as Spica culminates at your location. You can use one of those charts Sky and Telescope puts out that has the diagonal lines from right to left showing the times that various bright stars and planets culminate throughout the year. In February at WSP it culminates at about 4 AM. Every month the time of culmination should move two hours earlier, so mid March would be about 2 AM, mid April about midnight, mid May around 10 PM. I have seen it in June at Grand Canyon Star Party just after dark. I doubt that it is visible now unless you go farther south. By the time it is dark now, Spica has already passed the meridian. To find it use binos when Spica is culminating and drop directly to the horizon. You will find it a few degrees above the horizon if there isn't a lot of haze there. Once you have found it, swing the binos up to M13 and compare the size. I always say that Omega looks like a quarter and M13 like a dime when I make the comparison.
So, head south now or wait for very late December/early January right before dawn.