Brightest deep sky objects

The brightest deep sky objects, such as the Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, and the Pleiades, are some of the most stunning and accessible targets for stargazers and astrophotographers. These objects are visible even with basic equipment, making them ideal for beginners exploring the wonders of the night sky. In this guide, we’ll highlight the brightest deep sky objects, where to find them, and tips for observing or photographing these celestial marvels.

There are many wonderful things in the night sky, but I love to photograph deep sky objects like galaxies and nebulae. These objects lie outside of our solar system and can often be seen with a telescope or binoculars. Deep sky objects like the Pleiades star cluster, galaxies, and nebulae are awesome to image!

Deep-sky objects cannot usually be seen with the naked eye but can be observed with telescopes or binoculars. They provide a window into the larger universe — because they are created by the same systems and physics that order the cosmos.

Brightness (which you can think of as how visible an object is) is one of the most important properties in astronomy. The observable brightness of a deep sky object depends on its luminosity and distance from Earth. Bright sources naturally attract the attention of amateur astronomers and of value scientifically, because they can show detailed structure and chemical composition.

In this post, we will discover how to find the brightest deep sky objects and discuss what makes them so unique. We will also talk about which telescopes are best if you want to observe these deep sky objects. You shouldn’t miss these wonders of science!

Categories of Deep Sky Objects

Star Clusters

Star clusters are areas of Space where many stars move together due to gravity. These objects are divided into open and globular clusters. Loosely bound open clusters, like the Pleiades in Taurus, are full of young stars that tend to form within a molecular cloud. M13 is a globular cluster, a gravitationally bound grouping of ancient stars, and contains some of the earliest stars densely packed into one area. Globular clusters exist in a spherical cloud surrounding galaxies (the halo). They can provide insight into how galaxies built up their constituent stars billions of years ago and what the universe was like just after the Big Bang.

Nebulae

There are emission, reflection, and dark nebulae. Emission nebulae (such as the Orion Nebula) have become bright through light from ionized elements. Shining with the light of nearby stars reflected by dust clouds are reflection nebulae, and a good example is the Witch Head Nebula. Dark nebulae such as the Horsehead Nebula are opaque clouds that hide objects farther away in Space while giving the illusion of beautiful silhouettes using light from objects behind.

Galaxies

A galaxy is a vast collection of stars, gas, dust, and dark matter, all captured within one structure. There are two main types of galaxies: elliptical and spiral. The Andromeda Galaxy is an example of a rotating spiral galaxy with arms filled with nebulae and other young stars. The Black Eye Galaxy is another well-known example. Elliptical galaxies like Messier 87 are rounder and contain older stars. There are irregular galaxies, such as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which represent either astronomical oddities or were altered by gravitational forces.

The Brightest Deep Sky Objects to Observe

In this article, we will check out the easiest and brightest of the many deep sky objects that new stargazers can see and take pictures of. Why are some objects easier to see than others? There are a few reasons, such as:

• The size of the object
• The distance it is from us
• The apparent magnitude

This is a very simple list, but other factors make the brightest deep sky objects easier to observe or photograph. 

For example, galaxies may be observable side-on or may, like the Andromeda Galaxy, be more fully observable as they lie at an angle in the sky, which means we can see more.

The brightest deep sky objects contain gases that reflect or emit bright colours. Hydrogen is seen as red and oxygen is seen as blue. These contrasting colours make a deep sky object seem brighter and may help us see more details. 

The Best Telescope to View Deep-Sky Objects

Many of the brighter deep sky objects can be seen with a telescope¹. This makes them very suitable for beginners. The best ones to use are those made by the best telescope manufacturers.

Refractor or Reflector Telescope: Which is Better for Viewing Deep Sky Objects?

Here are a few interesting points from research I’ve done and comments on various forums:

• Observing deep sky objects is best with a telescope of at least 8-inch aperture.
• A refractor telescope with such a large aperture would be extremely expensive!  
• Reflectors are more reasonably priced and 10-inch plus telescopes are great for viewing DSOs according to many comments on Cloudynights Forum.
• Viewing galaxies is best with at least a ten-inch Newtonian reflector.
• Best telescopes for viewing deep sky objects need to be no more than F4 or F5 if possible. 
• The more light a telescope can take in, and the clearer its lens, the better it will be for seeing far-off things like galaxies, star groups, and nebulous clouds of gas. 
• For each deep sky object you look at, a wide view is key, so the focal length of your telescope matters.

Dobsonian and Cassegrain are two top choices for looking at the deep sky. A bigger aperture means a better look at distant space objects². Which is the best telescope to view deep sky objects is unclear because they both are fantastic choices.

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Other great telescopes for observing deep space include the following:

• Celestron Advanced VX Edge 8 – a very good telescope for the amateur astronomer!
• Unistellar EvScope 2 smart telescope – put your viewing on autopilot!
• Skywatcher Flextube 26 inch 400P Synscan. This is a high level telescope that has a huge aperture and will give stunning views of deep sky objects.

Observational Techniques

Observing deep sky objects requires the right equipment and conditions. Telescopes with larger apertures, such as Dobsonian or Cassegrain models, are recommended for their ability to gather more light and reveal finer details. The best times for viewing are during new moon phases and from locations with minimal light pollution. Using filters can enhance contrast and visibility, but it’s important to consider the type of object being observed. Planning your observations around these factors will greatly enhance your stargazing experience.

The correct equipment and conditions are needed to observe deep-sky objects. Opt for instruments with larger apertures, like Dobsonian or Cassegrain telescopes, that collect more light and have higher resolution. Ideal times to see meteors are during new moon phases, with little or no outdoor light contamination from rural areas. Filters improve contrast and visibility but consider the type of object you are observing and use an appropriate filter.

How to Find Deep Sky Objects

Because the brightest deep sky objects can be seen with the naked eye, it’s easy to find them with binoculars or a camera. For example, I can spot the Pleiades easily and point my camera or telescope in the right direction.

In order to find deep sky objects you need the coordinates³. These can be found online by searching for the objects name. Wikipedia will give you the coordinates.

Also, you need to check which deep sky objects are visible in your sky tonight. I use an app called SkySafari for this. Stellarium is another useful program that I use on my laptop. It gives me a view of any object as it will appear in my telescope or camera and also shows where the object is in the sky at a certain time.

However, with a telescope such as the one I have with a 650mm focal length, I need some help to locate these deep sky objects. I need help finding targets in the sky because my telescope has a focal length of 650mm. I cannot just move my telescope and hope to see them because you need to be very accurate to point exactly in the correct place.

A telescope mount with a computerised Goto system will help you align your telescope and find deep sky objects easily. These mounts often have the coordinates of the bright deep sky objects programmed into them so they can find them quickly.

Before you can find objects with your Goto system, as I have discovered, you need to set it up correctly. Just because your Goto hand control shows that your telescope is pointed to the coordinates of the deep sky object you are looking for does not mean it is accurate enough to have found the object.

Before you try to find any deep sky object you need to calibrate your telescope mount by polar aligning it. Next, you need to manually align to two or more stars and only then will the RA and DEC coordinates be accurate enough to find objects in the sky.

Even after doing this, I have spent half an hour or more trying to move my telescope into the correct position to find the object I am looking for. This is a big problem because in most cases when looking for deep sky objects you can not easily see them unless they are very large or very bright. How can you find something you can’t see and something which may be quite small?

If your telescope is well set up and the coordinates are correct, you may be able to see the object after taking a long exposure. Often you will then need to center the object in your field of view. This also takes time. I managed to do this by nudging the scope this way or that, but this is very slow and I sometimes lost my target completely.

So what is the best way to find deep sky objects? The answer is plate-solving.  

Plate solving is an automatic way to locate deep sky objects and using this, it doesn’t matter how bright they are. How do you do this?

To locate the object, I want to view or photograph I enter the coordinates in my plate solving program and it will find the target.

For more information on using this method to find deep sky objects, check my detailed guide to plate-solving here.

Deep Sky Objects for Beginners

Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula is one of the most famous deep sky objects in space⁴. It is in the constellation of Orion. It is a spot where gas and dust mix to make new stars. You can see it with the naked eye, but a telescope shows it in clear detail. The nebula’s dust clouds make a stunning show that is really captivating.

I’ve captured images of the Orion Nebula numerous times, and with each try, it surprises me with stunning new detail. It’s truly one of the most amazing views that you can observe through a telescope. Photographing Orion allows me to see how I’ve progressed as an astrophotographer.

Since this nebula shines bright, you don’t need long exposures. It has several parts, like the Running Man Nebula, which I just recently took a photo of by itself, as you can see below:

Pleiades

The Pleiades star cluster, or the Seven Sisters, lies in Taurus. People have observed it since ancient times. With more than 1,000 stars and a gorgeous blue haze, astronomers continue to admire the beauty of Pleiades. On a clear night we can see seven bright stars. Astrophotographers try to capture the blue nebulosity around the stars. I’ve not quite mastered this yet and plan to try again soon.

Check out my most recent picture below: 

I took the above image using an RGB filter (the Optolong L Pro), and next time I plan to try imaging it without any filter as I should be able to collect more light that way. The above image was exposed for a total of about six hours, and each sub-exposure lasted for two minutes. Calculate the exposure time for any target..

Don’t use a narrowband filter to image Pleiades because it is a reflection nebula, and this kind of filter will cut out some of the light you want in your image.

The Pleiades is one of the most impressive objects I’ve ever looked at in my telescope.

Andromeda Galaxy

The Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest galaxy to our Milky Way. This remarkable spiral galaxy is one of the brightest objects visible in the night sky. Located in the Andromeda constellation, it can be observed with the naked eye. However, through a telescope, its stunning spiral arms and brilliant core are revealed more clearly.

This galaxy is going to collide with our own Milky Way galaxy in more than 4 billion years and is therefore heading towards us at an incredible speed! So, one day in the future, it will no longer be a deep space object!

You’ll need a focal length of no more than 500mm to capture the galaxy in one frame, and it is better not to use a filter, or you will cut out some of that precious light. This will depend on how much light pollution you have. I used a DSLR camera and a Samyang 150mm lens to fit it all in one frame in the picture I took in 2021.

Ring Nebula

The Ring Nebula is a beautiful planetary nebula that can be found in the constellation Lyra.

The outer layers of dying stars can sometimes produce dust and gas which form planetary nebulae. These nebulae can be very beautiful because of their colourful and striking appearance.

It’s a good target and not too hard to photograph, but you need a long focal length to get close enough to see details. I took an image with my setup, including my telescope at 650mm, and it was absolutely tiny!

This one needs at least 1500mm, or I don’t think it’s worth doing. 

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Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula is the leftover remains of a supernova. It can be found in Taurus. This amazing sight is the result of a massive explosion of a star that happened in the past.

Why does the death of a star cause such an explosion and what process leads to a supernova? The heat that a star generates causes pressure to build up over time and eventually it reaches a critical point. Many stars collapse because of this pressure and this causes a supernova.

This nebula is easy to see through a telescope because it has a shape that looks like a crab. Astronomers like to study this object because it looks amazing through any telescope.

In conclusion, the deep sky is full of beautiful sights that truly inspire. The universe is full mysterious undiscovered wonders, including striking clusters of stars and amazing galaxies. All we need is a telescope or binoculars to see these objects in detail.

My most recent attempt was the Crab Nebula picture above, which turned out pretty well and has a lot of detail. I took a picture of it with my ZWO ASI533 MC PRO colour camera and 650mm focal length telescope over the course of six hours. I used a ZWO duo band filter, which can pick up both oxygen III and hydrogen alpha wavelengths of light.

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Comparing the Brightest Deep Sky Objects in the Northern Hemisphere

I decided to choose ten of the easiest to see objects in the night sky. I also thought about which are the most populaar and well-known targets that a beginner astronomer would want to observe or photograph.

Note that some of the galaxies mentioned are bright at the core, but you won’t see the details clearly in a telescope unless you try to photograph them.

Here’s a table comparing ten of the brightest deep-sky objects we can see:

This table includes the object’s name, the constellation it can be found in, its apparent magnitude (how bright it appears to us on Earth), its distance from Earth in light-years, and the type of object it is.

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Apparent Magnitude: What does this show?

As the magnitude increases, the object seems dimmer. The apparent magnitude does not reflect an object’s true brightness compared to others. This is because certain objects that are very bright are so far away whereas some that are dimmer are nearer and look brighter than they really are. For more information about how the brightness of deep sky objects is measured, see this page on Space.com⁶

Conclusion

Now that you’re aware of the brightest deep sky objects in the night sky, you can begin using them as subjects for your photographs. The brighter an object is, the simpler it will be to capture its image. 

Wishing you success, and I hope you enjoy shooting these deep sky wonders as much as I do.

References

[1] Deep-sky object – Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-sky_object

[2] How to choose a telescope. Retrieved from https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-equipment/how-to-choose-a-telescope/

[3] Astronomy with an online telescope: Week 1: 3.4 | OpenLearn – Open University. Retrieved from https://www.open.edu/openlearn/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=114762&section=3.4

[4] Iain Todd. Orion Nebula M42 complete guide. Retrieved from https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/astrophotography/nebulae/the-orion-nebula-m42

[5] Stellar Magnitude | The Schools’ Observatory. Retrieved from https://www.schoolsobservatory.org/learn/maths/brightness/magnitude

[6] Luminosity and magnitude explained | Space.com. Retrieved from https://www.space.com/21640-star-luminosity-and-magnitude.html#section-apparent-magnitude