What Types of Deep Sky Objects Can I See?
The night sky is full of beauty and variation in the many Deep Sky Objects you can locate and view. They all appear different in your telescope’s eyepiece, or even your binoculars. With little practice and some helpful video tutorials, podcasts, and digital guides that I provide below, you’ll know the different types and classifications of Galaxies, Nebulae, and Star Clusters. Just click on the movie to play it – you can select full screen if you’d like.
The Episodes
I have three episodes of Star Hopping in which I discussed the main classifications of Deep Sky Objects.
Episode 15 – The Different Types of Galaxies
In the first episode I will show you the Different Types of Galaxies, and the different types within them: Spirals, Ellipticals, Irregulars, and other fascinating galactic shapes.
Episode 21 – The Different Types of Star Clusters
In the second episode I will present the types of Star Clusters that you might see up in the sky: Globulars, Open Clusters, and other sparkly collections of suns.
Episode 27 – The Different Types of Nebulae
In the last episode I’ll show you the gorgeous and colorful collections of gas and dust that are Nebulae,and their many types: diffuse, reflection, supernovae, and other weird and wonderful denizens of deep space.
The Podcasts
Here are the Podcasts for episodes 15, 21, and 27 of Star Hopping. If you’d like to catch Star Hopping on the go, please consider subscribing. Just click on the respective logo below to subscribe to the show, and have new episodes sent right to your phone or tablet.
SH015 – The Different Types of Galaxies – 1/14/
In this Star Hopping ‘Extra”, we discuss all the different types of galaxies, and how they might appear in your telescope. Within each type of galaxy, there are variations that could be confusing if you don’t know the characteristics of each. We’ll set you straight so you will be able to tell which type of galaxy you’re looking at in your eyepiece.
SH021 – The Different Types of Star Clusters – 2/25/
In this Star Hopping “Extra”, we’ll discuss the different types of star clusters that you can find in your telescope, how they might appear in your eyepiece, and explain the differences between them.
SH027 – The Different Types of Nebulae – 4/07/
In this Star Hopping “Extra”, we’ll discuss the different types of Nebulae that you can find in your telescope, and explain the differences between them.
The Books
I have two Digital Guides, available in our Digital Bookstore, that will teach you about the different types of Deep Sky Objects. The first is the main Guide, upon which the video and podcast was based. The second is a Guide to the Realm of the Galaxies in Virgo; there are so many type of galaxies in this area of the sky, it is a good way to learn their differences.
The Star Hopping Guide to Deep Sky Objects
This is a 27 page essential guide to learning all the variations of deep sky objects: Galaxies, Nebulae, and Star Clusters. It’s packed with beautiful color images of example objects to show you the different variations that these amazing objects can have. This guide will teach you how to recognize and classify any deep sky object when you see it in your telescope.
The Star Hopping Guide to the Realm of the Galaxies
This is a three part series from Star Hopping that explores the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, better know as “The Realm of the Galaxies.” This guide takes you on a tour of the Realm, skips along Markarian’s Chain, gives specific star hopping location methods to find many galactic targets, and keep you from getting lost in this busy area of the night sky.
Join our growing community of amateur astronomers, and get your free copy of "The Different Kinds of Galaxies"!