Resources: MACRO Observation Planning Tool, Stellarium Web, Telescopius.com

 

Before you can decide what object you want to study, you have to determine what is actually visible in the night sky!  This can be done using the MACRO Observation Planning Tool.

For each object on the list given, type its name into the "Object Name" field.  Note that you can abbreviate Messier 13 as M31, for example.  Make sure you have RLMT (Winer) selected for your telescope, as that is the one that will be used.  Then type today's date into the "Observing date" box and select any filter.  Please note that this filter list has not been updated, so different filters may be used for this project.  Finally, make sure to check the "detailed report" option at the bottom of the page before selecting "Submit".

Although most of the information you need is listed in the summary tab, this report also includes additional information such as:

 the rise and set times for the given object

rise and set times of M13

observing conditions for the next several nights

clear skies predictions for M13

and recommended exposure time for a given filter (at the bottom of the page).

 

To gain more information about any particular object, such as object type or additional names, Stellarium is a good resource.