What to look for in Corsica

[The Thing]

Can anyone give me some pointers on what to spend time observing from Corsica (roughly 41N 9E) over the next couple of weeks. I am taking a SkyWatcher 80T refractor 3.1" f400mm with a 26mm and 9mm Plossls, 2x barlow and a small pair of bins.
After taking a good look at Jupiter which will be at a greater elevation that much further south, I am thinking of stuff that is close to the horizon in the UK to the south and east where the view will be over the sea from where we are staying.

Thanks in advance.

[Carole]

Do you have an Astronomy programme called Starry Night or similar, as you can re-set your location there and see what is in the sky from that destination.  There is also Google Sky (on the web).

In any case, have a look at Sagittarius (although this is up late) which will be better placed from Corsica, we had a ball with this area when we went to COAA last year (although that is even further south).  Things like M7 (Ptolemy cluster), M8 (Lagoon nebula), M11 (wild duck), M17 (Swan nebula), M20 (Trifid nebula).  I am sure there were others.   

Carole

[The Thing]

Thanks Carol,

I have just about every free and open source planetarium available but I am not taking my laptop. Anyway it's your [other OAS members] personal knowledge that I want to tap into, esp. if youv'e been to COAA or some where down that way. I will be taking basic magazine star charts and a really slow PDA running Planetarium. The Messier objects you have mentioned will definitely go on my list.

[Carole]

Chris Suddell has been to the South of France (doing Astronomy) which is a bit nearer the latitude of Corsica, he might be able to give you some more ideas.

Carole

[Rocket Pooch]

Hi,

I think the problem might be the full moon, but there's loads of stuff in Cygnus and also all the southern M objects....

Chris

P.S. The wine is nice there....

[The Thing]

Thanks all for your suggestions.

As it turned out the full moon was initially a problem but I got some nice pics of it rising over the hill above the villa. Where the  villa was perched it got the full glare of the ports lighting which coupled with a mist over the bay from dusk (this is Porto Vecchio in the south east of the island) meant light pollution was a real problem. Also the pool lights were programmed and not switchoffable.

However there were some very clear nights The view to the south was over the town so not much could be seen near that horizon. I learnt a lot more constellations as I could see more stars than in Beckenham (probably about the same as High Elms). I even used my green laser to share this learning experience with my other half, who is usually not interested - may have been the booze.

I was able to get some good views of Jupiter and could even see some swirlyness (tech term in the bands as well as catching a view of three of the moons (apparently) very close together. Which was spectacular. Need more magnification than a 9mm plossl and 2x barlow though. (400mm 3.1inch refractor).