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M110 but missed M31 and M32

Freedom2099

By Freedom2099
in Observing - Reports

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Freedom2099

Freedom2099

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

Yesterday evening I finally managed to stargaze again after 3 weeks of misfortune... despite living on the french riviera (where the weather is usually good) in the last period thanks to evening clouds and the moon I wasn't to do any decent observation. But yesterday was a great night... wonderful seeing and great transparency!

I manage to locate M27, which with my 130mm reflector was just a faint fuzzy circle observable mostly with averted vision, and M110!

Whilst waiting for Cassiopeia to rise high enough to be observed from my balcony I aimed my scope towards andromeda hoping to be able to see M31... but I failed! I was able to clearly spot M110 instead (it took me a while to be 100% it was m110 but in the end the stars around perfectly matched the one in my star map)!

M110 was astonishingly bright! A fuzzy bright sphere surrounded by a dimmer (compared to the core) slightly oval halo! I was really Impressed!

Having found M110 I though that locating M31 and M32 would have been a  piece of cake.... I was wrong! Although both andromeda and his satellite m32 were for sure in the field of view of my 32mm eyepiece  (according to the star map) I wasn't able to spot them! I felt the presence of M31 because the background was not as dark as it was in the rest of the sky... but still no clear traces of them!

Is that hard to spot at least m32 (I'll try again with the andromeda galaxy when my celestron skymaster binoculars will arrive)?

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Stu

Stu

Posted
Posted

I'd be amazed if what you saw wasn't M31 rather than M110. M31 is huge, and magnitude 3.4 vs the much smaller M110 at magnitude 8.1

Your description also fits M31 ie a bright core with a surrounding oval halo.

M110 is tricky to see unless you have reasonably skies, and I certainly wouldn't describe it as astonishingly bright.

M32 can also be tricky because it looks stellar at low magnification. Up the mag a bit and it looks like a fuzzy star.

Have a check again, but I would bet you got M31

cda212668b70d9435875305a54c69c82.jpg

Cheers

Stu

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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swamp thing

swamp thing

Posted
Posted

I'd agree with stu. of the three M110 is actually the toughest to spot being the most diffuse. M31 is large and its core is pretty much as you've described. M32 is easy enough if you ramp the mag up just a bit you'll notice a fuzzy star and thats the one. :)

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John

John

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Posted

I'm sure it was M31 you spotted rather than M110. If you had been looking at M110 with a 32mm eyepiece then M31 would have been immediately obvious to you as it's right alongside M110 at that power and much, much brighter. M32 is also somewhat easier to spot than M110.

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alan potts

alan potts

Posted
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I am not going to disagree with the others. I did see M110 last night but with a slightly large scope, I can see this with my 115mm Refractor and I am sure you will see it with the 130mm but it will not be dramatic and in your face like M31 is, M32 will be an easier object than M110 but don't let that put you off trying for it.

Alan

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acey

acey

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Posted

The clue is in the numbers: Messier saw M31 and 32, but didn't include in his list the object that was later tagged on as 110. It's a lot fainter. The object being described here is certainly M31, as  others have said.

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Stu

Stu

Posted
Posted

I still think it is M31. This is (I think) the field of view you had. The most obvious reference is the group of three stars towards the bottom of the field which match the image below. The blue circle is the field of view with a 32mm Plossl (50 degree).

The orientation of the galaxy does not match exactly but I don't think there is any way you could have seen M110 and not seen M31

9ad2c397b86887a269f3510c195a36e2.jpg

Stu

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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John

John

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I think the description "...astonishingly bright..." is the main evidence for me that it was M31. M110 is very far from that even with my 12" scope under dark skies and I often have to really seach for it with my 120mm refractor. M31 though stands very clearly out even with 10x50 binoculars.

One of the stars in your drawing is almost certainly M32 so you did see two galaxies, if that is any consolation :smiley:

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dick_dangerous

dick_dangerous

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M110 never shows up under the London skies. The core of M31 is easy, even in my 3'' scope on my front doorstep under the street lamp. It does look tiny though because its only the central portion. M32 is simple enough but I've only ever seen M110 under dark skies where it is very obvious and you get the full extent of M31 for comparison. So I'd agree with the others!

DD

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Scott

Scott

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Ok... I just checked again the star map and indeed seems I was looking at M31... got confused because I expected something bigger!

It's very easy to makes mistakes like this so don't think you're the only one :). The main thing is to just have fun along the way 

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Ok... I just checked again the star map and indeed seems I was looking at M31... got confused because I expected something bigger!

It IS bigger if you have the right sky. It is ludicrously enormous and only just fits in 8x42 binoculars. I have to sweep side to side in the 20 inch to see all of it with my widest Nagler eyepiece. I'm about 120 km north of the Mediterranean and have several intervening mountain ranges to baffle the light pollution. Here, both M110 and M32 do look like galaxies, very obviously, but M31 is a real thriller.

Olly

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Macavity

Macavity

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Posted

The surface brightness of M31 is +13.6... M110 is 13.9... but M32 is 12.7. ;)

There is an interesting paradox tho' - For uz video astronomers notably... 

On SCREEN, it's quite easy to slew straight past M31 - You see only the core.

M33, with no bright core, SB 14.2, is even more elusive. Until you start "twiddling"! :p

Distant (small!) galaxies have SB's approaching +8, rivaling even the globulars clusters...

THAT said, the only galaxy I have ever seen visually (and with binoculars) is/was definitely M31! :)

No coherent argument (lol) But worth reading about *surface brightness*

- It can explain some surprises? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_brightness

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