SwiMatt

I got them tonight!!! Thank you @RobertI, @bosun21 and @Franklin for the encouragement and the tips!!

After few sessions of searching, tonight I finally got for the first time a splendid view of Bode's galaxy and the Cigar galaxy! To commemorate the event, I sketched it in pastels. To make this sketch even more special, while I could barely see what I was doing in the dark (I definitely trusted the process), when I saw it in the light I didn't feel it needed any touch up: the sketch was very close to what I saw in the eyepiece. I wanna thank all the people who encouraged me in the past few days in my search for these two galaxies, sharing tips and inspiration. You know who you are 😁

That's the first thing I tried 🤣

I heard contrasting views on the Messier list ("not the best for amateurs" is a typical critique) but so far I have loved every object. Although it is true that I haven't seen the faintest yet. Good luck! Seeing both M36 and M38 in the same FOV with the 10x50 was amazing after seeing them up close I will definitely spend more time in those vicinity, thanks for the tips! This should be Bortle 4, so I expect it to be an easy feat with 127 mm. However, I did not get serious enough with star hopping yesterday night - and M81 is far enough from bright stars that just estimating a position in the sky isn't as easy. We're expected to see clear skies again tonight, so I will make sure to come up with a good star hopping strategy before getting out in the cold!!

Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself. If tonight the sky is similarly good I will strategize my star hopping before hand. When I searched for them yesterday I was getting cold, and didn't have the patience...

Tonight I saw... probably the best sky I've seen in my short tenure as astronomy hobbyist. It was absolutely incredible. I've even spotted the Crab Nebula! Hopefully I'll get a similar night tomorrow...

After a few great nights of observations, using well my time under better skies than where I normally live, yesterday the sky was covered by clouds. But it was a night of break knowing that for today the forecast was looking very good. And the forecast wasn't wrong. I put my telescope outside at 15.30 to cool down (there are about 35 degrees of difference between inside and outside right now), and went out at around 17.30 for a short session before dinner. The sky looked very clear, with the whole of Ursa Minor visible with averted vision without waiting for dark adaptation! I point the Mak 127 to Jupiter... and it is all blurry! What the hell is going on? Quickly I realize that my partner, inside, has lit the fireplace, and the smoke is right on my optical path... realized that, I turn the scope towards Saturn, and see the small crisp planet in my eyepiece. All is good again. But tonight, I aim to fill my noob list of Messier objects - I'm not going to use these amazing skies for planets (which I can see from home). I point the red dot towards where M2 should be. I find it almost dead center! An interesting globular cluster, which I compare easily with M15 nearby. I cannot resolve either, so I move on to my next target. At home, M27 is tough to find and looks like a faint potato without much interest. Here, I find it easily and, for the first time, I see the apple core shape. Now I'm excited. I had not planned to sketch tonight but... the star field is so crisp and M27 is so beautiful! I do not resist, I get quickly inside the house and get my sketching gear (which was ready - just in case...). After finishing it, I get back inside to warm up and post the sketch on SGL... After dinner, at around 19.30, I get out again, with a plan in mind. I set up the telescope in the snow, which I found is amazing at dumping vibrations. Waiting for dark adaptation to kick in again, I navigate towards M36, which I sketched a few days ago. I look around for M37 and M38, but I cannot find them just like that - I will get back to them later. Meanwhile, I fill my eyes with the amazing naked eye view of the Pleiades and of the Milky Way - which I so sorely miss from home. After 15-20 minutes, I decide that I'm ready for my plan: I want to find M1. The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a supernova that was reportedly observed in 1054 CE. It is also the object that, historically, Messier found when looking for another comet, and this confusion led him to start his catalogue. Because of this rich history, M1 is probably my favorite object of the list - but I know it's not the easiest one, especially with only 5 inches. Luckily for me, it's so close to a bright star (Zeta Tauri) that I could simply get there, move 1 degree or so away and either find it or move on... and I think I found it! To the very least I found a very very faint bubble that moved when I moved the telescope, and that came to be easier to see using averted vision. I have little doubt that it was indeed M1! That was a very very exciting moment, but my night wasn't over yet. I must have spent 20 minutes on the Crab Nebula. Galvanized after that, I get back to Auriga and find M36, then pull out my star chart and star hop to M38 and M37. The open clusters of Auriga look all different and all beautiful. I particularly enjoy the fine star patterns that M38 shows, which almost resemble a cross - but M37 shows such an interesting bunch of fine stars, compared to the "coarser" patterns in M36. Then I see that the foot of Gemini has cleared the tree so why not find the shoe-buckle? I find M35 and spend a few minutes comparing it with 36, 37 and 38. What a night. I'm finding so many objects that I didn't have the time to see when I started this hobby with a pair of binoculars in April. OK, what could I look at next? Hey, is that... Orion, getting out of the trees? Quick, I point the 10x50 towards it and see that the Orion Nebula is very well placed - another of those easy objects that got below the horizon too early in my astronomy "career". Unfortunately, to get a favorable view, I have to move my telescope to the terrace: this means that I cannot, for the sake of me, push any magnification without starting a wobble-fest. At this point, I am quite content with my night and I am starting to feel extremely cold (-16 degrees Celsius!), so I give a look at Jupiter, with the idea of closing the night like that. Jupiter looks sharp but wobbly, so I get tired of the exercise quite fast. I pull out the 10x50 again and look up to M42 again, the Pleiades, the double cluster, M31, then the clusters in Auriga appear to me like fuzzy objects in the larger field of view... the views tonight have been the best I've ever had, and I cannot wait to have another night like this. Before closing, though, I searched in vain for M81 and M82... these galaxies are proving tougher than I thought. It will be for the next time. Now, inside, my limbs aren't painful anymore, and my mind is still full of the beautiful sky... By the way... who said that Maks aren't great for DSOs?

Tonight I took my sweet time on the Dumbbell nebula, which I never saw in such great detail!

It became apparent to me that I would like to get a less wobbly set up. For context, I bought a SkyWatcher Skymax (Mak) 127, which came bundled with the AZ5 mount on the "light" aluminum tripod. The set up is perfect for me since I need to walk about 10-15 minutes to my typical observation place in the middle of the woods - to escape the pesky street lights that litter my neighborhood. I put OTA, mount and accessories in a backpack and the tripod on a shoulder - the total weight of all this is 8.6 kg. However, it's also quite a wobbly set-up, and from reviews here and there I seem to understand that it boils down to the tripod - which I'm now thinking of upgrading with priority. The AZ5 can also come with a steel version of the tripod which I heard is very sturdy but it is 7kg by itself (5kg more than the aluminum tripod). However, while looking at lighter options I found the StellaLyra carbon fiber tripod, which seems perfect for my needs (and it even comes with a bag to carry it in it) https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tripods/stellalyra-carbon-fibre-tripod-with-38-thread.html. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this tripod. It's a bit more expensive than the Skywatcher steel tripod, but I don't think I can get away with the weight of the steel one - even though I don't have to walk long. I don't expect the StellaLyra to actually carry 40kg, but I wonder if it would hold sturdily the 6 or so kg of the AZ5 + Skymax 127. If you have other suggestions around a similar price (< 300£), and with similar weight / comfort to carry, I'm willing to hear it

This is excellent! Thanks for sharing @Roel!

Haha well, I would tell you that I'd be happy to see it, but I understand that some sketches are "delicate" - so to speak

The Ring Nebula is a difficult object to sketch, I find. It's my second attempt at this object, (the first was with pencils) and I always find it difficult to render the subtly resolved disk on paper. It is also in a lovely field of stars. Interestingly, I also found it easier to resolve stars and focus on M57 by removing my glasses (I generally observe with glasses due to slight astigmatism - also it's harder to sketch that way) 🤔

Damn! Unlucky, but kudos for the valiant effort. I might give a go to M37 and M38 again tonight, if the clouds allow... although sketching globulars is more satisfying I believe

Such beautiful pictures and interesting opportunities you have! Welcome to SGL

Yes! I'm starting to "feel it" and it's really fun to work with.

Second session (and possibly last for tonight, since it's so cold outside): clouds are covering part of the sky but I managed to catch and sketch M13 between the trees and M15 between the clouds. I was beyond excited I tried some views of Jupiter again, but this seeing is terrible. No details at all...

Sooo happy about these two! I got M13 and M15 one after the other. Deciding to sketch both in a row was painful due to how cold it got outside, but I got just right how more diffuse M13 was with respect to M15, while the latter was brighter in the center.

I just went out to sketch and took some time on M31. I'm quite happy with the result, although probably the galaxy's borders looked a bit less sharp than my sketch in the eyepiece. Still, I love this technique! I will keep this thread for other pastel sketches I will do in the next sessions, so that I don't open a new thread for each sketch 😂

Just went out for a short session, with good transparency but abysmal seeing. Jupiter showed basically no detail except two bands getting in and out. So I sketched Andromeda, because why not but with -13°C outside I'll just keep going in and out of the house!

Not being Swedish myself, I never heard of it... here they call snow when it snows, like normal humans 🤣

Never! Snow is life 😛

Thank you! What stopped you? I'm hoping to catch M37 and/or M38 tonight if conditions are still good

It's the same for me! But I'm lucky to be spending 10 days in Bortle 4-5 skies (although the first 5 days it was cloudy). I count on making some other sketches later this week! Thank you Ian! It means a lot

Just finished a short and cold session searching for the open clusters in the Auriga. I only found (and sketched) M36, the whole constellation was very washed out by the Moon, but it was a lovely moment, in the snow

This was definitely a very beautiful and suggestive setup... although cold