I chalked off M57 ..

[Ender Of Days]

At last !

Ive only captured it photographically before as a tiny smudge,but last night the clouds parted for a brief moment,

I didn't have time to switch the mount on (its in the loft beneath the Velux window) so used the scope manually, but quickly slewed the red dot finder onto one of the 2 stars at the bottom of Lyra and looked through my new 32mm sp,as soon as I moved the scope The Ring Neb came into the wide eye piece,

Although only a small fuzzy star .. it was there and Id "discovered" it

First light for the new 32mm sp (series 4000) and a visual capture that Id been trying for for about 15 yr's,

Before I could grab another eye piece the clouds swept majestically in and that was that for the night

JJ..

[vegaandarctures]

Its a gorgeous sight. I first saw it through an 8inch dob and I was in amazement.

tonight it looks clear for me so I might have to go for M57

[Stargazer51N]

Nice one. I'll be trying to bag M57 myself over the next few nights

[cotterless45]

Lovely, but it's pretty small even at x100. Easy to find, worth looking out for and showing others.

[assasincz]

When first seeing the M57 it almost seems like a illusion. Even with my 4,5" scope, I can make out the irregular shape of the smoke ring, even how it is smudged sligthly at two opposite sides, but only when observing patiently. The best views of it in a small scope are in 57x and 90x EPs. I actually prefer it to the M57:)

[Swift]

Bagged it for the first time three nights ago, it's a belter isn't it? At 9th-mag it appeared to have higher surface brightness than 8th-mag M27 thanks to the size difference.

[assasincz]

Obviously, I mean I prefer M57 to M27 what a typo:p

[Hawksmoor]

I managed to get a photograph of it for the first time. So well pleased even though its a tiny image and not the clearest of images.Cabine du Jardin deux

[Ender Of Days]

Nice wide field view there,and a good bit of info too,

JJ..

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I managed to get a photograph of it for the first time. So well pleased even though its a tiny image and not the clearest of images.Cabine du Jardin deux

Nice image! Like the colour

[mjpfc]

M57 is a show piece planetary and takes magnification quite well, and without a filter it possibly just edges out M27(The apple-core nebula?) if you magnify it enough, but once you have a Neb filter in your optics M27 is far the better sight with wisps and tendrils all over the place.

Another cracker is the Blue Snowball NGC 7662 in Andromeda. Not much more than a disc through the unfiltered eyepiece, but its brightness and incredible colour with a distinct core means I could gaze at it for ages. Much Like the Saturn Neb in lower aquarius.

Mick

[Ender Of Days]

The blue SnowBall is another of my favourites,

The other night I went pretty much straight to M57 again,this time I drew the entire star field down all the way from both end stars in Lyra,

But as per the clouds rolled in and I gave up,

JJ..

[todd8137]

a few years ago i spent ages looking for this after passing it 20 times i could not be leave it was there all the time its a great target for visual andpics

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Another planetary in the neighbourhood of M57 and very high up is the Blinking Planetary (NGC 6826). I looked at it again last night, and it is surprisingly easy, with a very high surface brightness.

[Ender Of Days]

Thanks,Il check that out next time I can

JJ..

[saturn10]

M57 is very nice to look at.

[streaky1]

M57 at 32m looks like a fuzz like dull out of focus star , at 15mm looks like a ghost like hole in the sky,very nice to find, shame you did not get to view at higher mag but that could be your next visit and the joys of stargazing.

[Admiral Crispy]

Agreed, M57 is one of my favourite Messiers that I have found, and I even prefer it to M31 (Andromeda). It is estremely hard to find at first in a 32mm eyepiece as it is small, but once found, its easier to spot. It takes higher mag well too. At 40x it shows like an out of focus star, like stated above, but at 100x it really looks gorgeous, and can really start to see its ring shape, and the variations of brightness in the ring structure.

[andrew63]

Sometimes I forget how much there is to see - you can't beet the thrill of finding something yourself and seeing it visually - however insignificant it may appear!

andrew

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

This last summer I have really started appreciating planetary nebulae much more. I always loved the two great showcases, M27 and M57. I was also very chuffed when I first spotted the ghostly appearance of M97, donkeys' years back with my old 6". This year I have such a wealth of them (the Blinking Planetary, the Saturn Nebula, the Blue Flash Nebula, the Helix Nebula, the Cat's Eye, and more besides), and each with its own character. Many of them are well within reach of modest scopes. A big advantage is that you can hunt many of them from the suburbs in modest LP with narrow-band filters.

[CowHampshire]

We had a couple of good hours before the Moon rose last night, so we swung toward Lyra also. It took a while but we did eventually find it. I'd guess an LVM of ~6.7 (from the Polaris spiral). At 110x it was very stable, but higher mags (150 - 200x) proved troublesome. I'm guessing it was the Moon coming up like a freight train behind us crashing the party.

[Mr Q]

M57 can be a difficult object to locate due to its small size but fortunately, at low powers, it does appear as a fairly faint fuzzy bluish star when sweeping its field. Once found, its much easier each following try. It takes high power well.

Wish we could see it as the Hubble did (my avatar)! Alas, at best, visually it will only appear as a slightly bluish-gray distinct ring under very good sky conditions. I have seen a hint of blue-gray color with a 10" f4.5 newt but never the central star.