M81 + 82, M1

[gooseholla]

Took out my Vixen VMC110L tonight into the front garden - not that dark because of street lights. However, managed to get m81 and 82 in my 32mm ''GSO (Revelation) eyepiece. Who would have thought that two faint fuzzy patches would be so beautiful? Was harder to see the one on the right (in my telescope), had to use averted vision. Centres were brightish with fuzzy patches around them. You could tell they were galaxies, although nothing really about shape or structure.

I then moved on to M1, the Crab nebula. Didn't know what to expect, but found a faint fuzzy squareish patch in the centre of my 32mm. 20mm made it fainter but started to show it as a bit more white. In the 32mm it was quite small, but seeable. Trouble seeing it due to reflections from streetlights in the eyepiece.

Saw a few star clusters also tonight, like the Beehive, Christmas Tree and a couple of others. Although it is true nothing is as spectacular as the Pleiadies, the Beehive was very beautiful in my 32mm.

Would any kind of filter help in seeing items like the Crab better?

[estwing]

just bagged the beehive also...lovely..

[mdstuart]

Sounds like you did really well..If you have light pollution a filter can sometimes help with contrast on objects like M81/82 but it can cut down the light you get through so not always the best choice. Try and borrow one..

An OIII filter can help with come planetary nebula but again it cuts the light so best on larger scopes than yours..

Try a few more clusters.. M35 and the double cluster in Perseus. They are not Pleides but have their own beauty...And of course M3 when it rises a bit more...To see 500,000 stars 31000 light years away in a ball directly above our galaxy is something to get excited about..perhaps even beats a few hundred new blue stars 150 light years away (Pleides)..

Mark

[gooseholla]

I have an 8inch scope which comes out when I can be bothered, filters would go on that! I'm only using small one on GOTO mount to get an idea of location and what to be looking for. However, it gives nice images in its own right.