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How to find crab nebula

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Islander

Islander

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It's very faint, very small and you're going to need to let your eyes become completely dark adapted to see it. It lies on a line between Betelguese and Capella roughly a third of the total distance from Betelgeuse.

Good luck :)

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Double Kick Drum

Double Kick Drum

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It doesn't take much light pollution to wash M1 out. Even from my semi-rural location it is not always possible. The Crab nebula's reputation is probably more down to it being the remnant of a supernova recorded in history, rather than being one of the brightest observable objects in the night sky.

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bish

bish

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It's quite misty in Dudley. If it's the same in Wolves galaxies and nebula will be almost impossible. I tend to stick with bright clusters and planets on nights like tonight. Could try M35, M36, M37 and M38. I've just managed M1 from Dudley in my old 150p on a good night.

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Islander

Islander

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I do not understand how Messier could possibly have catalogued this so as not to mistake it for a comet. It is sooooooo faint. It must have got dimmer over the two centuries since his time.

Or the advent of street and other electric lighting has had a bit of an effect... :)

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jasonbirder

jasonbirder

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Its pretty uninspiring visually but satisfying to find both because its the first object in the messier catalogue and because of its historical association with a (relatively) recent supernova...

While faint its not that hard to find when the skies are dark...

Find Zeta Taurus which is the first bright star you come to scanning left from Aldeberan and hyades...

In your finderscope Zeta should be the brighter star at the point of an equilateral triangle of three stars...

centre the cross hairs on the "bottom left" star of the three...switch to a low powered eyepiece in your scope and M1 should be visible as a tiny grey smudge...

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Tinker1947

Tinker1947

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Messier found it as there was no light pollution. Maybe Mr Edison's invention came along a bit later?

Not to mention, motor vehicles, power station, 25 million central heating system, all pumping out in to the atmosphere, and its not going to get any better.....

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paul schofield

paul schofield

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Never found it yet after a year of looking. Hard to believe its first on the Messier list, no light pollution must be a great help. But then I am a total newbie and at least half the time I was looking with the moon in the sky. Let us know if you find it. Good luck.

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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What eyepiece were you using ? The 25mm will offer a larger exit pupil so a better chance of seeing it. Last night there was a lot of moisture in the air which LP bounces of making faint and fuzzes a nightmare to find but on a good night I can pick out M1 in a pair of 15x70's. Saying this I know what I am looking for so it may not always be obvious to a beginner.

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Rob L

Rob L

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I do not understand how Messier could possibly have catalogued this so as not to mistake it for a comet. It is sooooooo faint. It must have got dimmer over the two centuries since his time.

In TLAO they reckon M1 was probably twice as bright 200 years ago, and dim as it is today Messier probably wouldn't have included it in his catalog.

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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At dark sites with clear skies this is an easy object to find but as stated it's badly affected by lunar or light pollution and misty skies. I can pick out the central brighter knots with a UHC/Oiii filter and my 16" scope even at home where the light pollution is quite bad but only when the sky is darker e.g. at the Zenith. I have been able to detect it in similar circumstances with 15x70s and a 90mm refractor at home. Lowest power for sure.

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Northern Soul man

Northern Soul man

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Hi Ya Astro - under the light polluted skies of the Midlands - I try to stick to the brighter messier's probably between mags 8-10 to start with. M1 for me is there one night and not the next - depends on the transparency/background sky conditions - try a slightly higher mag say 70 - 100 ish - I tried in my 5" Mak a couple of nights ago - not even a hint of nebulosity - also tried for Comet Garradd last night in binocs - nothing there - but the sky was very hazy, find the location and sweep the sky around, on good nights you may be able to detect M1 - but that's all.

If you stick to the brighter objects, you have a better chance but if your searching for a faint object you might be in the right place but if the background sky is so bright as to make the object invisible- your gonna miss it, try the objects mentioned above, also the star clusters, brighter planetary nebulae -the 1 in Draco and the Eskimo in Gemini come to mind, these look a lot brighter than their Magnitude suggests - because they are "smaller" objects and not so spread out as to make their overall surface brightness easier to see.

Happy hunting, its always best to make a try for the brighter objects, because with the light pollution, its not a case of not looking in the right place, its just being able to see the fainter objects against a "washed out" sky - I know - very frustrating - I think the Comets mag is around 6 - not faint as Comets are - but I couldn't even detect anything.

I know I sound a little defeative - but not the case - I absolutely LOVE Astronomy and have done so for many years - we have just got to make the best of what we have here in the very light polluted West Midlands.

All the best Astro and yes - CLEAR skies to us all!!!! Paul.

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Helen

Helen

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I failed to find it last night at home, but saw it clearly at a dark site a couple of nights ago. When I was first trying to find it, and failing regularly!, what actually helped me was reading that it looked like a small thumb print, somehow that made my brain know what to look for. When you find it it'll be all the sweeter for the long search!

Helen

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JonnyP

JonnyP

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It's quite misty in Dudley. If it's the same in Wolves galaxies and nebula will be almost impossible. I tend to stick with bright clusters and planets on nights like tonight. Could try M35, M36, M37 and M38. I've just managed M1 from Dudley in my old 150p on a good night.

I was out with my 8yr old daughter last night and we looked at M37, but it was so misty here we could barely pick it out. We had what looked like a dark sky above surrounded by orangey glow.

Imo M1 is easy to find but very difficult to see. I have seen it very faintly from my light polluted back yard. I woudn't have bothered last night - would have been lucky to see M31..

But once you've found M1 it's easy to find again.

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