Dark skies: from ooh! to bah!

[pajr777]

M81/82 are gonna be my targets tonight. so far my Messier objects are.... wait for it... M45,M42,M43... please don't laugh too loud.

No-ones laughing - 10 days ago I had zero Messiers and one moon on my list

[haitch]

don't like them but work dictates bed for 23.00/24.00 but i'll certainly give it a go asap. also very new at this.

if only they had nametags for us newbies...

There is a nice app on the iPhone if you have one (sorry to bang on about iPhones) called Messier List. It's free and has info and a fairly realistic picture of each of them together with a check list so you can tick them off when you've done them.

M13 should be visible before midnight if you can find somewhere with a low Easterly horizon.

[Scott]

M13 should be visible before midnight if you can find somewhere with a low Easterly horizon.

i've got great views of a low eastern sky from my garden, unfortunately it's right over the top of stoke-on trent. doesn't stop me from trying though. southern and western skies are pretty good though

[haitch]

i've got great views of a low eastern sky from my garden, unfortunately it's right over the top of stoke-on trent. doesn't stop me from trying though. southern and western skies are pretty good though

The nice thing about M13, being a glob, is it has a better surface brightness thsan the galaxies so should still be doable.

[pajr777]

Bingo - and it isn't really properly dark yet :(

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions!!

At twilight I had a play around with the setting circles trying to move between the moon and Venus. My scope appears to have a backwards RA dial (I'm probably not doing it right)

So abandoned that and as soon as I could make out UMa I started following DKD's alternate route - and bam! Right on the money - one circular blob and one elongated blob. Now ruined my night vision posting this but wanted to say THANKS SGL!!! First Galactic Light in the TAL

[pajr777]

Spent a good half an hour between M81 and M82. Seemed only reasonable to take a good look - after all, those photons spent almost 12 million years on their journey to my retina

Come in for a cuppa and to print charts for M13 - gotta be worth a late night for

Might even pull up a chair for this one, enough grass stains on my jeans already

[Stu]

Double Kick Drum, great minds obviously think alike. The method you describe is exactly the one I use. I think it gets you much more accurately into them than the TLAO way

Stu

[Scott]

YESSSS!!! M81/82. starting to wonder if i'd ever get there without goto. once i had them inview i was too scared to go looking for anything else incase i couldn't find them again. can't wait to see them from dark skies. i really hope the neighbours weren't watching

[pajr777]

M13 in the bag too

[Moonshane]

M81/82 are gonna be my targets tonight. so far my Messier objects are.... wait for it... M45,M42,M43... please don't laugh too loud.

hey, don't say that - everyone starts at 1).

[Stargazer_00]

Good job They're awesome aren't they?

On the Messier collection; no one on here will laugh at all. If all you ever wanted to do was look at the Orion nebula, every day and you spent thousands on a scope to do it I highly doubt anyone would say anything. If that's what you want, if thats what ticks your box then all the better for you, you have a ticked box. there isnt much more worthwhile in life than having a ticked box

[haitch]

Damn, you'll catch me up and make me feel inferior soon!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

hey, don't say that - everyone starts at 1).

Have you got NGC 1 yet

[pajr777]

Have you got NGC 1 yet

Mag 13.6...... "You're going to need a bigger boat scope"

[Moonshane]

Have you got NGC 1 yet

hardy har har!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Mag 13.6...... "You're going to need a bigger boat scope"

My scope is just a bit too small, but a 12" may be up to it.

[Scott]

M13 in the bag too

nice one. good on ya!

[Scott]

Mag 13.6...... "You're going to need a bigger boat scope"

careful, we'll start comparing scars, i mean scopes soon. lol

[pajr777]

Downloaded the Sky at Night 55 year anniversary marathon - Sir Patrick Moore's 55 favourite things to view in April. One item on the list is M81/82.

Following a couple of hours over two nights, asking for help on this thread and then hitting the target in five minutes last night, I had another go tonight to tick it off the list on the marathon.

Time to find: 90 secs!! It's so much easier when you know where they are