M57 RING NEBULA

[estwing]

aA first for me last night, and once located it's easy to go back to. Found with 40mm i was brave enough to crank up the power and the best result was with the 16mm 94x mag. The smoke ring was clearly visable and i think there was a hint of colour, but once again it was more like "wanting" to see colour...

[andrew63]

It's a lovely object - one of the 'gems' of the night sky. Good job in spotting it.

andrew

[AndyH]

It's a cracker and one of my all time favs along with M13 in Hercules.

Simply wonderful in my 200K, especially.

Two that I go back to, again and again.

[Mike73]

My first time for M57 and for me it was probably the highlight of my night, probably one of my favourites along with the Whirlpool galaxy.

Surprisingly easy find after going for fainter galaxies all night but I ramped my mag upto x187 and after a while could just detect more detail inside the ring.

Was good to get back out there after so long though eh?

[stevetynant]

I'm going to make that my target for tonight - one at a time- and yes Mike its brilliant to get out again - gonna have a late session tonight as long as the frost doesn't take over

[Mike73]

If you have a UHC filter then its well worth using it Steve, really helped improve the contrast.

[stevetynant]

Its on the shopping list Mike but I've promised myself no more spend this year so - naked eyeballs out only I'm afraid.

[rory]

Its on the shopping list Mike but I've promised myself no more spend this year so - naked eyeballs out only I'm afraid.

its still a fantastic site, i had my first view in my improved apeture and it is a great object. big grey (hint of blue ?) smokering or dounut. i coildnt make out the centre hole in my 3" refractor from my location, but easily seen with the dob.

[John]

Congratulations on finding The Ring estwing

I prefer the unfiltered view of M57 personally. I used high power on it last night with my 10" newtonian (240x) and it looked rather spectacular with lots of contrast variations in the "ring" structure and darker central area. Higher magnifications seem to enhance the contrast on some objects I find.

The Dumbell nebula (M27) in Vulpecula is another planetary nebula that is well worth seeking out. It's a larger object than The Ring and it's fuzzy "apple core" shape can be made out in quite small aperture scopes.

I also had a peek at M97, the Owl nebula in Ursa Major last night. Its rather large and faint but well worth finding. A UHC or O-III filter really brings this one out but the nearby galaxy, M108 does a disappearing act when the filter goes in so it's worth trying for it unfiltered too.

[estwing]

i did try 6.7mm(227x) but it was soon across my fov, a UHC looks like my next purchase and then a proper 5mm quality ep,perhaps decent 26mm 2" ep...oh why did i get my old scope out the loft last year:rolleyes:..m27 you are next!

[Dunkster]

M57 is great - was having a good look at 140x last night, just getting to a nice altitude

[DazC]

I too viewed M57 last night and could see the centre "hole" with my 7mm ep. It is a small nebula but still clear with 130mm of apature.

I can't even start to imagine what it must look like through a 10 or 12" scope.

D.C

[estwing]

it's not always about the size....more about the skies!!

[swamp thing]

What colour did you suspect you were seeing? Out of interest.

[tombulgin]

Agreed, UHC makes a real difference for The Ring neb.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have spotted hints of blue-green and magenta from really good sites with my 8" scope. A bigger scope at the same magnification could show more pronounced colour.

[cotterless45]

I viewed M57 at x100. I was getting a light greeny blue colour. It was certainly dramatic.

Don't forget that the double double E Lyrae is near ,as is delta ;red and white double.

I also dropped down to below Beta in Hercules to find the faint galaxy NGC6181.

Also, if it's high enough Ophiochus has some stunners under Hercules, nice.

Nick.

[swamp thing]

I have spotted hints of blue-green and magenta from really good sites with my 8" scope. A bigger scope at the same magnification could show more pronounced colour.

I've seen blue through my old 16" from a fair site. Trouble is when I get to really great sites I forget about observing the bright objects and go hunting for real dim objects. It's a time thing I suppose.

Maybe this summer/fall I'll think about my observing list and put in a few brighter ones too.

[Beulah]

I have spotted hints of blue-green and magenta from really good sites with my 8" scope. A bigger scope at the same magnification could show more pronounced colour.

I can vouch for this as I have seen the same.

[estwing]

to be honest guys the colour that i thought i saw is the same bluey shade as this forums boarders!!!...or am i spending to long on here:icon_eek:...hope to get to my D.S.S on at the week-end, with better skies and alt, maybe more will be "seen".

[Matthew]

We held our monthly observing session on the weekend and m57 was one of the highlights of the night,unfiltered using my 9mm scientific explorer ( 100* version ) in my 12" flextube it showed hints of green and blue,it looked magical !!! ( I've never heard so many wows ! ).

[todd8137]

Glad you found it I must have passed it 20 times till I realis that was it

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Glad you found it I must have passed it 20 times till I realis that was it

Like many planetaries, the Ring needs a bit of magnification, or else you can easily mistake it for a star. Some other planetaries actually require a lot more than the Ring does.

[DazC]

it's not always about the size....more about the skies!!

Too true.

A dark sky the best tool in anybodys kit.

D.C

[Antscope]

One of the first "intentional" objects I found late 2011 here in Canada at our clubs dark site, lots of wow factor for me, seemed almost holographic at first, slipped in the UHC my dear wife bought me and double wow..