The great cluster in hercules?

[JamesNNicholson]

Hello Fellas,

So i've had my scope a month now and i'm starting to find my way around it and the stars, finally! Anyway, i've had fairly clear skies the last couple of nights so i've been out in the yard trying to catch a glimpse of something 'exotic'!

First up I had a look at the mizar double star and could clearly make out the mizar double, alcor and a fourth star too. My wife seemed a little underwhelmed when i showed her but i was quite chuffed with my find. Next up i really wanted to see a galaxy, now i know i wont be able to see hubble like images but was hoping to see an image like the book 'turn left at orion' shows, but sadly after searching for m109 and m51 i couldn't find them. I found small pin pricks of light but they looked more like stars. Would i be better off trying to find andromeda?

Lastly i decided to try and find the hercules cluster, after a little searching i came across a small grey fuzzy patch of light. With higher magnification the grey patch became larger but i couldn't make out and individual stars. I'm fairly certain i was in the right area but do you guys think it was the star cluster?

Thanks James

[JamesF]

Andromeda must be one of the easiest galaxies to find, certainly, though faint objects are hard at the moment with the moon still about.

What sort of scope do you have? It may be that you can't expect to see that much definition in M13.

James

[Tinker1947]

If you don't have Stellarium this would help find stuff, also a Telrad, as for seeing Galaxies, there out there but you need dark sky's M51 will show like cats eyes, with good seeing i can make out the dust lanes, but certainly not when there's a Moon out there.....

[lhuchison]

What telescope have you got James? it depends on magnification and clarity . I searched for 2 nights for a DSO (deep space object)and when i finally found it, it was a grey smear of light! still felt elated though.

I find with DSO,s its great to find them but they dont have the knockout image of a planet or moon

[bigrbuk]

I started recently and found my first grey blob quite early. I have a heritage 130p and had found the great globular cluster. With the supplied pieces and an untrained eye, I couldn't quite make out individual stars - an upgrade on my eyepieces and a couple more weeks viewing and I could clearly see distinct stars with normal and averted vision.

Bear in mind there was no moon up when I looked, I've not tried while the moons been around, although that itself is work a look

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Globs are funny targets and unless conditions are almost perfect can be hard to resolve into stars unless you have a monster scope. In my 200p on an average night with no moon i can just about resolve most of m13, though its more of a sprinkling of fine dust than an epic ball of diamonds.

Give it time, after a while you learn to see these subtle details. It sounds weird but it's definitely something you learn.

[TheNorthernMonkey]

I can just make out individual stars in my ED80, but its quite dark here in Northumberland. The longer you look, the more you see. That was after about 10-15min

[crashtestdummy]

at the moment i cant find m51 in a 12" dob so dont be too disheartened.m13 is fairly easy to actually find but obviously how dark your viewing area is and the size of your scope will determine the level of detail you see.try for m57 the ring nebula,always a stunner and takes high magnification well too and is fairly straightforward to find

[barkis]

Globular Clusters are magnificent objects in a telescope, and larger aperture instruments certainly enhance the view, and resolution of these clusters..

The Hercules globulars are superb, M13 taking pride of place as the northern hemispheres finest globular.

However, M92, also resides in the Hercules constellation, and is not that much inferior to M13, and well worth visiting.

Ron.

[JamesM]

Tinker mentioned 'Stellarium' and I would certainly endorse its use as it can help you plan ahead or, as in this case, confirm for sure what you saw. You can view Stellarium here. If I was looking for it tonight as I write this reply to you, I would need to be facing due West and looking up at an angle of about 30 degrees - was this your direction?

James

[JamesNNicholson]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have stellarium and am learning the rough direction of objects quite well, the only problem being that the finder scope that came with my scope isn't much cop, i got the celestron powerseeker 127 eq. Anyway, just been out with it and viewed the hercules cluster again and seemed brighter, also viewed alberio which is very nice, also had a look at the ring nebula and i'm sure i could make it out as a ring. Pretty sure i found m56 cluster too but it was very dim.

If these clear skies keep up, i think lack off sleep might become an issue

Thanks James

[JamesNNicholson]

Tinker mentioned 'Stellarium' and I would certainly endorse its use as it can help you plan ahead or, as in this case, confirm for sure what you saw. You can view Stellarium here. If I was looking for it tonight as I write this reply to you, I would need to be facing due West and looking up at an angle of about 30 degrees - was this your direction?

James

Yes James thanks

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'm a bit confused with this thread. Is it asking about the Andromeda galaxy or the double cluster in Perseus?

[Stu]

Think it's talking about M13 Paul

Stu

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

A 5" scope would struggle to see individual stars, unless conditions are perfect. In my 80mm APM triplet, I can make out a hint of "diamond dust" in averted vision from the French Alps under near perfect conditions. With moonlight I need my C8 to see the stars.