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m33...at last

WayBig

By WayBig
in Observing - Deep Sky

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WayBig

WayBig

Posted
Posted

Hurray, after trying many timed from different locations with different scopes I finally picked out the elusive M33 last night.

waiting until the council very kindly switched off half of the streetlights in the area at midnight I took out my 15x70s as I often have trouble navigating to the right spot for m33 with my dob so thought I'd use the wider field.

...and there it was, within seconds I'd picked out the slight brightening of the sky inside a little trapezium of stars. Faint but visible with direct vision and unmistakeable.

Now with more enthusiasm I rushed in to get the dob and set that up. It took a few minutes to sweep the area before the faint grey patch swung into the field. Brightening slightly towards the centre, but with no obvious mottling it was a lovely sight. I moved away from it re-found it and just took it all in for about 30 minutes before stepping away from the eyepiece and looking up. I could make out the milky way as a faint strip overhead, so the sky conditions were pretty good.

As it was getting late I quickly swung up to andromeda and enjoyed my best view ever of that along with it's satellite galaxies, then a quick glimpse of Jupiter which had made it above the hedge...then that was it for the night.

A big thank you to Welwyn Hatfield council for their astro-friendly policy of switching list out.....Can you do it at 10pm instead :-)

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Stu

Stu

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Yes, very tricky one. Low surface brightness which means it gets washed out easily by light pollution or the moon. Sounds like your skies were really good last night, must have felt very good to see it, well done!

Stu

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estwing

estwing

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i've been struggling with this for ages..but last night managed to spot it with naked eye..so out came the bins,easy to find now! then blow me bagged m1 with bins..couldn't find this all last winter,but at 12:48 am spotted.bring on that peak star-party!!!

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estwing

estwing

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Great one Estwing. I seem to remember spotting M1 first in binos from dark site too. Had spent years looking for it, literally!

Very much looking forward to PSP too :D

Stu

...wow stu,thats gonna be a heck of a drive for you!
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Stu

Stu

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It is a bit of a trek, but the wife has relatives in Bakewell so we can make the most of the trip. Will be a bit hefty because I've not got any leave so it will be a drive up Friday after work, and back early monday morning straight to work. Will need to catch up on sleep during the day.

Stu

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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:shocked:M33 a naked eye target...where do you get those bionic eyes? Do FLO stock them? :-)

It sure is. If the site is good enough some people can indeed see it with the naked eye. I believe that some people with extremely keen eyesight have glimpsed M81 from very good dark sites with the naked eye too. :eek:

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estwing

estwing

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well went out M.W was very prominent,had a look round and do you know when you think somethings there but not sure,as if there's a mark on your glasses..got the bins out looked at it,dropped the bins down and realised the triangle was to the left..m33 naked eye too right!..m81.bode's very ocassionally from my garden...are my skies good? :icon_scratch:

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WayBig

WayBig

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well went out M.W was very prominent,had a look round and do you know when you think somethings there but not sure,as if there's a mark on your glasses..got the bins out looked at it,dropped the bins down and realised the triangle was to the left..m33 naked eye too right!..m81.bode's very ocassionally from my garden...are my skies good? :icon_scratch:

Yes indeedy

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Stevie816

Stevie816

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Hi Waybig

I had just the same experiences with M33. Really began to doubt myself . I could find lots of stuff but Never M33. Then finally a realy dark night and There it was,

I decided then not to spend any more money on gear but on petrol instead !. And also try to be patient. The second is the best lesson I have learnt.

Nice to tick off M33 though eh! but I don.t think I will go back very often.

Regards

Steve

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