Just bagged The Crab

[chiltonstar]

Managed some sort of bright core and an elongated shape to M1 this morning. Taurus was very high and clear, bit better than the normal light polluted view,

Nick.

I included M1 in my list for last night and was pleasantly surprised - the best view I've ever had of it (except with a "real" scope), with a clear shape even with direct vision, and a hint of detail - mottling and darker areas - with averted vision. My UHC filter didn't help much so I stuck to unfiltered. It was best at the lowest mag (x37.5, 5" Mak) I could get, as even though the sky brightness was higher, the Crab itself stood out far more clearly. I've found this before - folks say there's no point in using a 40mm EP with a 5" Mak, nevertheless the combination works well with certain low surface brightness Messier objects.

Chris

[Astro_king]

I have never been able to see the crab.. At our astronomy club.. I was told that I wont be able to see it that night just because of the atmospheric conditions.. i fancy how it would look in my dob to be honest..

[jason.p]

Oddly, the Crab was one of the quickest DSOs I've found so far (and that's not many!). I moved out from Aldebaran to Z Tauri and scanned around slightly to the NW and dropped right on it. Couldn't see any detail, (if there's any to see!) but I'm pretty sure it was M1. As it seems to be one of the more difficult ones, it's quite encouraging as I'm still not quite sure of the capabilities of my set up.

[Astralstroll]

Im glad that Im not the only eprson to have strugged with M1. I have found it a few times in the Dob, but its always somewhat of a disappointing sight to say the least. Still, its impressive when you think of what you are looking at.

Dave.

PS Nothing wrong with becoming a Messier nerd! Welcome to the club.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I found M1 really tricky to start with, looked for it a good 4 or 5 times without success, then one night, lined up where i thought it was and i was directly on it.

I use to find when i started, i expected them to be absoloutely massive with signs and arrows pointing to it! So i didn't notice all these little smudges

[SwampStar]

You're right there, Matt. I think that once you find your first DSO, you get used to what you're looking for. I feel they are all now much easier to spot. But try pointing them out to a newbie...

[Astralstroll]

It certainly is hard work trying to show a faint and fuzzy DSO to a beginner. Im sure they think were just making them up sometimes!

Dave.