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First Galaxy!!!!

Bowdie

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Bowdie

Bowdie

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After posting for advice a few weeks ago about upgrading my 10 inch Dob to a goto I followed the 'heed and caution' and modded my scope with a easy susan, setting circle and wixey. Well tonight is the first time I have had clear skies and with the help of stellarium am very pleased to say i have now seen the Andromeda Galaxy! Woo Hoo!

I now understand the term feint fuzzy but love it!

Thanks to all those who give valuble advise when i was frustrated. Off to look for other DSO's now =)

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dtr42

dtr42

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excellent start ,the dumbell neb and ring neb are decent finds as well and m13,m92 are worth a wee peak and then etc etc etc lol having fun is the main thing tbh ,orion neb is realy nice at the moment but its early hours im afraid 2am till sunrise for me [i take dog out at 6am so have been lucky klast few days as its been crystal clear [ glasgow lp lucky to see 6-8 stars last few mornings 18-20 stars and the nebula is stunning on my 8" flextube so on your 10" would be even nicer]

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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I LOVE observing/hunting galaxies, be it in my scope(s) or my 20x90 bins. Sure they only appear as faint fuzzies, but my brain kicks in and i feel (in my minds eye) i see them as i see them all as the brilliant online images.

Yes with more aperture i do start to see more detail....but it blows me away to think that they are so far away and the light from them took this long to reach my eyeball.

Once you spot your first galaxy...............you will always be able to detect them pretty quickly when observing.

They appear as faint smudges (or clouds) against the blackness of space.

Its ALWAYS a thrill to to locate a new galaxy that you have never seen before.

I have come to a conclusion where i think my main area of interest is locating and viewing planetary nebulae.

They are so stunning.

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Double Kick Drum

Double Kick Drum

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Congratulations on bagging M31, 2.3 million light years away. Presumably your most distant object to date.

There are so many fuzzies up there to keep you occupied. As DTR42 says, M57 the Ring nebula and M27 the Dumbbell nebula are two nice planetary nebula to go for.

If you fancy trying for another galaxy, try looking at Andromeda again. M32 is a small elliptical galaxy in the same field of view as M31. It is feinter and considerably smaller but not too diffcult to see. Another one to go for is M81 in Ursa Major and its side-on companion M82 in the same field of view.

As you find more of these objects your eyes will get used to seeing ever wispier and feinter fuzzies. A 10" scope should be capable of seeing a few hundred in total, subject to the quality of your sky.

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JamesM

JamesM

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My congratulations too on your new discovery and of the modifications that you made in helping you to find her! There's plenty more to look at and Stellarium will certainly help you with some more ideas.

Hope the weather plays along for your next outing.

James

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Qualia

Qualia

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Really nice to see a positive thread like this one. Great stuff. If you're around that area another evening, do spend a little time with Jupiter and say hiya to Gamma Andromedae - quite easily one of the most beautiful doubles in our corner of the Milky Way.

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firstscope

firstscope

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Really nice to see a positive thread like this one. Great stuff. If you're around that area another evening, do spend a little time with Jupiter and say hiya to Gamma Andromedae - quite easily one of the most beautiful doubles in our corner of the Milky Way.

Gamma Andromedae? now am off 2 research :smiley:

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Stargazer33

Stargazer33

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Congratulation for finding M31 and well done for sticking with it!

As someone said above, try for the ring nebula or the dumbell. The ring nebula (M57) is fairly easy to find being between beta and gamma lyrea (the lower two stars, away from Vega).

Also try the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, M13 - real impressive at higher magnifications. I honestly said 'Oh Wow!' when I looked at this one a few weeks back with my 10 mm ep. This is also fairly easy to find as you can follow the line of the constellation between two stars.

Here's to clear skies!

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Rustmonkey

Rustmonkey

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great feeling to make that first DSO discovery. My LP in the backgarden is poor fortunately Lyra is in the opposite direction so M57 is a great spot. I intend to have a pop at the Dumbell next. seen it visually and looks bigger than the ring so will try and get some phoyons on my CCD.

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bluemarkus

bluemarkus

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good on ya mate.whenever you got some leftover pocket money think about getting an UHC filter. it costs u some 50 bucks but gives better vision for most DSOs. i´ll tell you a secret my favourite galaxy is an unknown one. go to the canes venatici right next to the big dipper. it has 2 main stars. the lower brighter one and the upper dimmer one. go from the bigger lower to the upper dimmer one and then just a wee bit beyond. thats my favourite galaxy. its supereasy to find and well visible.

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dtr42

dtr42

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good on ya mate.whenever you got some leftover pocket money think about getting an UHC filter. it costs u some 50 bucks but gives better vision for most DSOs. i´ll tell you a secret my favourite galaxy is an unknown one. go to the canes venatici right next to the big dipper. it has 2 main stars. the lower brighter one and the upper dimmer one. go from the bigger lower to the upper dimmer one and then just a wee bit beyond. thats my favourite galaxy. its supereasy to find and well visible.

is that the sunflower galaxy m63 or the whirllpool galaxy m51
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