Possible M110 sighting

[ian_j_kirk]

I was observing M31 last night and was surprised at how clear the sky was. I managed to see M32 very clearly too in the same fov in my bst 18mm. Something else caught my eye however, a little furthur away from andromeda than M32 and at the 6 o'clock position there was a very feint fuzzy patch, and i was wondering if i had just seen M110?

Clear Skies

Ian

[AlexB67]

For me the clear give away is the angle it makes with respect to M31. It can be a bit hard to judge when you see it the first time, because the visible size of M31 can vary depending on the skies, so I found it a little guess work first time to know how far it should be when you are looking for it, but once you check in Stellarium beforehand you know what to expect for a known FOV.

Anyway, to me it sounds like you bagged it . In my case the 25mm BST gives quite a wide FOV since I only have a scope of 650mm focal length, so can see all three M32, M31, M110 in the same view comfortably, a pretty sight indeed, even if M110 is very faint with my aperture and location somewhat limiting it. I expect in your scope it would have looked somewhat more prominent under the same sky conditions.

[andrew63]

It sounds very likely to me also. It's further out and more of a hazy patch than M32 so your description sounds right. The clear darker skies help a lot. This sketch gives an indication of it's appearance and location.

The Great ‘Nebula’ in Andromeda | Astronomy Sketch of the Day

andrew

[ian_j_kirk]

Thanks guys, i believe i have it then! That sketch helped a lot Andrew thank you. That is exactly the dimensions/angles in which i saw them last night, except the view was flipped in my scope, with M110 being at the bottom and M32 top left.

Clear Skies

Ian

[swamp thing]

There's nothing else much around the area there, so it must have been it.

M110 responds to darker skies very well. It's surprisingly easy from dark sky sites. From LP ones it disappears into the murk quite quickly.

[Peter Drew]

It was visible in 15x70 binoculars on Monday night during the Perseid watch.

[Tinker1947]

I have always put a camera (1100D) in the focuser if a DSO is really dim, a single 1 minute images will show what it is and once you get use to winding out or in to gain camera focus it is really quite quick and does confirm what you looking at or not..