M31

[kirkster501]

I had my best ever views of M31 last night with my newly rebuilt SW 12" Dob and a 35mm Panoptic EP.  I have never seen it so well before.  Also, I had never appreciated that M32 and M110 were so far away from the nucleus !  Visually at least there is clear sepreration between the nucleus and the two satellite galaxies.  I did not expect ths gap, which of course gets "filled in" with nebulosity in images.

A wonderful site.  In darker skies I think I woudl have seen the dust lanes.

[arrayschism]

Great stuff - I recently saw M31 for the first time in my SW 12" dob. It knocked my socks off  being able to see the dust lanes

[cotterless45]

Superb ! Had a look last night, M 110 was particularly bright. I searched for G1, the M31 globular, it's quite a way out to the right. Did spot a non stellar at that position, gripped sorted !

Nick.

[kirkster501]

Thanks for the tip about G1 - I shall look for that next time.

[Naemeth]

There is a big separation isn't there between M31 and M110, not so much with M32 I've found, at least at 50x

[kirkster501]

Completely fabulous.  I am hooked on the big Dob now.  I felt "hemmed in" with the long FL of my SCT before selling it.

Wonder what its like with a 16" or 20" Dob?

[Mike73]

Dark skies will make that separation alot smaller if you get to somewhere really good, the views with my 16" are very nice but my widest EP only shows 1.1˚ so you can't fit it all in so I have to say that I preferred M31 through my old 12" SW!

I love my 16" and I wouldnt change it for the world but personally I think that a good 12" scope is hard to beat.

[ollypenrice]

With a 2O inch at a dark site the separation is still there but it isn't so bizzarely different from images. Different it is, though. I can just fit the nucleus of M31 and both satellites in the FOV of a 26 Nagler.

It is then fun to try to find the outer 'ends' of M31 which seem to go on forever, getting forever fainter.

What an incredible sight.

Olly

[jetstream]

I have seen m32 "drowned" out by the glow of m31-there is a bit of separation between m110 and the same glow,but not much when my sky is good.When m31 is this good,I also can see dust lanes-the Ethos 17mm provides m31 & sattelites in same fov,& the lanes by just moving a bit...

[Mike73]

This is a bit of a ropey sketch of M31 and companions but I remember the gap between galaxies and the galaxy brightness being very similar to the sketch. 

[jetstream]

Great sketch!Wish I could draw.Very similar to what I see but the glow is a bit more extensive,up into M32, and M110 is brighter.Your dust lanes seem more defined,but almost the same as my best views.Is the SQM accurate?I was thinking of one.Your TFOV is the same as mine,but to see the dust lanes best I move the scope around a bit.Which eyepiece?

[Mike73]

Great sketch!Wish I could draw.Very similar to what I see but the glow is a bit more extensive,up into M32, and M110 is brighter.Your dust lanes seem more defined,but almost the same as my best views.Is the SQM accurate?I was thinking of one.Your TFOV is the same as mine,but to see the dust lanes best I move the scope around a bit.Which eyepiece?

Thanks.

The SQM reading was taken by a SQM meter at zenith so yes that was an accurate measurement. The meters come in really handy when trying new dark sites, not an necessity but a handy little thing to have.

I used a 26mm Nagler for that sketch.

http://darkskysketches.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=m31

[Luke]

I will never forget my best view of M31 in a SW12 dob at the Kelling Heath star party. Awesome! Dust lanes and the core so bright.

[Ccolvin968]

I feel like I need to upgrade from my 5" scope to a bigger one. I just got it, love it, but things like this make me want a bigger one!!

[kirkster501]

No point in having a bigger scope unless you have somewhere to store it or else it will be a white elephant.  Back onto the subject of M31it is a sight that rewards bigger apertures, especially when well collimated.  A 20 inch Dob like Olly's would be fabulous!

[rory]

Kirkster, your right about m110 / m32 . Can be confusing at first for the first few times. I went by images and photos I'd viewed and couldn't see any companions, but once you realise that unless you in a very dark location with good conditions , then there is a surprisingly large gap between them , particularly m110. Great sights though eh .