Wonderful M5

[Pondus]

If you take your time reading this; please bear with me: English is not my first language, nor is Astronomish.

27.April  01.00 GMT+1 .  59N°

After working through the whole Easter week and then some, I finally had a chance to spend some time stargazing. I decided to take a look at globular clusters. M3 and M13 were the natural targets for a novice like me.

 I have yet to test the 'Intelliscope' part of my ‘new’ XT8i, so I use the RACI, which is really excellent for browsing the sky with its 5° fov, but I find it very difficult to locate a star with it in the first place (telrad or similar a must for me even with the intelliscope up and running). 

After struggling for an embarrassing long time I finally found Arcturus and used this lovely star as a starting point for both M3 and M13.

While M13 certainly is impressive, M3 was a disappointment. I just could not resolve anything no matter what I tried. When I increased magnification it lost contrast. I`ve seen M3 before and I recall it being so much better than this night. I am positive that is was M3 I was looking at by the way.                 I finally gave up this cluster and moved the scope to take a look at Saturn.

After a brief view of Saturn, I remembered that another globular cluster,M5, would be not too far above the planet this season.

I looked into the RACI while moving the scope upwards, and it didn’t take long before I saw a hazy spot. When I looked into the eyepiece, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Barely 29° above the horizon, M5 was an absolutely brilliant view. So many resolved stars, great contrast to the surprisingly darkish background, considering it being so low in the sky. It took high magnification really well, and it most certainly gave me one of my best stargazing  moments.

 I found this cluster to be definitely brighter than M3 and M13. What an amazing view.

I had simply not expected M5 would surpass M3, and dare I say M13, tonight or any nights for that matter. It has clearly become one of my favorite objects in the night sky.

I recall  previous (and recent) SGL threads where people rate M5 really high, but is it in general slightly underestimated compared to M3 and especially M13?

Rune

[knobby]

Lovely report... I've yet to see My but if its better / similar to M13 I'll be hunting it down soon

Thankyou

[faulksy]

nothing wrong with your english, its better than mine. lovely report and well done, have a look at the virgo cluster when you can, you will be in for a surprise

[StarSapling]

Nice report.  M5 is also my favorite globular.  It just seems to have much more character than the other globulars in the area.  Quite frankly, I think M13 is over rated:  it is large, bright and easy to find, but if M92 were the same size and brightness, it would blow M13 away.

[Stu]

Well, both your English and your Astronomish are excellent, no need to apologise! :-)

Personally I really like M13 and often forget about M5. I must look at it next time out. They are very similar size and brightness so I'm sure it will just be down to personal aesthetic preferences. Both are well worth a look.

Stu

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SteveB72]

Great report thanks, I also enjoy looking at Globular clusters, they are all good for me.

I can also recommend the Rigel Quickfinder, mine is excellent does exactly as the name suggests.

[southernman]

Nice report. I'll have to give this a look assuming it gets high enough for my location.

Peter