M72/73 at last

[Walshie79]

Been hunting these two on and off since the summer, and thought I'd have a go tonight as its clear and they will be culminating in twilight soon. The outlines of Capricornus and Aquarius revealed themselves very easily, so the hunt began. With the help of my Messier charts on my phone I found the two triangles below Epsilon Aqr that are key. After a few minutes M73- just an asterism- revealed itself above and slightly west of the southern triangle. At first it appeared like one star, but after looking a few times it became visible with direct vision and I thought I saw 2 or maybe 3.

M72 on the other hand I found very difficult, on a par with M74. Normally globulars show up well in my binoculars but this one was an averted vision only job, and took several glances and checks of the chart- it is just below an 8 or 9 mag star underneath the northern "triangle"- to confirm the faint smudge I could just perceive was in the right place.

Not two of the most spectacular Messiers but they were the only autumn ones I was missing so pleased to finally find them. Might try for M76 later if it stays clear....

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. These were my last two Messier objects, but I had Olly's 20" Dob at my disposal, and I was further south, so it was easy for me.

[Walshie79]

Got M76 too, that was just as hard as M72. Another averted vision only object that was difficult to nail down because at times it appeared stellar, at other times fuzzy- as always the star charts were invaluable in pinning it down. Must have circled my neck about 20 times checking it was definitely there, and in the right place.

M77 was visible again, but couldn't definitely see M74 tonight (I got it a couple of weeks ago).