help with m94?

[algol]

ok guys and gals in need of your knowledge here.

was scanning canes venatici as you do. and bout half way up and to the left i saw a faint smude with brighter middle and a nearby faint star. checked my book and it shows m94 roughly there.

however no pics and all the pics i've found on line are astrophotography quality and so didn't look like the faint fuzzy i saw.

so in your opinion did i see it? or am i still stuck on 8 messiers?

[Sam]

Did it look like this?

(click to enlarge)

Sam

[algol]

possibly mate, but fainter as in a lot fainter like a very light grey but with white middle. not sure whether it was 94 (right area) or m63 roughly right shape but bit further out? hmmm

[vemarstar]

If it looked like a fuzzy out of focus star i would say yes thats M94, i located this object 2 weeks ago and iam now looking for M63, M64, M101 but no results yet.

[algol]

thanks all think i saw m103 as well but not overly sure, was a large area of stars just above one of the V's in cass.

so i added that to list to. woo hoo double figures for messiers.

[Talitha]

Jmho, the best way to determine whether or not you've definitely seen something is to make a rough sketch with as wide of an fov as you have. Include two compass points, scope used, and your eyepiece (see below).

With that info, you'll be able to determine the magnification and fov, and then it's just a matter of matching your sketch to a star chart.

[GazOC]

Stephen O'Mearas book has sketches of what you can expect to see through the eyepiece, as well as how to find the objects and background info on them.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Sky-Companions-Messier-Deep-sky/dp/0521553326

[Casus belli]

You may find this site helpful too

http://seds.org/~spider/ngc/ngc.html

Where it tells you to type in NGC number just type in "M94" (or whatever Messier object your'e looking for)

[barkis]

M94 is a tight spiral, and according to Messiers Album, even the 200 inch image of this in the Hubble atlas of galaxies, barely show the tight spiral arms. It is 7 x 3 minutes of arc, and there is a faint halo surrounding it, which is half the diameter of the full moon.

Ron.

[vemarstar]

Well i also think i saw it 2 weeks ago have a book called turn left at orion, and the sketch and information matched what i saw but good idea to sketch fov or a book at what you see in the eyepiece.

Turn left at orion is a great book but only gives you certain objects but not all the catalogue of messier objects.