m57?

[algol]

ok so last night i was hunting the ring again, and not having much luck to be honest. when all of a sudden a very tiny blue star pops into my view, however it seemed to have a slight ring structure to it. immediately got all giddy and decide to jam the barlow in to try and get some size to it.

however as is usually the case it was gone, and lots of searching couldn't recapture it even after droppig down a mag.

so did i see the ring or not? i've hear dthat it is gray not blue and maybe the ring shape was just a case of your eyes showing you what you want to see.

anyway right area but maybe not it.

any help would be a bonus

[Andrew*]

I reckon you saw it. When I first saw it I thought it was an out of focus star.

Pop in a wide angle eyepiece, go to the vicinity by use of an RDF, and look for a "large" star. Circle the area until a "large" star appears, then centre it. If you drift too far, re-check your charts, go back to the area again, and slew around again.

Once centred, lock the mount axes, centre it perfectly and start upping the power, until it starts to fade.

As for where to look - find Vega, the brightest star in the NE (~11pm) / E (~2am). Just below it you should see two stars in line with Vega. Parallel to those two stars a little further down are two more stars (the same distance apart as the first two, and a little brighter). The ring nebula is half-way between those. If your light pollution is worse that limiting magnitude 4, you will need binoculars or a magnifying finder to locate these stars.

Finding new objects can give an incredible uplifting sensation and give you a sense of achievement, but it takes lots of practice. Keep trying every night you're out. If it takes too long to find, try for a different target and then go back to it when you're ready. Before long you will develop a real skill and it gets easier and easier from then on. But avoid trying to findvery dim objects close to the horizon or in very bad light pollution. It will take forever!

HTH

Andrew

[Casus belli]

Yeah it sounds to me like you caught a glimpse of it. Even in my 250mm dob its a small target.

I'd suggest that next time you think you have it, instead of uping the magnification you try adverted vision. That is look at a nearby star in the same field of view. With luck and some practice you should be able to see the ring more clearly using this method.

The ever changing conditions of the british night sky will also make a difference. If you can't get it, change targets for 20 minutes or so then try again. And of course the great bane of all astronomers is light pollution. The less there is the more chance you have of seeing the ring.

[GazOC]

I've found you can throw high magnifications at M57, as Andrew said just centre on the "out of focus star" and pop in an eyepiece that'll give you x100-x150. It can be hard to find the first time but really is hard to miss once you know where to look.

[Russell Allen]

M57 can easily be mistaken for an out of focus star when you first start looking, I now sight on the area, focus the scope, I then look for the out of focus star at about X40, once found and centred up the mag to about X120, et voila M57.

I have just come in from viewing a selection of messiers with my 250 Newt including M57, M13, M3, M92, M63, M56, and maybe but not well enough to tick the list, M106. Both M51 and M101 eluded me but NGC6229 was aquired. I spent the earlier part of the evening looking at the moon. There is a lovely little teardrop shaped crater called torricelli, which was really crisp with good seeing, the image just starting to deteriorate when going from X220 to x300 with a 140 Mak.

All in all a good evening

Regards

Russell Allen