Which Messier object...

[loakessg]

Thanks guys, some great tips and targets to try. I'll give them a try when the clouds go.

Sean

[Tzitzis]

See if you can use this to find M13 ... Its beautiful

Can't find the damn thing ;(

[Pleiades M45]

Light pollution could contribute to your troubles.

Mostly if you are in a city

[Matt Scunthorpe]

I would +1 the telrad, they are really useful bits of kit, definitely if you are struggling to find things, as eventually your going to lose confidence and not want to go out. I use one and would not be without it. You can get telrad maps which over lay the 3 rings on the object and you basically match that up to real life.

I have attached the telrad map for M42, as you have said you've seen this, so should make more sense in your head.

Link to all Messier telrads - http://www.solarius.net/Pages/Articles/dbArticle.aspx?artid=messier_finders

Matt.

[Coastliner]

I would +1 the telrad, they are really useful bits of kit, definitely if you are struggling to find things, as eventually your going to lose confidence and not want to go out. I use one and would not be without it. You can get telrad maps which over lay the 3 rings on the object and you basically match that up to real life.

I have attached the telrad map for M42, as you have said you've seen this, so should make more sense in your head.

Link to all Messier telrads - http://www.solarius.net/Pages/Articles/dbArticle.aspx?artid=messier_finders

Matt.

I posted further up ^^ saying that I had heard that Telrads were good and that I was waiting for one to be delivered.

Well, it's here! I used it last night for the first time and am really impressed. I'd rather use it than the £59 Raci I have just bought.  In fact, my wife who has never had a go with manipulating a scope tried it out on Jupiter and hit it first time, dead-center in the eyepiece with very little effort.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Apologies, I must of overlooked it.

Im glad you like it and find it useful. I printed off some of the sheets and laminated them for use outside, you can get maps by constellation, so you have loads on 1 page, which is a lot easier to manage.

Matt.

[Coastliner]

Matt, no need to apologise!  I used your post just for the quote, and was just following up on my original post.

Funnily enough the thought of buying a laminator had crossed my mind. Looking at the online charts has made me realise how much there is out there. I've only really concentrated on planets with the occasional foray into Orion, but I have been looking at Lyra lately, with it's double-double, the Ring etc., and, as you say, the Telrad makes the hunt enjoyable.

"Maps by constellations" - any links?

Neil

[Matt Scunthorpe]

These are the ones I used.

http://www.atmob.org/library/member/skymaps_jsmall.html

Obviously you only to bring out the ones for the relevant time of year, or the area you want to focus on etc. But it cuts the maps down to about 15 rather than 110 lol.

Matt.

[christhebrit]

M44 is a nice big bunch of stars :-)

[loakessg]

Looks like a telrad on my wish list then

[Coastliner]

These are the ones I used.

http://www.atmob.org/library/member/skymaps_jsmall.html

Obviously you only to bring out the ones for the relevant time of year, or the area you want to focus on etc. But it cuts the maps down to about 15 rather than 110 lol.

Matt.

Had a look, good call- laminator on order!

[MESSIER76]

These are the ones I used.

http://www.atmob.org/library/member/skymaps_jsmall.html

Obviously you only to bring out the ones for the relevant time of year, or the area you want to focus on etc. But it cuts the maps down to about 15 rather than 110 lol.

Matt.

That's a brill link Matt i'll be using that too

Andrew

[Tinker1947]

I would think Stellarium, a Telrad, and the maps linked above would allow almost anybody to find any Messier, the only problem thats will arise is what's you LP like, what sort of scope is being used. my own Messier hunting i used a 10" reflector, a Telrad, and Stellarium maps, my garden is quite a dark place so the likes of M101 and M33 with low surface brightness can be found, with poor LP they might not come through.....

[Mrbloke]

Have a look here:--- http://www.seasky.org/astronomy/astronomy-messier-1to10.html

Good shortlist. Although I fear this guy is mainly viewing "the sky" from "the sea" as he is able to view a huge amount of objects unaided. Definitely no light pollution issues for him!