m31 ...... how dark does it need to be....

[jonnydreads]

do the skies have to be dark to view it, I was looking tonight, I can get a better view of m41 than I can of m31.... I was wondering if that is normal, I am kind of thinking theres more light pollution around Andromeda than the Orion Nebula where I am this time of year..... I just expected to see m31 quite easily with an 8" nexstar using a 24mm eyepiece

[Davey-T]

Depends what you're expecting to see, I can see M31 from my light polluted garden with 10X50 bins but only the core not like photographs of it.

It's easy to miss, scan the area slowly and look for a fuzzy patch, too much magnification will lose it.

Dave

[jonnydreads]

ye I could see a fuzzy yellowish patch but really unrecognisable as anything if I didn't know I was looking at something if you catch my drift..... I've had loads of dew tonight thought and the street lights are close and also theres the moon.... I just figured its a culmination of all these things

[Davey-T]

Unless you're somewhere really dark with a 12" Dob the bright core is probably all you'll see, bigger scopes will pick out the dark dust lanes but it still won't look like long exposure images.

Dave

[jonnydreads]

ye I wasn't expecting to see it like an exposed image but this was actually really peticularly crap tonight...... I will try again next year when the clouds disappear again 

[John]

Unless viewing from a very dark site or with a 12 inch plus scope (or preferrably both) the view of M31 is generally the fuzzy oval core of the galaxy perhaps with a fainter halow of light extending from each side of it. The dust lanes and other structure are pretty challenging to see under the normal sort of skies we seem to get.

Messier 42 (the Orion Nebula which I think you meant rather than M41) does show some interesting structure with a small scope.

If the transparency is not good, there is some light pollution in the sky (or the moon) or high thin cloud that you might not be aware of, the view of deep sky objects is impacted a lot.

Personally I often prefer observing M81 and M82 in Ursa Major with a small scope. Two very different shaped galaxies in the same low to medium power field of view.

 

[jonnydreads]

yes I meant m42....... ?

[newbie alert]

Moon maybe a big factor

[PeterW]

M41 is nice just below Sirius!

Peter

[jonnydreads]

I think so yeah ?

[vlaiv]

I've got pretty bad LP and on average night with 8" dob I can detect following:

Galactic center, being roundish oval and with a bit of effort you can determine direction of elongation. M110 and M32 are also visible - M32 easy most of the time, M110 can be a challenge sometimes on average nights, guess that it depends on transparency / level of LP and position.

Only once I've been able to see the first dark lane with 8" from that location, and only edge towards the center - like contrast change with distinct shape - far edge blended in with background so no way of detecting how wide it was, but it was certainly there. It must have been night of exceptional transparency and LP probably lower than usual (bortle 8 / mag 18.5) when that happened.

[Highburymark]

Interested to see M31 clearly with 15x70 binoculars from central London last week. Normally it's barely visible with a 4" telescope - just shows that given the right sky conditions, the brightest dsos are still worth chasing wherever you live

[bish]

M31 can be seen naked eye from a dark site but I have always found it a bit of a let down in scopes. A very dark sky and good pair of bins is my preference.