Had my 1st attempt to find M95, m96, m105 in leo

[acharris77]

Hey all, tonight being clear I thought I would go out and try to find the m95, m96 and m105 in Leo. I spent last night looking at Saturn and for the 1st time I used my 2x Barlow lens and Saturn looked pretty good at 202x, making out some detail (though looked good to me as I am new to a decent scope..lol)

I did not have much luck finding the above messier objects, as the sky was still a little light, and at the time I went out, they went behind my neighbours tree, and I am not experienced with the the summer sky as I am with winter sky. I printed a chart out to help me from stellarium.

Though by luck I did find Regulus in Leo and seen its double star, which was a first for me seeing Regulus, so not a total night lost, plus I was tired from being up at 6:30 for a boot sale, so tired eyes aint the best for astronomy....lol.

Never mind, will try again (hopefully tomorrow if it is clear) and get out earlier before they go behind the tree and hope it is not too light.

[kniclander]

anthony, although the leo triplet is quite "bright for galaxies, it's still pretty faint. I can see them quite easily in a 6" scope at a dark site but I can't see them at all in the same scope from London. Don't know how dark you skies are - if they are dark you should probably see them but only as faint smudges in your scope but if it is not dark you might struggle.

Don't know if you have seen m81 and 82 yet - if not, see if you can find them as they are a fair bit brighter and they are also pretty much directly overhead.

good luck

dan

[Doc]

Looking at your sig, your scope is a Meade DS-114ec you will need an extremely dark site to see the Leo triplet with a scope of 114mm aperture. Even in a 16" from a light polluted site they appear as just smudges.

Get yourself snd scope under dark skies and it's a total different ball game.

[acharris77]

Thanks for the advice, which triplets are we on about being faint, as from looking at star charts there is the M65/M66 and another one and the M95, M96 and M105. I thought the M105 was visible in scopes, well at least I have learnt something new, I will have to try the M81 and M82 then on the next clear night. Thanks again.

[kniclander]

tbh, some of the books and specially the mags overstate how bright things are ie you can see this through a 4" scope means you can see it through a top of the range apo from a mountain in Hawaii. A realistic guide is "Turn left at Orion" which imho is the best starter book.

[Vega]

Hi Anthony

Just to clarify... the 'Leo Triplet' is M65/M66 and an NGC... they are brighter than M95/M96/M105. The latter being very tough targets for your scope size. Out of interest, have you managed the Leo Triplet? Try them first.

Cheers

Matt

[axolotl]

M81 and M82 are nice and should show up in your scope - they will be faint but I can make them out with an 80mm short-tube refractor from my moderately light polluted back garden so should be observable with your 114. M94 is also a good galaxy to look for - it is perhaps a little easier to find the M81 and M82 and is nice and bright, though very small.

[acharris77]

Thanks all for the great advice. It is interesting to hear from people real experiences as to what is actually observable and what isnt. Think I will get a copy of Turn Left at Orion to help me with the summer sky, as I aint that great on spring/summer skies, I know more about Winter skies. Thank again all for some great info and suggestions.