A Beginner 's Trouble Locating M81 & M82

[rubbertoebooks]

The weather over the past few days has been excellent , however it does not seem to be translating itself to good viewing conditions at night.

After seemingly having a million and one jobs to do around the house I finally set aside Friday evening to get the scope out for only my second real evening out.

Set up at about 9.30 to give the scope a good hour or so to cool down etc. Heading out at 10.30 feeling a bit nervous because Polar Alignment was my first objective as I had not attempted it. I had read a few guides online and I need not have worried. Set the Lattitude on the mount and looking through a handily placed hole in the mount did not have any real adjustment to make!! Beginner's luck I presume. With scope balanced and finderscope set up I decided to go for a few easy targets to get warmed up.

You don't get much easier than the moon, it's still only several days old but even in light skies viewing wasn't bad at all. Took out my trusty Lunar 100 map and the target which took up most of my time was the Crater sequence of Theophilus,Cyrillus and Catharina , No. 8 on the list. Through my 10x eyepiece it was stunning.

Moved onto Saturn which was quite poor viewing to be honest. Only one moon on show and quite blurred viewing.

Checked out Arcturus.... found it Gold in colour would that be right? With Spica an amazing silvery blue?

This is where things seemed to get a bit tricky.... As I passed the midnight hour I decided to have a go for M81 and M82.

Armed with Turn Left At Orion and after checking out Stellarium I located Ursa Major Wow I hear you say , lined up Phecda moved to Dubhe and extended the line out the same distance.....

I was using the lowest power eyepiece I have 25x but could not find my targets at all:confused:

Spent the next 2 hours re -tracing my steps but with no success, not to worry though, I really enjoyed my evening and learning to come to grips with my scope, polar alignment etc has given my a small glow of achievement.

Would like to have topped the evening off with M81 and M82 but there's always my next night out!!

Is there something I've missed? A glaring mistake that only a beginner would make? Answers on a postcard

Speak soon..

RTB

[kniclander]

these are not that easy to find first time especially if the skies are not really dark and there is any moonlight. Also, they are quite far from the nearest bright star so starhopping is tricky. I remember it took me hours when I first started and there were nights I couldn't find them at all. What can help is if you have a pair of bins and you can use them to find the "triangle " of stars that TLAO talks about. Once you can spot that, then its much easier to find M81 and M82 from there.

good luck

[axolotl]

They are quite faint but should be readily observable thought your scope. However they are easier to find if you scope has a finderscope rather than a red dot. There are two triangles of stars (as described in TLAO) in the rough vicinity of M81 and M82 and several times I've looked at the wrong one and been unable to find M81/2. Keep trying, it is worth it when success finally comes.

[barkis]

The method I use is the same as you. ie, and equidistance move from Phecda to Duhbe. Once you traverse that distance, a small spiral search using your low power EP will find the pair. Of course the field of view of the system will determine whether you see one or both, as you will know.

Ron.

[albedo0.39]

Hi there RTB - interesting observing report.

I wouldn't beat yourself up over not finding M81/M82 by moonlight when the seeing has not been as good as it looks to be.

As many have mentioned, they are not the most prominent DSO in smaller scopes, but you should get a good view in yours so I'd be waiting until after the moon has done it's thing, before having another serious hunt. You will find them well worth the wait.

Cheers

Steve

[rubbertoebooks]

Thanks guys for the advice.....

RTB

[The Warthog]

They are not difficult in a good sky. In dark skies I can find them instantly by following the same directions you do, and they are even fairly bright compared to other galaxies. However, at home I cannot find them, no way, no how. The sky here is just too light polluted. When I get a much bigger scope into service, I'll have another go at them, but for now I don't even try.

[JamesK]

I would also advise using your bins to locate the right area first. If you have a good dark sky (not sure of your conditions?), you might be able to see them faintly in the bins, though obviously not as good as when you get them in your scope!

As a beginner myself, I'd say don't be put off by books/articles/posts saying how easy they are to find. It took me a few nights of trying before I even saw them, elusive smudges as they are.

Just keep thinking about how great they will look through your scope!

Good Luck,

James.