First view of M31!!!

[twotter]

I managed my first view of M31 last night. At least I'm pretty certain I did

I live in a 3-storey town house (out in the countryside!) which, together with the neighbours houses, effectively blocks the views from the North round to the South-East. Last night my plan was to wait till past midnight in the hope that M31 would be clear of the rooftops, and that my nocturnal neighbours would have gone to bed.

The telescope was outside from 11:30 to cool and I was ready to observe just after 12:00.

The streetlights give off quite a glow from behind the houses so I hadn't seen M31 before, despite a few tries. After consulting Stellarium my plan was to 'draw a line' between Shadir in Cassiopeia and Alpheratz in Andromeda/Pegasus. Then look down for Mirach in Andromeda. Once I had found that I looked slightly up and I could see a faint 'smudge' through the finderscope. That had to be it!

Looking through my 25mm EP made the smudge bigger but it was still quite dark. Trying the 10mm EP again increased the size of the smudge but didn't improve detail. Maybe my eyes just aren't attuned enough yet! I did look for M110 but couldn't make it out.

Once again Mrs Twotter came out to join me and we both spent time swapping between the EP's and comparing what we could see.

Following our success with M31 we moved on to look at Jupiter again, and this time I was able to see more detail of the planet's bands. We woke our 7-year old daughter so she could come and have a look which proved to be a great success too

Another really good observing session!!!

[tarqs101]

We woke our 7-year old daughter so she could come and have a look which proved to be a great success too

You're a braver man than me!!

Gavin

[twotter]

Out on my own tonight - it's nice to share but being alone with the cosmos is....peaceful

I've been out for a good two hours or so and have managed to find everything I was looking for from 'Turn Left at Orion'.

Tonight I have mostly been looking at...

Jupiter - once it popped out from behind our tree. I really need to get the chainsaw out again Nice view with very distinct bands. All four moons were in view too.

M57 The Ring Nebula - this really stood out and was really cool to see. The ring was quite clearly defined and I swapped back and forth between my two EPs enjoying the view.

M56 Globular Cluster - I set the RDF about halfway between Albireo and Sulafat and there it was, a faint, but distinct, fuzzy blob.

M27 The Dumbell Nebula - quite easy to find just a little above Gamma Sagittae. More of a bow than a dumbell to my eyes, and not as spectacular as M57.

M71 Globular Cluster - back to Gamma Sagittae and along towards Delta Sagittae, a nice fuzzy little blob.

Then I wandered along the Milky Way until I reached Cassiopia. This was right overhead so I went looking for M31 again. Found it after a bit of a search but this time I could easily make out M110 nearby in the 25mm EP.

Then to round things off there was Pleiades just coming over the tops of the houses. The 25mm EP gave a nice view but I need something with a wider view to look at it in one go.

Really enjoyed tonight

[tarqs101]

Sounds fantastic!

Been thinking of saving for a Dob for their light gathering. Got a 102 refractor at the mo. Great for widefield and very sharp!! Love it but app fever's kicking in!

My 3 year old daughter spent half an hour looking at the moon last night too. Was great to get her involved!

Keep enjoying.

Gavin

[Guest]

I managed my first view of M31 last night. At least I'm pretty certain I did

I live in a 3-storey town house (out in the countryside!) which, together with the neighbours houses, effectively blocks the views from the North round to the South-East. Last night my plan was to wait till past midnight in the hope that M31 would be clear of the rooftops, and that my nocturnal neighbours would have gone to bed.

The telescope was outside from 11:30 to cool and I was ready to observe just after 12:00.

The streetlights give off quite a glow from behind the houses so I hadn't seen M31 before, despite a few tries. After consulting Stellarium my plan was to 'draw a line' between Shadir in Cassiopeia and Alpheratz in Andromeda/Pegasus. Then look down for Mirach in Andromeda. Once I had found that I looked slightly up and I could see a faint 'smudge' through the finderscope. That had to be it!

Looking through my 25mm EP made the smudge bigger but it was still quite dark. Trying the 10mm EP again increased the size of the smudge but didn't improve detail. Maybe my eyes just aren't attuned enough yet! I did look for M110 but couldn't make it out.

Once again Mrs Twotter came out to join me and we both spent time swapping between the EP's and comparing what we could see.

Following our success with M31 we moved on to look at Jupiter again, and this time I was able to see more detail of the planet's bands. We woke our 7-year old daughter so she could come and have a look which proved to be a great success too

Another really good observing session!!!

i have many time observed M31 when i was to france in mountain and when you see M31, what you see is a elliptic nebulous cloud but when i see M31 it's with binoculars

of well with my ETX 70 of my newtonian telescope (114 900).

friendly.

Arnaud

[Doc]

It definetly gets easier the larger the aperture you have to play with. A good list of targets twotter, well done.

[JamesK]

Hmmm... M31 is one of the next targets on my list, but I keep wanting to save it for a good night! I like how you say that Astronomy is good alone and with company, I completly agree, they are both great for different reasons! It's a great list of objects that, a few of them I love, and the others I desperatly want to see! Nice report.

[ollypenrice]

What an object it is, M31. Two and a half million lightyears and yet, Wham, no messing, there it is. Hmmmmm....

Olly