M36, M37, M38

[GordonCopestake]

I was wandering randomly tonight and caught a faint fuzzy i'de not seen before. M38 is very pretty to look at and quite wide. Viewed it in my ED80 with a 40mm plossl. It filled the FOV and i could sware i saw nebulosity, although it could have been the thin cloud hehe.

Session was cut short by dew on the lens, note to self, need a dew heater for the ED80. Anyone got one for sale?

Wasnt until i got in and looked up what the hell i'de seen i realised that i'de actually seen 3 seperate clusters all close together. Not seen this triplet before and it's another one for the extended marathon!

[geppetto]

Ooooooh Auriga 8)

Spent some time last year on those three Gordon

Very nice cluster of Messiers.

Now I've got my dob and a 40mm eyepice, I might get much better views this year.

[robindurant]

These 3 are special to me as they were the first objects in space that I ever saw when I first bought a telescope, they really gob smacked me. I am looking forward to them showing themselves again in my area, any night now.

Robin

[daz]

Bern at Modern Astronomy sells a simple switch box and DewNot strips for the 80mm.

And very well they work too.

[OXO]

A lovely area of the sky glad you managed to get out Gordon nice one 8)

[Andrew]

I spent about an hour on those three last night as well. Even with my small reflector they each have something special about them - M38 has that interesting T shape with what to me looks like several seperate concentrated areas, M36 seems brighter and more compact, and M37 is just a mass of stars. It's the first time I've looked at them for about 8 months and with Orion's belt just appearing as I called it a night at 2 it really felt like winter was on it's way. Time to spend some money on a bigger scope I think

[MartinB]

Session was cut short by dew on the lens, note to self, need a dew heater for the ED80. Anyone got one for sale?

Just bought a 12V hairdryer works a treat on everything.

[GordonCopestake]

A hairdryer is the next step. I've ordered a dewnot strip from Bern so it should solve my problem. I'll let you know how i get on

[fmeireso]

I use a small hairdryer too at home.It 's 220V buts it's very small and easy to use

Did you notice NGC 1907 too Gordon, close to M38. On clear nights you can see it as a very small misty patch. Don't know if you can spot it in a 80 mm, but on a good night it's easy in my 6 incher.

[The Warthog]

I have often seen M36 and 38, but M37 has eluded me constantly. I have put my scope in the right place often, and not come up with anything I can recognize as a star cluster. I don't know if it is just the impossible conditions of transparency I labour under, or that God doesn't want me to see it. I will be trying again when Auriga gets a little higher, and the skies get a little clearer.

[fmeireso]

That's unfortunate, because M37 is the most beautiful of the three clusters. In a 10 inch on a clear night it's absolutely stunning. But evenso in a 6 incher it is most impressive.

[Andrew]

The best way to find M37 may be with the widest possible view?

The individual stars are quite faint in a small scope so at x20-30 they may not be resolvable, but the overall haze of the cluster stands out clearly in a 2-3 degree field.

Just a thought