culater Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Is M51 visible at the moment ?I spent about an hour last night looking for it but couldn't see a thing - I gave up about 12.15.I have a 8inch dob and not much skill - think ill get a telrad RDF.thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelwr Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Hi these may helphttp://stargazerslounge.com/observing-deep-sky/62217-just-cannot-find-m51.htmlConstellation Report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollypenrice Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 It is, but I find it very sensitive indeed to sky transparency even here. Last night began to veil over and although it was easy to find it was unspectacular.A Telrad does make life easier.Olly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acey Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 M51 is visible all year round from UK but July isn't the best time of year to view galaxies. Darkest time of night is 1a.m. and even then your sky might not be at full darkness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talitha Posted July 11, 2010 Share Posted July 11, 2010 Try verifying your surrounding starfield and then use averted vision. If conditions are acceptable, you might see a smoky patch with a slightly brighter spot at the center, or it might look like a vague foggy spot. It might not be there at all if conditions aren't good enough... M51 suffers from light pollution and poor transparency. Also realize that M51 was half-way to the horizon when you looked, and the summer twilight was probably a factor despite this being New moon weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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