M51

[culater]

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

[nigelwr]

Hi these may help

http://stargazerslounge.com/observing-deep-sky/62217-just-cannot-find-m51.html

Constellation Report

[ollypenrice]

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

[acey]

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.

[Talitha]

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.