M31

[griff44]

Had a view of M31 last night using a 25mm ep but just seen what looked like a dust cloud - would i get a better view using a 32mm ep rather that the 25mm. I was kind of thinking i should be seeing a lot of light generated from all its stars but it looked pretty dull to me?????

[Chris H]

That's pretty much what I see with my 28mm 82 degree FOV ep in my 10" dob. M31 is something like 4 degrees across so you won't fit it in any ep with an 8" dob. What your seeing is the galaxy core and the area immediately around it. The best way to see it is from very dark skies using giant binoculars.

Remember it is 2.5 million light years away from us that's a long way for that light to travel.

[Talitha]

All i ever picked up with the 8"SCT was a very vague dust cloud, but the 16"LB shows definite 'knots' within the galaxy, indicating where the spirals are.

edit...

sorry, i must have been really tired...

the above comments were regarding m33, not m31

[griff44]

I'm pretty new to DSO's - is there any interesting DSO's i could view when the sky clears?

[Chris H]

Yes loads, do a google search for the Messier list they should keep you busy for a while.