starrancher
professor emeritus
Reged: 06/09/09
Posts: 606
Loc: Northern Arizona
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Not the toughest to find , but the toughest to actually confirm that it indeed was what you were seeing .
For me it was M74 . Face on spiral in Pisces . "The Phantom"
It was hard to make out anything other than a somewhat hazy stellar object . 
A completion of the entire Messier list should be a qualification . 
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LXD75 AR5
LXD75 SN8
Series 4000 Plossls
Misc. other stuff
Fort Rock , Az .
Edited by starrancher (10/13/09 11:25 PM)
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Achernar
Postmaster
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 5025
Loc: Mobile, Alabama, USA
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M-74 was just about the hardest one for me to see, but a few others were almost as hard to find from the light polluted skies I live under.
Taras
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15-inch F/4.5 Dob under construction
10-inch F/4.5 Discovery Dob
6-inch F/8 Homebuilt Dob
4 1/4-inch F/4 Homebuilt reflector
A whole bunch of eyepieces, filters and other accessories....
Two curious cats
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propelller fan
member
Reged: 08/08/09
Posts: 30
Loc: PNW...the wet side
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M-74 was one of my hardest Messier objects also.
M-13 was another tough messier. Yes that really is the Hercules cluster.
It was a hard object because I didn't use any optical aid. I'm still working on spotting M-33 without optical aid...
Edited by propelller fan (10/14/09 04:49 AM)
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lymorkiew45
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/30/07
Posts: 735
Loc: In the dark, and way out there...
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I would have to say M108, in Ursa major, I have never gotten a clear image of this galaxy, in any scope I have put on it. Others are M101, M33, M74, and M97...clear skies... 
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Jorgen
Starfinder 16 dob: Zambuto Optics! 
DS-10
Orion XT12i: The optics are special! 
Z12
All the Lanthanum superwides!
Orion ultrablock filter
9mm Nagler type 6
15mm, 25mm, 35mm Ultrascopics
Orion Shorty Plus barlow
Orion Lazer Collimator
40" Webster: Under Construction 
http://cleardarksky.com/c/SanJoseCAkey.html?1
20 years in Southern Dragon Kung Fu, or dragon style embellished in magical arms.
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skyward_eyes
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/12/06
Posts: 2102
Loc: Arizona
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M40 at the time, the only double star in the Messier Catalogue.
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Dave Mitsky
Postmaster
Reged: 04/08/02
Posts: 10496
Loc: PA, USA, Planet Earth
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M74
Dave Mitsky
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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
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Hrundi
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 02/06/08
Posts: 1237
Loc: Estonia
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m101 for me. The only messier to ever show up missing for me, although I wasn't under very good skies,
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Tony Flanders
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 3469
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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It depends on the constraint -- skyglow (using my 7-inch from the city), aperture (using a small scope under a dark sky), or magnification (binoculars). But M74 has to rank pretty high on all counts.
Other tough galaxies are M91 and M98 in the Virgo Cluster and M109 near Gamma UMa. M40 and M76 are visible in binoculars when the conditions are right, but tend to look indistinguishable from stars. Likewise, to a lesser extent, with M57.
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Tony Flanders
First and foremost observing love: naked eye.
Second, binoculars.
Last but not least, telescopes.
And I sometimes dabble with cameras.
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JayKSC
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 01/01/05
Posts: 984
Loc: Florida
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Definitely M101 so far. I've not been able to nab that one yet, although I observe under light polluted skies. M51 is tough, too, though I've at least suspected it on occasion.
- Jay
South Florida
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Refractor manic. 
My Sketches
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nobody special
sage
Reged: 12/30/08
Posts: 403
Loc: Connecticut
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I had a real hard time bagging M56. I see it as a dim fuzzy from my light polluted sky but for some reason it took me several attempts to finally confirm that it was M56, although now I find it with ease.
Edited by nobody special (10/14/09 10:07 AM)
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Tony Flanders
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/06
Posts: 3469
Loc: Cambridge, MA, USA
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Quote:
Definitely M101 so far. I've not been able to nab that one yet, although I observe under light polluted skies.
To quote my own website, M101 is "perhaps the single Messier galaxy most seriously harmed by light pollution." It's a bear to see through my 7-inch scope from the city, but under dark skies, it sticks out like a sore thumb in my 10x50 binoculars.
M51, by contrast, is one of the easier Messier galaxies. Not in the same class as M81 or M82, of course, but much easier to make out than most of the Messier galaxies in the Virgo Cluster.
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Tony Flanders
First and foremost observing love: naked eye.
Second, binoculars.
Last but not least, telescopes.
And I sometimes dabble with cameras.
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Feidb
super member
Reged: 10/09/09
Posts: 127
Loc: Nevada
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I did the Messiers in the 90's so I'm going back a ways. I think it was M-74 for me too. I was using a 16", but I always kept missing it and when I finally nailed it, it was very close to Mercury... yup it was that low on the horizon. I've seen it several times since under much better conditions.
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Present gear:
16" Meade LightBridge
Meade 50mm straight through-finder
Lumicon green laser pointer
Orion Q-70 26mm, 32mm, and 38mm
Parks 2X 2" Barlow
Hyperion 17mm, 8mm
1 1/4" 18mm Russell Optics Bertele
1 1/4" 12.5mm and 6mm Coulter Optical Orthoscopics
1 1/4" X 2" 32mm Edmund Scientific war surplus Erfle
Tirion star atlas (white stars, black background) hand-laminated
Megastar
And a partridge in a pear tree
To nudge or not to nudge, that is the question
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RAKing
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/28/07
Posts: 2086
Loc: West of the D.C. Nebula
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M83 for me. It sits right over the sky glow and is very difficult to confirm.
M55 can be a hit or miss, also. On nice nights, it's easily visible and I can even resolve some of the stars. On other nights it fades into nothingness.
Ron
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Time spent looking at the stars is added to your life.
Tak FS-128, C925-CF, C6SE, other stray cats and refractors.
A-P Mach1 GTO
Zeiss orthos to Ethos - and some stuff in between.
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Dain
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/24/05
Posts: 1596
Loc: N.Y. Adirondack Mnts. NGC 4565...
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Back when I started observing, I would have to say that M 74 became the biggest PITA for me. That one is just tough sometimes to begin with! I think back then if I remember correctly, I also had problems with M 101. Most of my problems were because that I just didn't make the connection with needing the dark skies to see the objects. I figured just having the scope was good enough. I think its funny how I turned it around some years later and started intentionally observing from light polluted areas just to see what I *could* see and for the challenge. I finally have caught M 101 under very favorable sky conditions from my LP area, but with being much a difficult task. I'm only able to make out that slight glow of the core. Out of the several times I've gone after M 74 from my LP area, its been a no-go. I've caught it from a *semi* light polluted area but still with much difficulty.
Clear Skies to All!
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Best,
Dain
Adirondack Mountains (my true dark sky site)
@ Cedar River Flow
Local Site
Clear Skies?
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Feidb
super member
Reged: 10/09/09
Posts: 127
Loc: Nevada
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Dain,
That is quite an experiment! Maybe it warrants a book one day. You never know.
I don't even bother in Las Vegas. I can barely see Jupiter and maybe Vega on an average night. However, in the early mornings around 3:45 or so, I usually see a few stars to the southeast, but nothing worth dragging the scope out for. If I want to observe, it's either 47 miles one way, or 52 miles the other, depending on the seasons.
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Present gear:
16" Meade LightBridge
Meade 50mm straight through-finder
Lumicon green laser pointer
Orion Q-70 26mm, 32mm, and 38mm
Parks 2X 2" Barlow
Hyperion 17mm, 8mm
1 1/4" 18mm Russell Optics Bertele
1 1/4" 12.5mm and 6mm Coulter Optical Orthoscopics
1 1/4" X 2" 32mm Edmund Scientific war surplus Erfle
Tirion star atlas (white stars, black background) hand-laminated
Megastar
And a partridge in a pear tree
To nudge or not to nudge, that is the question
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Dain
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/24/05
Posts: 1596
Loc: N.Y. Adirondack Mnts. NGC 4565...
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Feidb,
Wow, that could be a book. I didn't really think about it like that. Good idea! 
I've been through LV and I feel for you. That does have to be a bit discouraging, BUT, knowing that its either 47 one way or 52 the other is really not bad. I have to go a bit more then that to get to a blue zone. Its totally well worth it though!
Clear Skies to All!
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Best,
Dain
Adirondack Mountains (my true dark sky site)
@ Cedar River Flow
Local Site
Clear Skies?
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markgliderpilot
member
Reged: 09/01/08
Posts: 17
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I have yet to see M83 as it is so far south and therefore low from England. Of course, anything in the spring-summer sky becomes hard to observe as the days become longer. I am always amazed that Messier included the Pleiades (which blatantly is not a comet even to the naked eye) and the many faint galaxies in the Virgo - Coma B - Leo region.
Clear skies,
Mark
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AlanK
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/26/07
Posts: 512
Loc: Auckland, New Zealand
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It was M74 in my case as well. Never could track it down with my first scope - just a 2" refractor way, way back. It is a lot harder to detect visually than M76 which was listed at Mag 12.2 in older literature but has a much higher surface brightness.
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Clear skies!
18 inch f4.5 Obsession #1637
12 inch f5.4 reflector
Just another frozen astronomer
Kumeu Observatory
Auckland NZ
7,276 deep sky objects incl 4,670 ngcs
Who dares - observes!
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JayinUT
I'm not Sleepy
Reged: 09/19/08
Posts: 945
Loc: Utah
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M74 for me also.
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Jay in Utah
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Location: Lat: 40.514N Long: -112.032W
Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.
— Ptolemy, c.150 AD
My Blog
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JakeSaloranta
sage
Reged: 09/18/08
Posts: 234
Loc: Sisu, Sauna, Sibelius...
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I have to say Messier 107. M74 was not an issue since I first spotted it from a dark sky with 15x70 binoculars. Same goes for other fainter galaxies.
M107 on other hand was very low in the sky from Finland and I managed to miss it (for several reasons) for years. I finally completed the Messier catalog in 2001 by seeing M107 from Portugal with 15x70 binoculars.
/Jake
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