7 replies to this topic

[darkmatter14B]

Howdy all!  Last night, I  decided to take a look around Leo and try to find M95 and M96.    Try  I did, but not sure what I was looking at exactly!

Between using Skyfari, binoculars and a telrad, I'm pretty good at finding the general neighborhood of DSOs with my 10 inch Dob,  but I couldn't distinguish

anything in the neighborhood of M95/M96 from stars last night.....there were a few yellow/orangish dots that look suspicious, but still, I couldn't be sure.   I was using anywhere from 50x to 114x magnification. 

 

Conditions were very good, maybe excellent.....but I'm under Bortle 6  SF Bay Area skys.  

 

So, my question is,  what should be be able to discern about M95/M96 given the above mentioned conditions and equipment.   Probably try again tonight if seeing conditions 

hold up. 

 

 

Thanks, 

 

Chris 

[NYJohn S]

Howdy all!  Last night, I  decided to take a look around Leo and try to find M95 and M96.   

<…snip…>

The Moon is pretty bright right now. I'd wait until you can try again with no Moon. They won't look like colored dots or points of light. They'll be faint fuzzy gray diffuse spots. It's best to confirm the surrounding stars and spend some time using averted vision to spot them. I think the range of magnifications you used is good to spot them. Starting out at 50x and increasing the magnification once you've confirmed the area. I'm sure you'll see them on a better night. Good luck!

[Sheol]

                                     Yep. They will always be gray & fuzzy. Too much moonlight. 

                                      I actually found those 2 looking for something else, not an unusual situation for me. LOL

 

                                      Clear Skies,

                                             Matt.

[Rustler46]

Howdy all!  Last night, I  decided to take a look around Leo and try to find M95 and M96.    Try  I did, but not sure what I was looking at exactly!

Between using Skyfari, binoculars and a telrad, I'm pretty good at finding the general neighborhood of DSOs with my 10 inch Dob,  but I couldn't distinguish

anything in the neighborhood of M95/M96 from stars last night.....there were a few yellow/orangish dots that look suspicious, but still, I couldn't be sure.   I was using anywhere from 50x to 114x magnification. 

 

Conditions were very good, maybe excellent.....but I'm under Bortle 6  SF Bay Area skys.  

 

So, my question is,  what should be be able to discern about M95/M96 given the above mentioned conditions and equipment.   Probably try again tonight if seeing conditions 

hold up. 

Chris, I'll share some observations of these two from my Bortle-5 site on the Oregon coast.

 

2010 June 14 - Ocean Observatory, Coos Bay, OR - Thin crescent Moon set early; Very clear between clouds (in E. only at start but increasing; clouds slow moving);  windy during the day; End at ~1:30 AM PDT on 6/15/10

 

Celestron-11 at 174X:

• M95 - Only nuclear region shows w/ averted vision (partially blocked by hedge at my observing site)
• M96 - Large, oval galaxy w/ near-stellar nucleus; averted vision shows outer envelope

So even with fairly dark skies and some problem with clouds, only M96 showed much detail. But perhaps M95 would have been better without the telescope aperture being partially blocked by the hedge. I do need to spend some more with these two this Spring.

 

Best Regards,

Russ

[grzesznypl]

Conditions were very good, maybe excellent.....but I'm under Bortle 6  SF Bay Area skys.  

 

So, my question is,  what should be be able to discern about M95/M96 given the above mentioned conditions and equipment.   Probably try again tonight if seeing conditions 

hold up. 

 

I have same equipment as you do, Apertura AD10, and can locate M95 and M96 from Bortle 9. Locate is the key word because I can only find 2 faint fuzzy patches in the places those two galaxies should be, but they are definitely there. SF Bay area has usually good to very good transparency which is important in observing low contrast object like galaxies. From you location you should definitely be able to find them but seeing details that's another thing

[Dave Mitsky]

I would wait until the Moon is no longer a nuisance.

[darkmatter14B]

Thanks for all the feedback.     It's been rainy/cloudy here for past month or so,  but now we're having a  clear streak with excellent conditions, so I'll keep looking but won't expect much from these galaxies until the moon quietens down. 

[brentknight]

Start looking for galaxies 2 or 3 days after the full moon, and don't stop till first quarter. Good hunting...