I think I spotted m81!

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realflow100 United States of America
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I think I spotted m81!

#1

Post by realflow100 »


40mm plossl eyepiece. 11x with 70mm F6 telescope bortle 7 with 91% moon
It was only visible as the faintest fuzzy dot ever. in the corner of my eye but in the right location when i check stellarium I can confirm a triangle pattern of stars nearby in the right spot.
I saw it in averted vision a couple times very faintly. about as faint as m32. very very faint barely even visible at all.
I didnt see M82 though.
Svbony SV503 70mm ED F6 420mm FL refractor telescope (New)
Canon EOS 100D/SL1
Tamron 18-200mm F3.5-F6.3 II VC lens
canon 50mm STM F1.8
svbony 8-24mm zoom eyepiece
svbony goldline 66 degree 9mm and 6mm + 40mm plossl + 2x barlow.
svbony UHC 1.25 filter + astromania 1.25" O-3 filter + also an svbony H-B filter.
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John Donne United States of America
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Re: I think I spotted m81!

#2

Post by John Donne »


There is nothing quite like catching a galaxy in the eye. 😊
M82 should have been very close in your Field of view.
With 40mm eyepiece you may be wasting some of the light. You have roughly a 6.6mm exit pupil in a 4° field of view. Depending on your eyes your pupil may not dialate that much and as I understand it the light that cannot fit in your pupil is lost...
Maybe try an EP of 25mm or 32mm. It may actually put more light in your eye even though you Fov will be smaller by 1/2° or so. M81 and M82 will still be in the same view.

Very nice catch Realflow. 👍👍👍

P.S.
I just saw you are 24 yrs old. Your eyes may well have caught all the light there was to catch...😊
My eyes are 43 years older and they don't work as well that way...
So disregard all I said but for the shared excitement with you in this triumph...😊
SCOPES :ES127 f7.5, SW100 f9 Evostar, ES80 F6, LXD75 8" f10 SCT, 2120 10" f10 SCT, ES152 f6.5.
MOUNTS: SW AZ/EQ5, MEADE LXD75, CELESTRON CG4, Farpoint Parallelogram.
BINOCULARS: CL 10X30, Pentax 8X43, 25X100 Oberwerks.
EP: Many.

"I am more than a sum of molecules.
I am more than a sum of memories or events.
I do not one day suddenly cease to be.
I am, before memory.
I am, before event.
I am"
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realflow100 United States of America
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Re: I think I spotted m81!

#3

Post by realflow100 »


I have a 2x barlow but the image is always significantly darker with it.
I dont think I would be able to find m82 with a smaller field of view. it was already EXTREMELY difficult as it is with the 40mm eyepiece at 11x
it took me forever to figure out where it was even with my binoculars which are only 7x50's which have a fixed 7mm exit pupil size. but I couldn't see it with my binoculars. There was nothing there at all. just some stars.

the lost light from a too-large exit pupil is not really a problem. you still see as bright of an image as your going to see whether its a 6mm exit pupil or a 10mm exit pupil. the wasted light isnt really a problem from what i can tell.
Svbony SV503 70mm ED F6 420mm FL refractor telescope (New)
Canon EOS 100D/SL1
Tamron 18-200mm F3.5-F6.3 II VC lens
canon 50mm STM F1.8
svbony 8-24mm zoom eyepiece
svbony goldline 66 degree 9mm and 6mm + 40mm plossl + 2x barlow.
svbony UHC 1.25 filter + astromania 1.25" O-3 filter + also an svbony H-B filter.
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John Donne United States of America
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Re: I think I spotted m81!

#4

Post by John Donne »


Here is a useful tool you might find interesting.
https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/
SCOPES :ES127 f7.5, SW100 f9 Evostar, ES80 F6, LXD75 8" f10 SCT, 2120 10" f10 SCT, ES152 f6.5.
MOUNTS: SW AZ/EQ5, MEADE LXD75, CELESTRON CG4, Farpoint Parallelogram.
BINOCULARS: CL 10X30, Pentax 8X43, 25X100 Oberwerks.
EP: Many.

"I am more than a sum of molecules.
I am more than a sum of memories or events.
I do not one day suddenly cease to be.
I am, before memory.
I am, before event.
I am"
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realflow100 United States of America
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Re: I think I spotted m81!

#5

Post by realflow100 »


stellarium also has a feature like that but its more fiddly to set up.

it should easily fit both in the view but It took me like 30 minutes just to find where it is cause theres such a lack of stars to star hop with.

if you go out with a 70mm scope yourself with the current moon with a 40mm to 20mm eyepiece range and try to find it you'll see what i mean by how difficult it is to find!
Svbony SV503 70mm ED F6 420mm FL refractor telescope (New)
Canon EOS 100D/SL1
Tamron 18-200mm F3.5-F6.3 II VC lens
canon 50mm STM F1.8
svbony 8-24mm zoom eyepiece
svbony goldline 66 degree 9mm and 6mm + 40mm plossl + 2x barlow.
svbony UHC 1.25 filter + astromania 1.25" O-3 filter + also an svbony H-B filter.
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John Donne United States of America
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Re: I think I spotted m81!

#6

Post by John Donne »


realflow100 wrote: Tue Nov 16, 2021 8:58 am stellarium also has a feature like that but its more fiddly to set up.

it should easily fit both in the view but It took me like 30 minutes just to find where it is cause theres such a lack of stars to star hop with.

if you go out with a 70mm scope yourself with the current moon with a 40mm to 20mm eyepiece range and try to find it you'll see what i mean by how difficult it is to find!
Yup.
I have a 70mm f6 Skywatcher.
I have done as you have and it is impossible for me to star hop in those skies.
But when the sky is good and the moon is nill the 70mm is a wonderful tool with which to hop the stars.

And when success is had as you have had on M81 it makes it worth every moment of effort.

More clear darks skies to you. 😊
SCOPES :ES127 f7.5, SW100 f9 Evostar, ES80 F6, LXD75 8" f10 SCT, 2120 10" f10 SCT, ES152 f6.5.
MOUNTS: SW AZ/EQ5, MEADE LXD75, CELESTRON CG4, Farpoint Parallelogram.
BINOCULARS: CL 10X30, Pentax 8X43, 25X100 Oberwerks.
EP: Many.

"I am more than a sum of molecules.
I am more than a sum of memories or events.
I do not one day suddenly cease to be.
I am, before memory.
I am, before event.
I am"
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helicon United States of America
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Re: I think I spotted m81!

#7

Post by helicon »


Nice catch and keep an eye out for M82 next time. It looks like a mottled frisbee off to the side of M81. While fainter than M81 it's surface brightness is higher because it is more condensed.
-Michael
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl
Camera: ZWO ASI 120
Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs
Latitude: 48.7229° N
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Re: I think I spotted m81!

#8

Post by kt4hx »


I admire you trying to catch sight of a galaxy with the moon being what it is currently. Its presence in the sky at its current phase and brightness is definitely an impediment to seeing galaxies. So good on you for finding M81 under those conditions.
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
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"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
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