m33 - anyone seen it?

[davidpretorius]

Hi

how easy is this one to see, Starry night portrays a galaxy that you could slice up and eat as a pizza, but i had real troubles ie could not see it at all.

it is meant to be 1/2 a degree???

anyone got images???

North for me is my only really bad blind spot. Cmon star camp!!!

[asimov]

Nope.

[[1ponders]]

I don't think you will see it very well from that far south David. It only gets 32 degrees above our northern horizon here and we're about 26.5 degrees south. I haven't seen it but its on my list to see and image for the season.

Info: around 40 arcminutes in diameter (1.3 moons), mag 5.5-6.4 depending where you read, but its surface brightness is only mag 14. Being a face on spiral its stellar equivelant mag is spread out over quite an area severely lowering its brightness.

check it out here http://www.seds.org/~spider/ngc/ngc.cgi?m33

[davidpretorius]

yes, very dim , i could see nothing at all.

thanks guys

[Greg Bryant]

I've seen it several times in 7x50 binoculars from Ilford (halfway between Lithgow and Mudgee). Yes it has a low surface brightness, but it is 10 degrees higher in our northern sky than M31 - the Andromeda Galaxy.

[astroron]

As Paul said it is very large and defuse ,but you can see it with the naked eye from a dark site as a faint glow, but it is an easy binocular object.
Through a 20cm telescope with inter mediate magnification you could be looking at it and not see it because it is larger than the field of your eyepiece. astroron :thumbsup: :astron:

[davidpretorius]

yup 20 degrees for me, a bit low.

also Greg I must confess, the penny has dropped. Great articles in the mag. There was this nagging thing at the back of my head that there was a link between AS & T and one of the guys on the forum.

Without doing you know what in your pocket, I had already highlighted the capricornus journey for a nights viewing based on your article

Keep up the great work!

[RapidEye]

I've seen it quite a few times, but it passes almost overhead for me :cool:

Its big, faint, and difuse: you'll need dark skies to see it, and as low on the horizon as it probably will be for you, a tough object.

I've seen it with my 10x50 binoculars, 4.5" Dob, and 10" Dob.
Its too big for either of the dobs, and too faint for any study with the 4.5".
The 10" allows respectable study of small areas, but really, the prettiest views have come using the binoculars under dark skies :thumbsup:

Its not quite as nice as M31 - but a close second!

[davidpretorius]

thanks rapid eye. a great reply!

[RapidEye]

No Prob!

BTW - how good IS M31 for you guys down under?
Its another one that I imagine is pretty low on the horizon.

From up this way, its visible naked eye, prettiest with binoculars, but with a 10" and a dark sky, you can start to make out the dark lanes and see some of the features of it.

[xrekcor]

I get pretty good views of M31, 32, 33 & 110 from here in northern NSW. And even managed M76 in the horizon murk and light polution to my north. But I would think M33 would be pretty low for you down in Tassie a bit like M76 for me, maybe slighty better, give it a shot ;)

regards,

[davidpretorius]

thanks guys, m31 unfortunately is 5 degrees above horizon and right about the city lights, i will wait til star camp late in october!

[Greg Bryant]

Another notable Messier, M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy) is less than 10 degrees above the northern horizon as seen from central NSW. One friend described the view through a large Dobsonian as being so smeared because of its low altitude, focussing was pointless.

Funnily enough, M51 shares the same RA as Omega Centauri, so when we're trying to sight M51 at its highest point above the northern horizon, Northern Hemisphere observers are similarly trying to sight Omega Centauri low on their southern horizon.

[Davidpretorius - thanks for your kind words. I really do enjoy writing about the sky each month]

[davidpretorius]

Yes Greg, you are in an enviable position, getting paid for something you love!

Yes latitude has it pluses and minuses!

[seeker372011]

LOL..unlike longitude which only has easts and wests :)

last october I imaged M31 from Magellan Observatory (Lake Bathurst near Goulburn)... course it wasnt my scope, my camera or my observatory..so its hardly my image

I managed to image M51 from Linden with my ETX 70 a couple of years ago-- very poor quality but just enough to make out 5195 as distinct from M51 itself amidst a whole lot of noise

these are tough objects for us

[RapidEye]

Yeah, M51, M104, and M101 are some of our best DSO's! Very enjoyable in a 10".

Having them so low is your punishment for getting such great views of the LMC, SMC, and Omega Centauri
=-)

[gaa_ian]

Some of us have the best of both worlds, like here at 12.5deg South in the Top End :cool: :thumbsup:
The only constellation i can not see is Ursa Minor !

[asimov]

I'm about to get the best of both when I make the move to the US! Only trouble is, I fear I'm going to miss the southern hemisphere viewing A LOT, at a guess..

[janoskiss]

I'd be lost without the Cross!

[ving]

Oh, your missing sooooo much then! :rolleyes:
:P

[davidpretorius]

can't see ving's cat tho!!!!

[dhumpie]

I can see both northern and southern constellations from my home country in Malaysia. The only problem there is light pollution :) BTW I can even see M33 through my 15x70 binocs from my mag 5.5 suburban skies here in Brissie. But it is just a diffused smudge. From SAS's dark sky site at Leyburn I have seen two if its spiral arms in my C6!

Darren

[RapidEye]

Where are you moving too? Hopefully somewhere out west. Its hard to find really nice and dark skies here on the east coast :mad2:

You can at least consol yourself with the fact that Orion will no longer be standing on his head :poke:

[ballaratdragons]

No, but John will be.

Orion just won't look right up the other way!!