[Weltevreden SA (Dana)]

Is there such a thing as doing too much research before going after a tough visual object? By the time eyepiece hour begins, I've read every report and technical paper about the thing. I know what to look for, and where. I'm wondering if this is such a good idea. This past dark moon cycle was the best harvest of difficult objects ever, all faint globulars or dwarfs. Among the former was a half hour looking for Pal 3 at the exact spot near Alpha Sextans where observer images showed it. Warmer-uppers such as nearby Sextans A and B were easy. The ten remote LMC globulars in Mensa required patience but all showed up with enough looking, down to mag 14.2 IC 2158. But Pal 3? Now I dunno. I was sure I saw it, but Barbara Wilson & Doug Snyder's observations call it tough in their 18" and 20" gear. My best deep sky hunter is only 8 inches, though my skies add another 4 inches to the effective limit.

So have any of you ever fooled yourself into thinking you saw a tough object that other observer reports indicate that we may be seeing what we want to?

=Dana in S Africa