|
The Sombrero is somewhat annoying to find as there are no good naked eye stars within close range. I use Delta Corvus as the launch pad. From Delta, use the finder and scan directly north to a large triangle of magnitude 6 stars approx 3º North of delta, with the long axis oriented NE/SW. About a degree NE of the northeastern-most star of this triangle, lies a trio of two 7th mag and a 9th mag star. Within this triangle is another tighter triangle. This is known as the "stargate" asterism. Here I switch to the main scope using the lowest power EP and scan about 40 arc min NE until I come across an asterism known as "Jaws", which takes the appearance of a hammerhead shark. About 20 arcmins SE of this asterism lies the Sombrero.
The hunt is well worth it, the Sombrero is one of the best galaxies in the sky for small scopes.
|