Re: Grey Night Sky

On Fri, 16 Mar 2007, "M" wrote:

Pretty happy from tonights observations........JUST made out M51 in
UMa.......sad I know but the LP here is pretty damn awful........not just
from Dundee (UK) but from nearby houses, flats, TESCO supermarket and next
doors security light.

Under the circumstances, it sounds like you did very well indeed.
Congratulations!

In fact looking through the ep the night sky isnt black but more a grey
colour.......and the milky is completely invisible.......M44 is barely
visible to naked eye and M31 isnt.......

Once one's eyes have sufficiently dark adapted, even a 'dark' sky has
a visible glow to it -- nowhere near as much as your gray sky, but a
glow nevertheless.

My scope is very basic.....a 130mm Newtonian parabolic f 650mm........but
very easy to store and setup...and I can resolve Castors triple star system
with it.........but the DSO books I keep reading say I should see M51
easily- its a very faint smudge of cloud.......and also M101........which is
a no-go........got the right spot but just no galaxy........
Same for NGC2419.....right place no gc.......I am pretty sure I am looking
at the right place as I am using Cartes du Ciel, wikisky and Philips Star
Atlas........and the same star hopping technique enabled me to just about
see M51......

All of the older and many of the newer books assume a darker sky. M101
and M33 are likely to remain invisible whenever M51 is 'that'
difficult to see. OTOH, M81 and M82 are somewhat easier to see than
M51.

Not everyone uses the same tools nor methods for finding difficult
objects. If, when trying to find a 'new' object you can confidently
state that the telescope is pointed 'exactly' at the correct spot on
the sky, then you're doing good.

Guess once my little girl is better I will make that trip into the Highlands
for true dark skies and get to see what difference it makes!

I don't know how dark your Highlands are; but it'll be a whole new
universe when you're under a 'dark' sky!!
--
Bill
Celestial Journeys
http://cejour.blogspot.com
.

Relevant Pages

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