Jump to content
  • Join the online East Midlands astronomy club today!

    With active forums, two dark sites and a knowledgeable membership, East Midlands Stargazers has something for everyone.

About bloomin' time! (C/2011 L4 Panstarrs)


Perkil8r

Recommended Posts

At long last, bagged Panstarrs (C/2011 L4)


 


Been trying for about a month now but without joy. Last night I thought I might have seen it using my fathers 10x25 bino's but wasn't confident enough to declare it. I went into their back garden and went through the standard procedure to find M31 knowing it would be roughly in the 5 O'clock position from M31. Could not see M31 but did identify a very faint point of light around a degree or two down and right of where M31 should be. Like I say though, not confident enough to declare it as bagged.


 


Tonight kept nipping out into the back garden here to see if it was dark enough, but no joy, and M31 dropping quickly below the roofs across the way. Upstairs I went into the back bedroom / Perks Observatory mk 2.3 with my Bushnell 10 x 50's in hand. Kneeling at the window (recently cleaned by the window cleaner (Perks Obs mk 2.3 optical clarity technician)) and using the window sill as a platform to rest on I started to star hop to M31, hovered in the right area and used averted vision to find it. Once spotted I worked very slowly down in the 5 O'clock position trying not to "look" but to see instead. Out it popped, very faint, I would judge a point of light similar mag to the core of M31 but much smaller with a much fainter tail approx the same visible length as M31 under the same conditions but a quarter of the width at the broad end (if that makes sense?)


 


Anyway, there it is, I've seen it, all I need to do now is catch it on camera for my records :)


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice one Mike :thumbsup: .


 


Glad you found it.


 


It is a bit elusive being so low down through a lot of atmosphere.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well done Peter it is really dim in 10x50's I should know as I found it on Sunday evening down my caravan in Norfolk, skies

We're pretty dark and with the same method as you I found it in 10x43's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice one Mike, I fear I may never see it for myself, seen some cracking good photos though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well done. We had an Observing session at Sherwood Observatory last night and we were able to mount some 20x80 binos on a mount and show quite a few people Panstarrs who hadn't seen it before as well as in my dob. We managed to bag a few galaxies in Leo and a couple of globulars for good measure.

Angus

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.