Hi:

Difficult? Somewhat. Impossible? Hardly. I've seen it in a Short Tube
80 from my heavily light polluted backyard--on a good night. On an
average night it's not overly easy in a 4-inch, and on a poor night,
it's invisible in both.

Make sure you're on the right field (use a decent SA2000 level star
atlas or a computer program). Also, stick with the 10mm, as that will
help darken the field. Forget the OIII. The only use for that is to
help bring out the filimentary structure, and you'll need dark skies
for that. The UHC won't help much/at all, either.

If you have a finder _scope_ use that. The Telrad can help you get the
finder on the proper area of the sky, but, as you'll find as you go
after the harder stuff, in the city, the Telrad just ain't much good. A
finder will help you see the dim guide stars which, in concert with a
detailed chart, will lead you to the tougher stuff. Get a 50mm finder
for the XT if you do not have one. Or, just _use the computer_.

Don't be embarrassed to use the computer. In the city, star hopping can
be tough. Telrads are great under dark skies, and developing knowledge
of the sky is great, but in light pollution, you're in frustration with
certain objects in certain areas. Try Telradding the Virgo galaxies and
you will see what I mean. ;-)

Keep after it with the 12 and you will be rewarded. In the city, what
you are looking for is a dimmish oval of nebulosity, not the famous
"crab" shape.




Joe S. wrote:
Is M1 a difficult object from light polluted skies?

I live in a city, in an apartment complex with the usual "security"
lighting. I see only the brightest stars with my naked eye. For example,
in Orion, I see only Betelgeuse, Rigel, Bellatrix, Saiph, three stars in the
belt, and 2-3 stars in the sword.

I have tried for the last three nights to find M1 with no luck -- not even
the faintest fuzzy appears. I'm using an XT-12, 12-inch dob; collimation is
dead on. I've tried different eyepieces -- 35mm PanOptic (43X), 18mm Radian
(83X), 10mm Radian (150X) -- no luck.

I am starhopping using a Telrad and the instructions in "Turn Left at
Orion" -- find Zeta Tauri -- very faint naked eye from my location -- then
slightly NW of Zeta Tauri, toward El Nath.

Have tried with OII and Orion UltraBlock filters -- not a wisp.

For comparison
-- M31 is not naked eye but is readily visible with 8X42 and 10X50 binos.
With my scope, I see the glowing center surrounded by a fuzzy cloud but I
can't see the long, elliptical extensions of M31 -- too much light pollution
I assume.
-- I can find M57, Ring Nebula, with no problem (takes a little searching).
At 83X and 150X the ring structure is clear though I cannot see the star in
the center.

My scope has the Orion Intelliscope feature but I'm trying to find objects
by starhopping. I guess my next step is to use the Intelliscope to find
M1 -- if it's visible at all.

Thanks.