"Joe S." wrote in message
...
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.


Many, many thanks to all who have offered suggestions and encouragement.

I'm going to continue trying for M1 without using the computer. I think
also I'll wait until much later at night after M1 is around zenith -- that's
the darkest part of my skies here -- the city is to the west and a shopping
mall is 1/2 mile east, so, overhead is ever so slightly darker.

I'll leave the filters off and will double-check my starhopping.

Thanks again and I'll check back to let everyone know when I see it.