BenignVanilla wrote:
Took advice from the group and tried for M51...I was looking in the area,
that some star charts said it would be in, and I found a faint fuzzy. In my
excitement I bumped the scope, and lost the image. Never found it again.
*sigh*

Perhaps, the biggest key to starhopping is learning to translate the
finderscope and eyepiece views to the charted representation of the sky. Begin
by determining the area of sky encompassed in your finderscope. For example, my
8x50 straight-through finder shows about 5-degrees of sky. Even a unit-power
finder, such as the Telrad, will often include one or more rings which
correspond to a range of field diameters.

Next, determine the orientation of the sky in your finder. Unit-power finders
maintian the normal orientation and, in most areas of the sky, you'll want to
arrange your charts with north at the top and east to the left. A traditional
straight-through finder will both invert (flip from top to bottom) and reverse
(flop from side to side) the view. If this is the kind of finderscope you have,
simply rotate the charts 180-degrees so they're upside down. They'll be easier
to compare against the finderscope view in most parts of the sky.

The celestial pole is one area where these tactics often doesn't work. For
example, most charts present the Big Dipper asterism in Ursa Major with the
handle to the left and the bowl to the right. But many observers wait to scour
this part of the sky until the Dipper is at its highest elevation, which is
when the Dipper is upside down.

If you use a unit-power finder, then you'll want to rotate your charts to put
north at the bottom and east to the right. Since a traditional straight-through
finder already inverts the view, you don't need to rotate your charts when
observing in this part of the sky.

Which charts do you use in the field? You mention referencing several charts
when searching for M51 (=NGC 5194 & NGC 5195). There are a lot of good chart
sets, out there, but it's best to find one primary set that you rely on for
most of your starhopping. Over time and with practice, translating the
finder/eyepiece views to the chart will become second nature. And as you gain
experience, you'll find it easier to reference multiple charts for starhopping.
But until you attain that comfort level, choose one set of charts and run 'em
into the ground.

Good hunting,

Bill Ferris
"Cosmic Voyage: The Online Resource for Amateur Astronomers"
URL: http://www.cosmic-voyage.net
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