Miscellaneous Messier Objects

With the moonless nights last week I decided to observe various Messier objects visible at this time of the year and which I had neglected last time round.

Tuesday night I went for the M30. A small globular, not too difficult starhopping from zeta Capricorni. Friday night I took the telescope out again and observed the M52, which although not a difficult object, had defied my half-hearted attempts at finding it due to the distance from Caph (Beta Cassiopeiae). This time I printed a detailed chart and after some tedious starhopping found the object. It is a nice cluster with a bright star. Unfortunately I couldn't see the nearby Bubble Nebula.

Next was the M33. This is a large galaxy with low surface brightness. It had always eluded me as it dissolved into the light polluted background. This time after some persistence the bright patch could just be made out. More successful was my observation of M110. I had seen its neighbours M31 and M32 several times before but I had neglected the fainter M110. This time the bright patch could be easily seen. Another target I managed was M73, a small asterism in Aquarius, starhopping from Epsilon Aquarii. Unfortunately, I failed to see the M74 galaxy in Pisces although I'm sure I found its location. This is another face on spiral so maybe its surface brightness was too low.

A special moment was provided by a small meteor that startled me as it zipped across the eyepiece while I observed the M31. Then on Saturday I saw another meteor that was a Gamma Piscid.