M1-with
oxygen-III filter Filaments were seen; can't describe or draw all the
squiggles visible; obvious dark areas; oval shape predominates over
"S" shape
M2-classic globular; centered look;
strongly resolved; very bright
M3-many, many stars; next to
Omega Centauri this is my most favorite; bright triangle of stars in
middle
M4-double bar of interrupted stars across middle;
almost too much magnification at 250X
M5-more condensed them
M3; off-center nucleus; streamers of stars; bright core; 3-D
affect
M6-fits well into 4/5 degree field of view; chains of
stars; Christmas tree near center; nicest at low powers
M7-bigger
than M6 with a bit brighter individual stars; the "butterfly"
cluster
M8-could see all of faintest nebulosity; 3 big groups
of nebulosity; star embedded in brightest part of
nebulosity
M9-intense; easily resolved; smallish;
impressive
M10-one of the "big" ones; much like M5
only brighter; stars spread out through same sized nucleus as
M5
M11-superb grouping of strong stars; dark lanes nearby
M12-a lttle dimmer than M10; crab-like; several bright stars
surround
M13-excellent! best impression of 3 black lanes at
360X; the grandfather of clusters
M14-not bright but still
very beautiful because of the tightness of stars; many, many stars;
oval shaped E-W
M15-beautiful globular cluster; nucleus is 3
bright stars N-S
M16-cathedral portion (black fingers in
middle of nebula) impressive with UHC filter; doesn't look like
"eagle" though all of nebulosity visible
M17-lots of
detail; swirls nicknamed the Flying dragon; filters help
slightly
M18-bright; but stars are small numbered in
count
M19-pancake shaped globular; brightens to star-like
nucleus; straggly stars;
M20-extension to E strong; 2 stars
next to double stars; more like 4 lanes rather than 3
M21-nice;
sparse open cluster
M22-great view; fills whole field; looks
dense and tight, especially backgroundish stars unlike the more open
view in smaller scopes
M23-nice; modest # of stars; like
spilled salt
M24-nice open cluster in very rich star-Field;
star cloud of M24 nice to see because of rich-field
effect
M25-nicer; bigger; more stars than M18
M26-sparse
open cluster with bright star
M27-spectacular; arcs pointed;
dimn extensions; nebulosity overwhelms embedded stars; brighter upper
curved part has black indentations
M28-more spread than M80;
nucleus is bar shaped; easily resolved
M29-8 equally bright
stars; fainter ones scattered inside
M30-4 chains of star
dragging behind; resolved; off-center nucleus
M31-dusty
nucleus; nucleus has small definite size; nucleus very bright
compared to rest of galaxy; several spiral arms; many objects in the
galaxy such as globular clusters, open clusters and associations an
dindividual stars identified on previous observing
sessions
M32-bright nucleus; elliptical extension
M33-"S"
shaped spiral; big; diffuse; has identified many internal objects and
nebulosities previously
M34-too big for 24"; spreads out
of field of view; even magnitude stars often double up; streaks of
stars
M35-so bright and beautiful; curved chains; "Albireo"
type double; companion cluster interesting: resolved triangular
globular cluster with different magnitude stars
M36-sparse;
stringy; looks like man with outstretched arms
M37-nice; many
stars; Fits well into field of view of 24"; bright star in
center
M38-between M36 and M37 in appearance; somewhat
stringy; NGC 1907 resolved easily
N39-just Fits into 24"
field of view which is 4/5 degree at low power; very bright
stars
M41-very big; has bright red-orange star
M42-view
through 24" dynamic; alive; complete loop of gas detailed; color
visible; 6 stars in Trapezium
M43-has dark areas following
curves
M44-beautiful; stars in groups; just fits into 60X
field of view
M45-Pleiades; nebulosity around Merope and
other stars over-fills field of view
M46-has nice planetary
inside the open cluster
M47-interesting brightness (3 in a
row) and combinations of patterns; very varied
M48-open
cluster; central bar of stars; elongated perpendicularly
M49-next
to star; this galaxy looks like unresolved globular with wider
fainter section surrounding nucleus
M50-uniform magnitude
stars; chains (not curved) give "flying bird"
impression
M51-one of most impressive views in 24";
serrated inside edges of spiral arms
M52-open cluster; fair
number of stars; evenly spaced together; bright star
off-center
M53-nice; big; widely resolved globular
M54-very
compact; bright core; resolved; not as big as expected
M55-excellent! big; many stars of 2 different brightnesses;
not very compact
M56-resolved; some chains of stars; strong
tight nucleus; nice
M57-central star; fuzzy edges on end;
color; galaxy nearby
M58-structure; black lanes-nice! galaxy;
2 spiral arms; mostly face-on
M59-some detail present;
oblongish
M60-nice with interesting field; companion is nice,
bigger fuzzy; surrounding galaxies noted
M61-most beautiful;
spiral structure that has big, obvious condensations embedded; each
arm detailed
M62-very nice; like M13 in a smaller
scope
M63-fairly bright oval with bright star-like nucleus;
seen in bright twilight; called the "sunflower"
M64-beautiful
black curl with fainter curl further out
M65-brighter than
M101
M66-moderate detail; NGC galaxy nearby has big dust lane
that is nice
M67-beautiful; many stars in busy, metropolitan
grouping; faint stars at edge
M68-impressive at high power;
brighter stars fill entire field of view; nucleus resolved which has
tigher, fainter stars
M69-resolved; big; bright;
loose
M70-splash of not many stars; curved arc across
top
M71-nice; spread out; not too condensed; without
background glow of unresolved stars this object would be good sized
looking open cluster
M72-resolved; burping out big fat chain
of stars that's curved
M73-3 wide stars; Fits into 135X, 20
arc minute field of view
M74-counter clockwise face-on
spiral; bright fuzzy nucleus
M75-very pretty; many, many
faint stars tightly surrounding very bright core; 3 different
brightnesses of stars; very compact
M76-double lobed with
curved extensions off ends; lobes squarish; called the "dogbone"
by Rob Adams
M77-Face on spiral shows spiral structure despite
nearness to moon; good blackness between nucleus and spiral
arms
M78-spectacular; 2 bright stars with black arm nearly
inbetween; sweeping fan shape; star to N has nebulosity
also
M79-resolved; bright; tight; good number of stars; good
cluster for the 24"
M80-nice; classical looking globular
except that one side is attenuated
M81-two nice spiral arms;
strongly delineated but thin
M82-dramatic detail as in
photographs
N83-bright Fuzzy nucleus; 2-3 spiral
arms
M84-much like M86, ie, very big fuzzy blob; 6 galaxies in
one field of view
M85-big; surprisingly bright, but smaller
companion which is oblongish-identified as NGC 4394
M86-very
big; very fuzzy blob; edge-on spirals nearby
M87-big;
elliptically shaped elliptical galaxy
M88-big; oblong; one
side of spiral arms distorted; prominent black lanes
M89-star
nearby; smaller; very even blob of light
M90-beautiful; long
glow; pinpoint nucleus shimmers at 85X
M92-excellent; should
have more notice; 3 bars of bright star across middle;
symmetrical
M93-rocket shaped; small; bright; easily
distinguished from background
M94-dense galaxy; fuzzy; no
particular shape; seen in twilight
M95-fuzzy blob in heavy
twilight; bar and spiral structure evident when skies
darker
M96-curved dust lane visible
M97-two eyes-
doubled dark areas; filters don't help much under good
conditions
M98-big, long, narrow streak; star-like nucleus;
star embedded
M99-face on spiral; good detail showing 2
mottled spiral arms
M100-very big; even, low brightness
spiral structure hard to see; very bright, big, fuzzy
nucleus
M101-nice, fat spiral pattern; much detail; ends of
arms like gloved
M102 (NGC 5866)- nice edge-on spiral with
pencil thin dust lane
M103-smallish; triangular shaped group;
bright star at apex; not many stars; varied magnitudes
M104-dust
lane; fills field of view at 250X; star-like nucleus; fuzzy edges;
dusty or dusky view
M105-good show! also in same field of view
at 85X is NGC 3384 and NGC 3389
M106-big, amorphous; large,
fuzzy nucleus that's not too bright; seen in twilight
N107-nucleus
stands out sharply; best lines of stars in outlying areas
M108-"city" like detail; very busy
M109-fainter
than M108; edge-on flying saucer shape