M1

[powerwindows1985]

I spent most of my morning looking for M1. I think I may have found it but I am not sure. It looked like a very very faint cloud. Do you need really dark skies (I live in a small town but we have moderate light pollution) or a large scope (I have a 6" dob)?

[Carlos_dfc]

6" will show m1 without too much trouble, even within a small town with a bit of light-pollution - and yes, it does look like a small oval hazy 'cloud'
However, I tend to wait a little later in the year, so M1 can get higher out of the 'murk' that you get low down above the horizon.
As well as dark skies, the height of an object can make a big difference to how much detail you see, or how well a faint fuzzy stands out against the background sky.
Actually, m1 is detectable with 70mm binoculars, from within a small town, if it's high up, on a clear night.

Interestingly, since Charles Messier catalogued it as m1, it has grown in size.
M1 is a supernove remnant, the debris from the explosion, which is constantly expanding away from the epicentre.
It is estimated that today it is about 1.5 times the size it was when Messier saw it, and consequently, only about half as bright.

For a write-up on Taurus in general, including a bit on m1, and a star-hopper's guide to finding it - have a read of this.....
[Registered users can see links. ]

[powerwindows1985]

Thanks for the info. It was fairly low to the east this morning. As to light pollution it is odd. We are sparsley populated but the light pollution maps show more light pollution than one would think.

[admin]

Thats awesome, Can you let us know what you saw power?

Here is the Sky Object Database entry for M1 NGC 1952 from astronomyforum.net

NGC 1952

we are trying to setup an observational notes / comment area for each object - this will be great for astronomers to keep track of their objects and store photos of each one. Soon we will be adding more objects.

[powerwindows1985]

Not much, just a very faint oval cloud, if I wasn't sure of my position I probably wouldn't have even noticed it. It was much fainter than any of the other deep space objects I have observed. Still not entirely sure if that is what I saw, but I think it is.