I was unable to detect M1 near Saturn earlier in the week from my house (mag 3.5 skies) but last night, out in the desert, it was a bit different. I can say, without fear of contradiction, that I "maybe" saw M1 behind Saturn last night. There is usually a kind of "glow" around bright planets in my NS11 (light scatter?) and in Saturn's case it is oval in shape, centered on the planet and the
long axis is aligned with the rings. Last night, under dark skies at Joshua Tree NP with Saturn about 70 degrees above the horizon and using a Lumicon (R.I.P.) UHC filter at about 150x, the glow was "off-axis" and irregular in shape. It was very faint, but I think this was M1....maybe. It goes in the log as only a "possible observation".
Ed
long axis is aligned with the rings. Last night, under dark skies at Joshua Tree NP with Saturn about 70 degrees above the horizon and using a Lumicon (R.I.P.) UHC filter at about 150x, the glow was "off-axis" and irregular in shape. It was very faint, but I think this was M1....maybe. It goes in the log as only a "possible observation".
Ed
Ed Moran
Equipment Forum Moderator - Two of Five