Dan -
In regard to your method of finding M81/M82, I think you'll find the
following technique pretty accurate. If you take the distance between the
two stars at opposite corners of the Big Dipper's "bowl", Phecda (gamma Uma)
and Dubhe (alpha UMa), and extend an imaginary line the same distance toward
the north, you'll be close enough to M81/M82 to find them more easily.
Give it a try. Hpe this helps.
Joe Fragola
-----------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 15:36:13 -0800 (PST)
From: Dan Wright <slcdmw01@No-Spam>
Subject: [TAC] OR: Late Night Driveway with Binoculars Sunday Feb 27
To: TAC mailing list <sf-bay-tac@No-Spam>
<snip>
Stepped around the car and pressed up solid against the passenger side, then
regarded UMA. Performed my usual wild disorganized search for "Bode's
Nebula"
and the "cigar", a.k.a. M81 and M82. Took forever to find them.
Resolved once and for all to stop bumbling around with these two, and come
up
with a foolproof way of nailing them. Whipped out my Tapwave Zodiac PDA
running "2sky" software and zoomed into this area of the heavens. The
software
reveals field stars down to mag 11.3, though the faintest star I could
actually
see in binos on this moony night turned out to be mag 10.
OK, I got it. My plan now and in the future is to use 24 Ursae Majoris as a
main reference, then follow a dim asterism of 7th and 9th mag stars
resembling
a "horn" or "cornucopia", with M82 floating like a treat at the open end.
Received on Tue Mar 1 06:54:03 2005