I also had a look for M33 naked eye just 2
nights ago, and again thought to glimpse a slight presence, but not with any
certainty, however in a small pair of 8 X 42 binoculars it was an easy object.
In an 8" Scope I too had to look closely to pick it out ( I was sketching it for
an Astronomy Course) but once found It was easy enough.
Observer:
Dave Bartolini Your skills: Intermediate (some years) Date/time of
observation: Nov 7, 2001 11:00 EST Location of site: Charlton, MA (Lat 42,
Elev 800) Site classification: Exurban Sky darkness: 5.3 <Limiting
magnitude> Seeing: 5 <1-10 Seeing Scale (10 best)> Moon presence:
None - moon not in sky Instrument: 20" f/4.3 dob, also naked
eye Magnification: 150x Filter(s): Object(s): M33 Category:
External galaxy. Extragalactic HII. Class: Constellation: Tri Data:
mag size Position: RA : DEC : Description: I tried
for a while last night to detect M33 naked eye while it was nearly at zenith,
and although my averted imagination may have caught a glimpse of it, I really
can't claim to have seen it. I didn't think to try in binoculars, but based on
the clarity of the sky last night, I believe that I would have been able to see
it fairly easily. I was able to see M31 in and out with direct vision and it was
obvious with averted vision. For stellar magnitudes, I was able to barely (but
definitely) see 91 Pisces (mag 5.22) with direct vision.
In a 20" at
150x, M33 showed a hint of spiral structure, especially the northern arm. The
big H-II region (NGC604) looked like a separate galaxy. This is a big, dim
galaxy. In my 10", the first time that I looked for it, I passed over it several
times before I realized that I was actually looking at it! This is reported to
be an object that if you can't see it in binoculars, you won't be able to see it
in a telescope regardless of the aperture. I don't know if this is exactly true,
but given it's minimal surface brightness, any significant light pollution will
wash it out.