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 staroff-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