# Actual Astronomy - 12 Months of Messier

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-365-days-of-astronomy-500745/actual-astronomy-12-months-of-messier
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-365-days-of-astronomy-500745/actual-astronomy-12-months-of-messier.md
Podcast: [The 365 Days of Astronomy](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-365-days-of-astronomy-500745)
Published: 2026-04-18T11:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/astro365/20260418-365DoA.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/astro365/20260418-365DoA.mp3?dest-id=4378
Processing state: processed
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-365-days-of-astronomy-500745/episodes/actual-astronomy-12-months-of-messier
Duration seconds: 2942

## Resource

Episode 531. Just a reminder for people to write in with their questions for David Nagler. Hosted by Chris Beckett & Shane Ludtke , two amateur astronomers in Saskatchewan who enjoy teaching astronomy classes and showing the public views through their telescopes. actualastronomy@gmail.com Some binocular astronomy targets: - M40 - 9.6 Magnitude 1.7' This is a pair of faint stars located in Ursa Major. They are a tough find in binoculars, and you will be challenged to split them with binoculars. In telescopes, they appear to be an identical pair of stars and easy to split even at low power. - M108 - 10th Mag. 4x1.7' - Edge on, rich in mottled detail This galaxy will appear as a thin streak of light in telescopes, there is a definite brightening towards the middle. M108 is a very tough object for the largest binoculars. - M97 - Owl Nebula - 9.8 mag. 3.4x3.3' This planetary nebula in Ursa Major, also called the Owl nebula, appears as a fairly large, round, hazy patch of light in a telescope. It is in the same field of view as M108 at low to medium powers. Use averted vision to see the faint glow of the Owl nebula through binoculars. Lorde Ross drawing through his massive scope. - M109 Theta like spiral - 9th mag. 11x4' This spiral galaxy in Ursa major appears as a small, oval patch of light. It can be found in the same field of view as Gamma UMa at low to medium power in a telescope. Use large binoculars under good conditions for a chance of seeing this one. - M106 - large spiral 19x8', Mag. 8.4 This galaxy in Canes Venatici appears as an oval patch of light, larger than M109, with a fairly bright core. A tough, but possible binocular target. - M95, 96 &105 10th magnitude galaxies in Leo M95 This galaxy appears as a faint round patch of light with a bright nucleus. Look fo…

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