I was able to get a detection on the whale before I was able to detect the hockey stick. As I working on the hockey stick galaxy with AV the shape of the hockey stick was only evident for brief moments; however the whale galaxy began to produce more a more defined shape. I'm confident in saying that I got a good observation of the shape of the whale, while I was only able to get a detection of the shape of a hockey stick.
This took a long time to find and see. I pre-printed a photo of the SN in relation to M101 and the nearby stars to aide me in locating it. While helpful, it still took time to both locate M101 (it's so darn faint), then orient my view of it with the photo. It took numerous attempts (with a few thoughts of quitting), but eventually the work paid off.
The SN wasn't very bright at all, but it did pop into view in the exact spot where I expected it. It would pop into view simultaneously with a nearby twin of similar brightness (which looks like it's a concentration of stars within the M101?). After some time with AV, M101 never got farther than a detection; with a vague and inconsistent noise in the FOV.
This was the hardest object I've probably had to find so far, but it was a good learning experience. And while I was only able to detect the SN for a split second at a time, it was still very cool to be able to see it before it dims out of the reach of an amateur telescope.
Been waiting a long time to view this again. My view of it last year didn't seem that great. The wait was worth it, this is a new favorite. What a stunning and beautiful display. There is an evident background glow concentrating near the center of the cluster, but many smaller stars are still glistening in-front of that glow.
I attempted to view it closer using my x3 barlow, but for some reason I had a hard time resolving the smaller stars with it. I want to try this again, but with the 2x and push magnification a little further. I may want to attempt a cell phone photo and/or a good sketch of this.
