I will share with the forum a strange and puzzling observation that I have noted about the jet in M87.
When I have guest over at my observatory I ask them what they would like to see in my 48" reflector. most people ask to see the famous jet in M87 if it is up. About four years ago I noted something unusual about the jet. What I was seeing was very strange to me. What I was seeing was on some nights of excellent seeing and transparency the jet was hard to see and on other nights with bad seeing and transparency the jet was really easy to see. This was really confusing to me and made no sense at all. I decided that I would start a log and keep notes on the jet over a long period. The next two years I looked at M87 and the jet ever night that I observed if it was up. I quit taking notes after two years and I confirmed that what I had noted was true that on some night of bad conditions the jet was easy to see and on some nights of good to excellent conditions that it was barely there. I have shared my observations with several professorial astronomers and they have no clue as to why I am seeing this variability visually in the jet.
So from my experience if you are trying to see the jet in M87 keep at it. For no reason that I have been able to determined that it is much easer to see on some nights than others and the sky conditions have little to do with it. I hope one day to find out why the jet is so variable visually.
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