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Horsehead visually?


kerrylewis

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I've been involved with some interesting threads on the potential visibility of Sirius B and nebulosity in the Pleiades - now my next target- the Horsehead.

It gets quite a few mentions on the forum but mainly in relation to imaging. How is it visually? Do I stand a chance with my c925?

My guess is that it needs quite a bit of magnification and a dark sky. Do any of the usual filters help?

Kerry

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Bit of a quantum leap into the dark side and really needs a very dark sky and maybe a H-beta filter.  Personally I've never seen it and don't expect to here in London but my cam does the business in a few seconds exposure so I'm happy.   Good luck anyway :cool:

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Kerry I have tried for years to view the HH with my 10" Dob and a H-Beta filter but without success. I live on the edge of Hereford but my east/west horizon has no light pollution.

Last year at the SGL8 star party I was lucky enough to view the HH through Luke and Sarah's 16" Dob using a H-Beta filter and their 19mm and 24mm Panoptic EPs. It was still difficult but you could make out the HH shape. The conditions for seeing were good and Lucksall is a reasonable dark site.

Its worth having a go with your C9.25 but you will need a H-Beta filter. Certainly you will need a dark site and many observers rate the 25mm EP as a magic bullet.

Hope you are successful.

Mark

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Bit of a quantum leap into the dark side and really needs a very dark sky and maybe a H-beta filter.  Personally I've never seen it and don't expect to here in London but my cam does the business in a few seconds exposure so I'm happy.   Good luck anyway :cool:

The smallest scope I have seen it in was a sixteen incher.  Some people have seen it in smaller scopes and the H-beta is supposed to work very well on this object. At least finding the correct location is really easy. Good luck.

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I saw it with a 12" Meade LX-90 using a h-beta filter a year or so ago, I looked night after night for over a week, it was in very dark skies. I'm going to have another go with my 22" dob under dark skies here at Rannoch, should be a lot easier to see it? Maybe not :D

Have a look at these sites

http://freescruz.com/~4cygni/horsehead/index.html

http://freescruz.com/~4cygni/haggisizing/astro/HH-sense.htm

Good luck 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Heh heh, the Holy Grail! I've seen it three times in our 20 inch. Well, 'seen' is can of worms. 'Sensed it' might be better! What I got was an oblong notch out of the faintest nebulosity imanignable. Once was unfiltered, once was with a UHC and once was with an H beta. The last was the best but not by much.

Our site is very dark indeed, 21.7 on the SQM on optimal nights, and the south is excellent. Orion also rises higher here (Lat 44N).

Olly

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Kerry, I would say see if you can see the Flame first. If you can't, I doubt you have a chance of seeing the Horsehead. We've seen the Flame often but the HH properly only once, with a "maybe" once or twice at home under okay skies.

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Good luck Mert,I'm eagerly waiting to here the result.....it's on my list,but I won't hold my breath for me to see it!

Hi

No luck last night as some cloud appeared, it's clear here tonight so I'll have another go later on :D

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Good try Mert!What are you trying for eyepieces and filters?what is the f ratio of Big Blue?Excellent links by the way....

I think it's f/4.8

Trying with all the eyepieces in my signature, I have a 2" H-Beta filter.

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one of the key things apparently is exit pupil and also I read you are better with narrower fields. I bought a 20mm TV plossl specifically with this in mind to get a 5mm approx exit pupil and 50 degree field.

Thats my understanding too. I've acquired a 25mm Celestron X-Cel LX eyepiece and have borrowed a nice 1000 Oaks H-Beta filter especially to have a crack at this object this Autumn / Winter.

My favourite quote on viewing this object comes from Jeremy Perez:

".... it's like trying to see a little bit of nothing with a little bit of less than nothing resting over it...."  :smiley:

Here is his webpage on observing this object:

http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/000379.html

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The eyepiece certainly made a difference for me.

I could see the horsey with a 19mm Panoptic (exit pupil 4.3), a "maybe" with a 24 Panoptic (exit pupil 5.4), and nothing at all with a 14mm Delos (exit pupil 3.2) and 21mm Ethos (exit pupil 4.7 - maybe the wide view was the problem?)

If I get another shot at the horsey, I will try my shiny new 17.3 Delos, especially now the panoptics have gone :grin:

A shame to hear the HH doesn't improve a lot with the much darker skies and a dollop more of aperture at Olly's. The flame must be awesome though, Olly?

PS are stable skies needed? :p

one of the key things apparently is exit pupil and also I read you are better with narrower fields. I bought a 20mm TV plossl specifically with this in mind to get a 5mm approx exit pupil and 50 degree field.

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The eyepiece certainly made a difference for me.

I could see the horsey with a 19mm Panoptic (exit pupil 4.3), a "maybe" with a 24 Panoptic (exit pupil 5.4), and nothing at all with a 14mm Delos (exit pupil 3.2) and 21mm Ethos (exit pupil 4.7 - maybe the wide view was the problem?)

They say its one object where a narrower FoV is a positive feature as it enables you to mask off the light / glare from stars in the vicinity which would make the HH even more difficult to see. I may try and get hold of a 25mm ortho as well for this purpose, for that reason.

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I have a feeling that the HH will have some attention at SGL9.

John it will interesting to use a narrow field ortho to see what difference it makes.

Mark

Indeed Mark - I think we will need every trick in the book to see this with a 12" scope  :smiley:

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