We bagged the horsehead!!

[SimonfromSussex]

On reflection trying to nail the tricky horsehead nebula visually last night might have been a tad ambitious.

At the start of the night the moon was pretty high and even though it was no where near full it was surprisingly bright.

Add to that how wet it was last night in the air (hair dryers at the ready chaps) and the mist that was forming in pockets on the lower ground around us, you could conclude that the conditions were not ideal.

However Alan (Rustysplit) & I were determined to try.......

Armed with Alan's home made 14" dob and my 16" Lightbridge, under my rural Sussex (pretty) dark skies we set up about 8pm and started on the usual targets that the moon's light doesn't really interfere with.

Jupiter was pretty steady and we teased some detail in the lower and upper regions, the Pleiades gave a lovely blue glow despite the white light around it.

The double cluster was (as always) truly beautiful in a wide angle eyepiece and the chain of open clusters m36, 37 & 38 were a treat to find and take in.

As time ticked on impatience got the better of us and despite the moon (although it was dropping lower in the sky) we decided to try our main target/challenge for the night.

Using an Orion h-beta filter on a 27mm televue panoptic eyepiece on Alan's 14" scope we found Alnitak and then edged up to the trio of stars that form a small chain below (in our reflectors) where the horsehead should be.

Alan looked first, drew a breath through his teeth and declared........... "nothing"! 

I then had a peak and as soon as I put my eye to the eyepiece I got a flash of a dark notch in a brighter cloud. I use the word flash deliberately because that's exactly how it was.

No sooner had I seen it my eye tried to focus on it and it was gone. Then no matter what I tried I couldn't see it again. Was it my imagination? I'm pretty sure it wasn't but I certainly couldn't count that as bagging it.

We decided to wait some more for the moon to drop and carried on with some other targets.

The dew was catching up with us now. Both secondaries went, then the eyepieces, then the primaries need the hairdryers (ironically although both Alan and I are focally challenged we still can handle a hairdryer)!!

A hot cup of coffee and a mince pie later and the moon was really dropping, we decided to try again.

This time we both felt there was the faintest of outline, a dark notch, but the problem with the horsehead is you try and focus on what you are seeing and then it goes. 

I found by coming away from the eyepiece and staring off into the distance then flicking my eye back to the glass seemed to pop it out for a split second but blink and it was gone.

More coffee (and more mince pies) and the night ticked on. 12am now and the moon was pretty much gone behind the horizon.

You could see the sky darken, the clouds of the milky way began to show and all of a sudden andromeda, the double cluster and the beehive cluster became naked eye targets.

My lightbridge looked like it had been through a car wash both outside and on the mirrors, one scope down, would we see the elusive horsey before the wet night claimed it's second?

Stool in position, eyepiece and filter ready, we tried one final time.................and there is was!

To say it's faint is a massive understatement. It's not like the veil that you can look directly at and take in but the nebulosity surrounding it does have a veil like quality. A billowing rippling effect with the top edge of the horses head more defined than the snout but you could pretty much make out the distinctive shape now. Certainly an arch top to the dark notch.

I discovered the best way to look at it was to sit the head in the lower third of the eyepiece and then look over it to the top of the field of view.

This gave you an averted vision (i.e. the bottom part of your eye was picking up the horsehead whilst your main vision was looking at the black space above it) but in a much more relaxed way.

You would need a good quality bit of glass to do this as the edge needs to be sharp but, in Alan's panoptic this was ideal and the technic really drew out the detail. 

Alan found this worked for him too.

The stool helped as well. It let you relax and take in this most amazing sight. 

We tried without the h-beta filter and with a UHC filter but there was nothing to our eyes with either method. The h-beta filter is the magic bullet.

In conclusion a great night and fantastic that we can tick this one off the observing list.

We both want to revisit it after the next full moon as I'm sure with a darker, completely moonless sky it will be even better but for now a tamed horse resides in our observing stable. 

[cotterless45]

What a lovely report and well done in seeing an elusive creature ! I heard of it being seen with an H beta filter in a 16".

We were out until 11 ,when from no where low clouds rolled in. It was however a night of extremely good seeing.

We picked up colour in the Trapezium stars, had a stunning time on Jupiter and a superb view of the Terminator. It was interesting to compare scopes side by side, the 102 won on contrast and definition,

Old Nick.

[swamp thing]

Congratulations Simon and Alan that's a great bit of observing.

Well done

Now, can I borrow that filter pretty please

[YKSE]

Excellent report, congratulations for finding the Horsey!

[Paul73]

Simon

Sounds like a really rewarding night.

Keep writing!! A Pleasure to read and some handy tips for us novices.

Paul

[Rustysplit]

Nice write up Si.

It sure was an epic session, but I am really chuffed that our determination paid off. As the night went on and the sky darkened, the elusive little Horsey went from being a no, to a maybe, to a yes, oh it's gone, to a YES!! repeatedly and quite easily. Top marks to Simon for nailing the technique. I have always instinctively gone to one side for averted vision, but looking up so much more comfortable and seemingly productive. Roll on the end of the month, Ride 'em cowboy!

Steve, you are more than welcome to borrow the H beta. I would love to see the HH in your scope.

Oh, and Si, I think the report proves we are not focally challenged, follically challenged however, is in no doubt

[rory]

Enjoyable read. Sounds like a rewarding night .

[SimonfromSussex]

Thanks everyone for the kind replies.

Good to hear we weren't the only mad ones braving the dew last night Nick!

Steve I'd love to try it through your 20" scope, I'm sure that would tease it out even more.

Cheers Al, focally challenged no, follically challenged quite right!! must be the late night catching up!!!!!

[Reeny]

Excellent

It is really good to know what is achievable.

The little 8" is unlikely to be successful - but given some dark Northumbrian skies, who knows.

[kerrylewis]

Wonderful report Simon. I started a thread not long ago on the subject of the Horsehead 's visibility without imaging. Your report goes a long way to providing the answer. Not going to be visible in my 9.25 SCT, at least from my garden I think, but maybe one day?

[John]

Fantastic stuff chaps - well done and a great report which really illustrates the challenge of this object 

It's going to need really good skies with my 12" by the sound of it but I think the Lumicon H-Beta is the right tool for the job. Maybe I need to think about some Tele Vue glass to use rather than the intended Celestron X-Cell LX 25mm that I currently have put aside for this ?.

Thanks for a really motivating post though and some great viewing tips  

[Astro Imp]

Well done chaps.

As this is the time of year that all the prizes are given out I nominate this as the report of the year. Not just for the main target but also for the excellent writing.

Keep up the good work and clear skies.

[Luke]

Well done on taming the horsey! Great write-up too.

[WaveSoarer]

That's such a wonderful report. I'll look forward to hearing more. Many congratulations Simon.

Dave

[SimonfromSussex]

Wonderful report Simon. I started a thread not long ago on the subject of the Horsehead 's visibility without imaging. Your report goes a long way to providing the answer. Not going to be visible in my 9.25 SCT, at least from my garden I think, but maybe one day?

Thanks Kerry, we both had a good read of your excellent thread before our attempt on Monday to get as many tips as possible.

I had a 925 before the Lightbridge, great scope but I agree it's going to be a challenge to see the horsehead using one but possibly not impossible with an h-beta filter.

Dark sky is the key I think, good luck!!

[SimonfromSussex]

Fantastic stuff chaps - well done and a great report which really illustrates the challenge of this object 

It's going to need really good skies with my 12" by the sound of it but I think the Lumicon H-Beta is the right tool for the job. Maybe I need to think about some Tele Vue glass to use rather than the intended Celestron X-Cell LX 25mm that I currently have put aside for this ?.

Thanks for a really motivating post though and some great viewing tips  

Cheers John, 

The Horsehead is certainly the faintest target I have personally tried to date, much less visible than the crescent.

You have the right tools though I'm sure!! As long as your X-cell FOV is sharp enough across to give you room for the horsehead below centre?

I think we inadvertently proved with the moon on Monday you definitely need as darker sky as possible though.

One other thing I forgot to mention was we swung onto the Rosette nebula after the horsehead and this was helped enormously with Alan's h-beta filter as well, much more so than an oiii surprisingly, which we compared.

Really started to show some structure and well worth a visit whilst in the area!!  

[SimonfromSussex]

Thanks everyone again for the replies & support! Really kind.

So great to be able to share our experiences with others and get such positive feedback.

[alan potts]

Nice report and well done you two. 

Alan

[Scott]

Nice one Simon and Alan, The hunter has given up another of his charms . And yes...I agree, This was a great read.

Thanks

Scott

[mert]

Nice spot

I saw it about ten days ago, I used a 20mm ES 100 eyepiece with a h-beta filter, it was also visible using  a 12mm Nagler with a 1.25 h-beta. I never tried without the h-beta yet, when the old moon goes I'll give it a try,

Next on my list is the  central star in M57 

[Uplooker]

Great report guys, more interesting having read the thread on possibility/ best way to try and observe the HH. You have proved the theory, well done. I can certainly say that I have no hope under my polluted Lancashire skies, but really enjoyed reading how someone else succeeded

Ian

[SimonfromSussex]

Thanks Guys!!

Nice spot

I saw it about ten days ago, I used a 20mm ES 100 eyepiece with a h-beta filter, it was also visible using  a 12mm Nagler with a 1.25 h-beta. I never tried without the h-beta yet, when the old moon goes I'll give it a try,

Next on my list is the  central star in M57 

Glad to here you got it too mert. Were you able to keep Alintak out of the FOV with the 20mm ES 100 or didn't it matter?

I have to confess to trying to spot M57's central star on more than one occasion with no real joy. I think your 22" big blue will give you a really good chance though!!

[Christopher Davenport]

This is a great piece of writing, such a exciting read, I felt like I was there eating mince pies with you guys.

Out of interes as I am new to Sussex, could you point me at a good spot to setup next time the weather clears.

Thanks for sharing and keep up the inspirational writing.

Dark Skies

Ps you should look into moving your stories into the blog section of this site.

That way the stories can unfold over multiple threads and attempts.

[astronymonkey]

Well done chaps, ive been hunting for this since the end of summer so your report gives me some hope. I planned to hunt for it at kielder in november but the sky simply wasnt up to it.

great report though .

chers