M42/UHC

[jetstream]

The other night's sky gave an opportunity that couldn't be passed up, with the transparency clearing the longer I viewed...until I quit at 4am. After studying Pegasus for a few hours the bright stars of Orion emerged, first time viewing this favorite object in a while, and I must say the UHC gave up a unique view of the complex area.

This UHC shows an extent of nebulosity that is quite amazing... much more than the OIII under dark skies and M42 was no exception. I must first say that I like viewing this object with no filter as more defined edges in the wings etc show, I can easily see the lower loop and the "hook" in the wing, with M43 showing distinctly.

BUT, with the UHC the area under the wings were almost completely filled! draping down to almost close the lower loop  a cigar shaped "hole" was all that was left in the loop and many features of M42 were smeared out by this extra nebulosity. This view was striking to say the least...   Some extra patches around M42, M43 were observed.

I tried viewing with and without the UHC, same for the OIII... what will be nice is viewing with a filter slide to really accentuate the differences. For this type of object the 100 deg EP's seem made for the job, with no defined borders (FS), well you can see it if you try. The UHC takes mag very well, allowing views of the core in the 200x range, exposing it's swirling green marble like texture...

All in all a VG night!

[Pig]

Nice one Gerry

It seems that although filters take something away they also give something different back in return, I hadn't thought of it in this way before.

Its also great that you enjoyed your evening, I hope we get a few more clear nights in the UK especially so as it is getting darker at a more reasonable time.  Mind you it is getting colder too....brrrrrrr 

[MarsG76]

I share your sentiment... The uhc really does an amazing job.

[Piero]

Nice reading!

Under a moderately polluted sky a UHC filter makes a substantial improvement on M42 when using a small telescope. Also an OIII does a good job, but I prefer the UHC on this target.

I am looking forward to it!

[Stu]

Lovely stuff Gerry. Agreed about the UHC showing more of the fainter nebulosity. They tend to show less contrast on the internal structures and dark lanes but more of the fainter stuff around the edges. It will be interesting to see how the NPB compares.

I have a filter slide with diagonal which works really nicely on the fracs and SCT but I'm thinking of trying to convert it for use with the dobs too. It's so much easier to pick out the differences and understand which is giving the better view.

Can't wait for M42 to rise at a slightly more convenient time [emoji3]

[John]

Nice report Gerry

I'm looking forward to observing M42 again. I'd only just got my DGM NBP filter when Orion was dipping rather low earlier in the year but I was impressed what that filter did to the famous nebula. Looking forward to more of that sort of thing !

[laudropb]

Nice report. I find that UHC filters are best for some nebula, but OIII win with some others. It's just a case of trial and error to see which suits best on the night.