Kon

It sounds a pretty good effort and nice targets. I had a disastrous last night as well with many elusive targets. You will find them as you go along.👀

Very nice and you had a more successful night than me. NGC 2392 is a very nice sight, good job on getting some colour.

@Louis D and @Sunshine thank you both on taking a look! Much more improved than my attempt!! It was an impromptu session after my visual. I would like to add more shots to it and do the blanks etc for the noise reduction. I may have to drop the iso since it is quite noisy.

I have attempted to image M42 using by 8" Dob without tracking. I think I am quite please with the result but it is a far cry from the beautiful images I have seen here. I used a Nikon D3200 (iso 1600) on prime focus and stacked 40 frames (0.625 s per frame) in siril. I did some basic stretching in Gimp. If any of you thinks that you might be able to get something more from my data, I have uploaded the tiff from siril. orion-best.tif

I read some targets benefit more from one than the other. Too much information out there is not so good some times...Ok, I think I will go with the advise of your experiences and go for an OIII only for now and see how it performs.

I did. Once I have a reply, I will post it here. Doing some more reading and the +/- of each filter, I am considering to get both a UHC and OIII now....

Can you explain more please? Sorry a beginner and I do not understand the technicalities of putting a filter. I have not noticed a difference in FOV using my 1.25" moon filter with my EPs or am I missing something with the UHC/OIII?

Hahaha...or ouch in my pocket! I realise that the accessories are adding up more than the scope quite quickly.💸

I think this piece of information is extremely useful to me. The fact I can access nebulas that are not visible then the OIII makes sense since my viewing is pretty good from my skies (could be darker but i don suffer much).

Thank you for the links. I will try compose a list for tonight. My head is all mingled with the options and the excellent suggestions above.

Silly question, do I need a 2" or 1.25" filter?

As I said I enjoy the smudges, but as a beginner I only had the chance of seeing a few nebulas so far (I tried to find M78 but failed when the moon was out). I have managed to see a bit of nebulosity on Merope but I was not sure if it was due to the reflection from the star. I currently own the standard 10mm and 25mm that came with my Skywatcher 200p Dob (10mm is rubbish, the 25 okish), and 8mm and 15mm BST (I really enjoy the 15mm one on the nebulas). (can you comment on the two OIII filters i posted above please?)

So an OIII is in the cards then. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/televue-filters/tele-vue-bandmate-oiii-filter.html or https://www.firstlightoptics.com/uhc-oiii-visual-filters/astronomik-oiii-filter.html

Would these be visible at all without a filter (until i get one)?

If I were to get one 'now' and another later on, which one would you prioritise, OIII or UHC? @jetstream and @John

Happy to have the discussion here 🙂 Is it this one? https://www.firstlightoptics.com/televue-filters/tele-vue-nebustar-uhc-filter.html

what do you have? Or which one do you recommend? I should probably start new discussion on this topic (a recent one was more on light polluted skies).

Thanks. Yes I am contemplating a filter at the moment, but so many choices.

Nice details and lovely processing in my eyes.

Very nice report, thanks. A lot of nice targets you managed in your viewing! It has been all cloudy in Wiltshire so keeping warm for tomorrow ♨️

I am a beginner in the hobby but totally fascinated by the smudgy nebulas. I own an 8" Dob and I am at bortle 4 skies. I have only owned my telescope since December and as we all know the weather has not played ball. With the predicted clear skies this week and the new moon, I was wondering which nebulas you suggest for me. I have good seeing on all directions. In the limited viewing time we had so far, I have managed to see the Owl Nebula (M97), Crab nebula (M1), The Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543), Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392), M42. (I have seen several clusters and galaxies) but I am after nebula suggestions. I have no filters so I am after targets that can show as is. Are there any targets that I 'must see' during Feb? Fingers crossed for clear skies this week.

I suppose seeing it with your own eyes changes perception compare to looking at photos. I like what the AP brings out but somehow i prefer the smudge of light.

That's amazing! I love the nebulosity around!

Like everybody else said, wrap up warm, especially feet (I like double wooly socks), gloves and a hat. I was out a few weeks ago at -5 with frost all over my OTA but since it was not too humid I did not feel it much. I had regular tea breaks in the house (making tea in the dark is interesting) in the dark to protect night vision. Considering it might be your only decent clear skies for a while, I would go for it!

I second the Skyview or Stellarium on your phone, makes finding targets a bit easy for beginners (like myself). As others said, Mars looks like a bright orange disk (in my 8" Dob). I could see some dark patches on it the other night when the atmosphere seemed a bit stable. Menkar is near by which has an orange colour to it and that would show as a sharp point of orange light. A few dimer orange stars are also close by. Worth trying to find Pleiades first and then move down to find Mars if you are unsure. A red dot finder, Rigel or Telrad will also help you point the telescope in the right area. There a few discussions on this forum on how to align them.