M42

[Bondred]

It was a clear night last night and Orion was positioned perfectly for me to have a go at finding M42.

However this was completely unsuccessful, does anyone have any tips on how to find it?

What I am using is below.

[paul schofield]

Hi Bondred, I tend to use a low powered E.P. 25mm, if you find the three stars of Orions belt, Alnitak,Alnilam and Mintaka, then just drop down from Alnilam towards the bottom of Orion about half way down you should see M42. Good luck.

[Daz1974]

Im a complete noob, have a 130p skywatcher and found M42 without any problems last friday night. With a bit of help from TL@O to confirm what I was seeing I got it pretty much first time.

It was late at night when I decided to setup, didnt bother with setting up the goto, just manually directed the scope to the direction of orion and found it was quite easy to spot.

[John]

You want to use your lowest power eyepiece - M42 is a large object. If you have some binoculars try using those to pin its general position down to start with - you can see the nebula in 10x50's as a fuzzy patch of light around a small cluster of stars.

[todd8137]

hi there its a naked eye neb most of the time heres a few pics one of stellarium,and one i took out my landing window rested the cam on two books and took a few snaps the camera was a cannon 10d,as you can see you should able to see the smudges of the nebulas easy

cheers

[Bondred]

I can see it with the naked eye, and I know where I am supposed to be pointing the the scope, the trouble I have is using the starfinder accurately, I line it up with what I want to look at and look through the scope, but nothing is there, it is a pretty poor starfinder though to be honest, what do most people use?

When I look at Jupiter I also have trouble finding it, I line it up with the finder but nothing is in the scope, the easiest way I have found of finding Jupiter is to take out the EP and Barlow and look directly into the hole on the scope, I can then find it in a few seconds and have it lined up. This method doesn't work with DSO's though.

[rocketandroll]

I can see it with the naked eye, and I know where I am supposed to be pointing the the scope, the trouble I have is using the starfinder accurately, I line it up with what I want to look at and look through the scope, but nothing is there, it is a pretty poor starfinder though to be honest, what do most people use?

When I look at Jupiter I also have trouble finding it, I line it up with the finder but nothing is in the scope, the easiest way I have found of finding Jupiter is to take out the EP and Barlow and look directly into the hole on the scope, I can then find it in a few seconds and have it lined up. This method doesn't work with DSO's though.

Silly question perhaps but have you checked your finder is aligned with the scope?

Use a low power EP, widest you have... look through the scope and center a very bright star (or Jupiter would be a good bet) bang in the middle of the field of view... then go and look through the finder and see if it is also in the middle of the field of view... I suspect it'll be way off... in which case adjust the finder's alignment until it matches what you see in the scope... that way you'll always be looking in the right direction when you go from finder to scope.

M42 is a really easy one... because you can see it with the naked eye, with a wide eyepiece you should be able to literally 'aim' the scope without a finder in the rough direction then find it in the scope with very little movement... that's what I did the first time I looked at it... you'll know when you have it, it's a spectacular thing!!!

Ben

[rocketandroll]

...to add, just noticed you mentioned 'taking out the EP and barlow'... you do NOT need a barlow to see M42 :-)

You will just need a 27 - 32mm or so EP straight in to the scope... sounds like you are using FAR too high a magnification meaning even a slight missalignment in the finder will leave you WAY off in the tiny field of view through the scope.

Don't bother using a barlow on ANY DSO's, apart perhaps from some of the brighter globulars, the reduction in light gathering capability will totally negate any increase in magnification.

Ben

[brantuk]

A 20mm eyepiece in your scope will be more than enough for M42 (deffo no barlow needed). Have a look in the imaging section to check what the shape is and then you should be able to recognise it - but it will be all whispy shades of grey

[Charon]

Best you line up your finder during the day at a distant object- tree, lamp post anything static, much easier than lining it up on a planet etc. It worked for me.

[John]

The red dot finder on the Astromasters is notoriously difficult to use. Many folks replace it with something like the Rigel Quikfinder which costs around £30 from First Light Optics and is fastened to the scope tube by sticky pads so no drilling needed.

Your finder does need to be precisely aligned with where your scope is pointing though.

[Bondred]

Silly question perhaps but have you checked your finder is aligned with the scope?

Use a low power EP, widest you have... look through the scope and center a very bright star (or Jupiter would be a good bet) bang in the middle of the field of view... then go and look through the finder and see if it is also in the middle of the field of view... I suspect it'll be way off... in which case adjust the finder's alignment until it matches what you see in the scope... that way you'll always be looking in the right direction when you go from finder to scope.

M42 is a really easy one... because you can see it with the naked eye, with a wide eyepiece you should be able to literally 'aim' the scope without a finder in the rough direction then find it in the scope with very little movement... that's what I did the first time I looked at it... you'll know when you have it, it's a spectacular thing!!!

Ben

I have tried fiddling with the finder a little, but I have not had a go at properly aligning it, I suspect it may be off. But there is very little ways of adjusting the standard issue one, it seems very poor to me.

...to add, just noticed you mentioned 'taking out the EP and barlow'... you do NOT need a barlow to see M42 :-)

You will just need a 27 - 32mm or so EP straight in to the scope... sounds like you are using FAR too high a magnification meaning even a slight missalignment in the finder will leave you WAY off in the tiny field of view through the scope.

Don't bother using a barlow on ANY DSO's, apart perhaps from some of the brighter globulars, the reduction in light gathering capability will totally negate any increase in magnification.

Ben

Thank you for this, I will take out the Barlow, the biggest size EP I have at the moment is 20mm, hopefully this will be adequate until I can afford a decent bigger one.