Diagram of Orions Trapezium

[Adz]

Hi all,

Does anyone have, or could show me where to find, a diagram of the trapezium in Orion?

I would like something that shows the smaller surrounding stars and relevant magnitudes as I think I saw one last night...

Thanks,

[Freff]

Here you go.

The Trapezium, Theta Orionis

[nightfisher]

Freff, nice one thats right comprehensive page, im hoping to have a short session with orion and the trapezium later this evening

[Adz]

Thanks very much Tony, just what I was looking for.

I managed to see E and F last night

Perhaps with everything working my way, G or H1 might not be out of the question!

[Damo636]

I also managed the E & F stars last night for the first time. The seeing was exceptional at times in between the showers.

[Adz]

Yeah a real clarity compared to tonight. Was that with the dob Damo?

How well do you think your frac would compare to resolving these things? That article seems to indicate that seeing conditions offer a lot more promise than aperture for this sort of goal.

[Damo636]

Yeah, it was with the dob Adam. I haven't actually tried the frac on this target as yet but i think it probably would have resolved them last night as well.

[John]

I got E & F with my 4" Vixen refractor a few nights back - first time I've had them both with that one. I've found 120mm and above refractors are usually needed to get a clear and certain sighting of both. F is easier than E I find.

[RikM]

So far I've only managed to see E. My local seeing is usually dreadful though

[nightfisher]

Had a good try at the trapezium with tal100, think i just managed the E star, but had to fit bahtinov mask and focus on beltaguese then back to the trap, this worked so well i will be using it more often, just maybe it will tidy up my lunar image`s, clouded over again so packed up

[RikM]

Looking again, I think it is F I can see rather than E but i am not sure. I can't really tell which way up it goes Didn't get to use any more than 86x magnification tonight before it clouded over. I've just packed up.

[Moonshane]

I may be wrong Rik (usually am) but I am fairly sure that this image (i.e. the drawing) shows how it would look in a newt. in a frac it would be upside down and reversed left right - can you see now why I have sold my frac and bought another newt?!

[Moonshane]

sounds a bit weird but I have found that looking at the moon and then swinging to the trapezium sometimes makes the smaller stars pop a little, especially with lowish powers (maybe like 100x). perhaps try it with your torch if the moon's not up. works for me.

[RikM]

I may be wrong Rik (usually am) but I am fairly sure that this image (i.e. the drawing) shows how it would look in a newt. in a frac it would be upside down and reversed left right - can you see now why I have sold my frac and bought another newt?!

Yes, that's what I think too, which means it is F I can see. Whatever, I can see the upper one using a Dob.

I have been thinking about getting a small frac, but I think may be better off putting my 150P on an altaz for low power wide views. Do you need slowmo controls or just push it about like a dob on a stick?

[Moonshane]

personally, I'd use your 150p (in fact this is what I have done pretty much). I have a Giro 2 deluxe and this is very nice and the motion a lot like a dob. very nice and easy to use.

[Adz]

I shall try that moon trick Shane, no idea why it works though thanks!

[John]

.... no idea why it works though thanks!

I'm just guessing but looking at the moon will make your pupil contract. It's possible that the smaller pupil makes for a temporary optimum match with the exit pupil delivered by the scope / eyepiece and this makes the faint stars easier to pick out.

E & F form very unequal brightness doubles with A and C and that's what creates the challenge.

I find getting the right eyepiece the key to spotting E & F but whether it's the magnification or the exit pupil that determines that I'm not 100% sure.

[NickK]

Just looking at my crappy 5 second images of the core and noted these from one of the filter stacks - although messed up with virtually no polar alignment, E seems to stand out and F is possibly there too (although it's on the same plane as the polar misalignment).