NGC 2392 - Eskimo Nebula

[AlexxxAA]

Its been a long time since i took out my telescope just to observe the stars. And last night was especially less polluted than most nights considering it was a very festive day and not much industrial pollution happening, and not many cars on the roads either. So my usual 4th magnitude sky actually went down to somewhere between 5th and 6th magnitude. I took out my 8" and tested out my new 5mm and 24mm Christmas presents

I saw many things last night. Not very clearly as usual due to the bright city lights... But last night was the first time that i took a look at the Eskimo Nebula. And i was blown away that i could actually manage to see some kind of structure with averted vision. In my opinion, through the eyepiece with averted vision, it resembled the Ring Nebula. However this nebula actually had a bright, nearly star-like core, with a small dark gap around, and then the glow around it.

This is my first sketch, so please be honest of what you think. I think it resembles quite well what i was seeing through the eyepiece. Hopefully my eyes or the conditions weren't fooling me, and this is something similar to what others see through moderately sized scopes???

Thanks for stopping by and looking

[AlexxxAA]

By the way, i forgot to mention that i simply took a picture of the sketch book with my phone at night when i was done and edited on the phone itself. Thus the color that came out with the inverted colors. However, the color is very close to what i see through the eyepiece with the UHC filter

[callisto]

Thats a very good example of what you would see through the eyepiece Alex

Hope you don't mind me asking, but how does the UHC filter fair in those LA skies?

I've got family in Santa Monica, so I know what those skies are like visually, just curious to know how much the filter affects the view.

Mark.

[Beulah]

Excellent!!

You saw a lot of detail in the nebula - I see that detail with the 12", let alone an 8".

Very tempted to buy a UHC filter....

[AlexxxAA]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you approve of the description.

I have to say that I had my hopes very high for the filter. Unfortunately the skies here are VERY polluted. Nevertheless, the filter does make a difference in darkening the background. So instead of seeing a dark pinkish field of view, it's nearly pitch black. But since it filters alot of the wavelengths of the visible spectrum, some more faint stars get dimmed or blocked. However it does bring out the nebula a good amount. It's not a dramatic change, but it is noticeable. Without the filter, I could only see a slightly bright blob. And with the filter, the central area was a little more apparent.

I also took a look at M42 without and with the filter and noticed that it was a brighter nebula, and I could actually manage to make out the expanding "wings" around with some averted vision.

All in all, it worth the money. And the Baader filter is the less expensive of the bunch.

Unfortunately, because of where I live, the filter can only do so much. I'm sure if you guys don't have too much pollution, the filter will do wonders.

Here is a website that helps out with comparing filter types and choosing the right filters for certain objects in darker skies.

The Prairie Astronomer

Hope this helps with your decisions

[Nexus 6]

excellent first attempt Alex

[AlexxxAA]

Thanks Alan

[Nexus 6]

Thanks Alan

don't mention it will drop in for a few hours later

[DarkerSky]

That's great Alex. You've pulled out some tremendous detail and captured it faithfully. I think it's an excellent sketch of a lovely object. I got a sketch down of it last year from my 12" and I remember at the time being very excited by the detail I was seeing. It takes high magnification well.

[AlexxxAA]

Thanks DarkerSky!!! Cant wait to upgrade to a 10" or maybe 12" telescope to start seeing some more great stuff