was it orion nebula i just saw?

[FOYS]

Evening fellow space peeps

I had my first go at trying to find the orion nebula through my skywatcher 150p.

After about 20 mins I managed to find something which looked like 3 stars close together in a triangle covered by what looked like a finger print mark or smudge. Also within the eye piece i saw 3 stars in a near straight line, right next to it.

Was it the orion nebula or just a random assortment of stars?

Many thanks

[freeflyjay]

sounds about right

[Fluke]

Congrats, your correct - you've seen M42 the orion nebula

[Dude_with_the_tube]

by the description it does sound that you have found the orion nebula.congrats

if you have a PC or even better a Laptop,get a free program called:Stellarium.this will help you a lot in your searches.you can customize it to your location what makes your searches even easier.

Good hunting and clear skies mate.

[badgerchap]

Sounds like the beggar to me! Keep looking and keep going back to it. As you and your eyes get used to knowing what you're looking for, that puppy just gets better and better!

[Double Kick Drum]

Sounds about right.

When i've observed M42, it always looks like a croissant to me. Slightly feinter is the circular M43 in the same FOV to the North. It is part of the same gas cloud but has a separate Messier number.

Clear skies!

[shinok]

sure was dude

[moogoomonkey]

Looks like you've bagged M42! Well done

[Strath]

I also had this same experience last night. Could see Orion and managed to find the bottom of the sword. I was totally blown away when I saw the bright glow, which looked totally different from everything else I have looked at so far. I looked for pictures of the nebula, after making a sketch (a pretty poor one) to compare it and confirm if I had found what I thought. The only picture I could find online were way to detailed but a copy of the original sketch (on wikipedia) looked remarkably like mine!

Another pretty awesome experience with my new scope!

[FOYS]

yayyy

The whole telescope producing the image upside threw me a bit when looking at the belt which was why I couldn't find it at first.

A bit like independence day when will smith goes to fly the spaceship for the first time.

Such an amazing hobby!

[DonRemus]

Well done. Sky is fantastic tonight, been out there 90 mins. Cold but happy. Sketched Orion. Saw M31 through my binoculars. Below that was an impressive bright blue star, think it's in Pegasus.

[Astralstroll]

That sound about spot on!! Its a magical sight, and one to keep revisiting as and when you can see Orion. Well done!

[Pig]

Your first nebula is always a treat.

[VigdisVZ]

Congrats! My first hint of structure in m42 blew me away, didnt expect that in a 6" scope after having seen it in bins a few times.

[LukeSkywatcher]

M42 at first glance is a collection of stars (and clouds of gas) that really do seem like someone stuck a big thumb right in the middle...........thats a spot on description.

[paul schofield]

Sounds about right, one of the best Messiers bagged, congrats. Great description too.