Horsehead visually?

[mert]

Quite the opposite, cold dark skies are excellent.

[nicoscy]

I agree with you! Hence my love for January in terms of observing quality. I was referring more to the curse of cloudy nights and rainy weather.

[mert]

It doesn't affect me much. I only have time to observe 2-3 month's of the year. And the cold air helps clearer skies.

[John]

Congratualtions to those who have managed to spot the ellusive Horsehead

I've yet to see the HH despite having the right tools and knowing just where to look. From where I observe 99% of the time it's a very, very, very difficult object I reckon. I suspect even a 20" scope would struggle here in all honesty.

Having read lots of reports over the years about viewing this, it's interesting just how variable peoples experiences are. Some with very large apertures and dark skies never manage to spot the thing wheras other seem to pick it out relatively easily with smaller scopes and even under so-so viewing conditions. It's a bit of an enigma !

[swamp thing]

 I suspect even a 20" scope would struggle here in all honesty.

If your 12" cant detect it then a 20" isn't going to help much either. Big scopes are only really giving bigger image scale and TBH the horse-head isn't as small as you expect it to be.

In a 12" it will be of ample size to be seen easy enough. 

You just need the sky to be dark and transparent. 

[Mark at Beaufort]

It sounds that we need clear, transparent nights at SGLX + a few Dobs. Don't forget I saw the HH from Lucksall a few years back so the site location is ok.

[scarp15]

My understanding is that providing the sky is sufficiently dark, transparency is the key to seeing the HH. In which case and with the right tools, a 10, 12, 14" dob will be sufficient. The darkest possible sky (which of course will assist) is not necessarily the primary factor. It has been sighted by club members from our observing location, which whilst being sufficiently dark is not quite comparable, with regard to my region, to dark skies at Kielder.

[John]

I found one report that stated that the Horsehead was about the same size as the Ring Nebula but, having ID'd the faint stars that surround it as I've learned my way around the field that the HH lies in, it's clearly going to appear larger than that.

I had one night last year when the sky was transparent enough for me to see the Eastern Veil Nebula with 15x70 binoculars and no filter so we do get great skies from time to time.

Lucksall next year is another possibility although the last few times I've been there the only horse heads on view were the ones attached to bodies and legs in the neighboring field, due to cloud cover. I arrived the day after Marks sighting of the astro Horsehead and the weather was not too co-operative for the remainder of the star party !

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I spotted it under extremely transparent skies at higher altitude with a "mere" 8 inches of aperture. The fact that I was at 45° north rather than 53° added 8 degrees of elevation, and being at 700 m above sea level reduced the thickness of the intervening atmosphere further. Still a hard target for an experienced observer (with over 35 years of observing and over 850 DSOs under my belt)

[estwing]

sounds like another filter I've got to buy....drat!

[nytecam]

I spotted it under extremely transparent skies at higher altitude with a "mere" 8 inches of aperture. The fact that I was at 45° north rather than 53° added 8 degrees of elevation, and being at 700 m above sea level reduced the thickness of the intervening atmosphere further. Still a hard target for an experienced observer (with over 35 years of observing and over 850 DSOs under my belt)

Well done Michael - no hope in London @ 33m with poor eyes and skies but I did get a snap last Friday night as attached in 40s [5s inset] + no filters.  The only way I can see the sky here 

[ollypenrice]

The Horse is way bigger than the Ring. Pity it isn't as bright! 

lly

[Mark at Beaufort]

Just been playing with Stellarium and although the width measurement was not totally accurate it gives a better idea of size.

As you can see the HH is over 3 times larger than M57

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

A factor of three sounds more like it.

[AndyWB]

FWIW, I tried for the Horse Head nebula on Friday having spotted the bright edge to IC 434 and NGC 2023, but I couldn't see it. With and without filter, there wasn't enough contrast. This was, however, from within 2 miles of the centre of Reading.  Annoyingly, it felt like being on the edge of being visible; if only I'd been able to go somewhere properly dark.

[John]

.....  Annoyingly, it felt like being on the edge of being visible; if only I'd been able to go somewhere properly dark.

I've had that feeling with the darn thing too Andy. I'm worried that "averted imagination" will take hold if I try too hard !

nytecam's pics show that I'm looking in just the right place and I can make out a number of the fainter stars in the same field as the HH that sort of frame it. Perhaps I'll try and get the scope to a darker place early in the New Year.

[swamp thing]

Its a strange one. The diffuse nebula its in is only half the battle. I actually found the nebula quite easy. its finding the horse shape thats the hard bit. If your struggling to see the nebula.........go somewhere darker as you've no chance.

[Matthew]

The HH is my main target this winter.Ive got a 2" lumicon h beta filter but since ive bought the 400p ive had one really clear night and the seeing conditions were poor.The council have started turning ALL the street lights off were i live and the skies are superb so its only a matter of time.

[greglloyd]

I think the main factors here are the approx 20 degree difference in latitude between Cyprus and central Scotland. Orion will be much higher in the sky from Cyprus.

Also, the humidity in Cyprus is around 50% whereas in Scotland it is > 90% the majority of the time right now (and usually > 80% most of the time).

Both factors are going to make the HH much more challenging from northern parts of the UK. Same applies for observers in the southern hemisphere at greater than 50 degrees south trying to see stuff in the northern sky.

[greglloyd]

I'd like to give it a try this winter. Is a HB filter a necessary purchase, or have people  (in the UK or Ireland) seen it without?

[John]

I've found this webpage quite useful in gearing up for Horsehead hunting:

http://www.skyhound.com/observing/archives/jan/IC_434.html

[Helix]

Hello there,

I saw The Horsehead nebula yesterday and the last winter under the UK skies, too, with my 10" Dob. I used Pentax 20 mm SW + lumicon H β filter and on another occasion 24 mm Panoptic + Ηβ filter.

This is challenging object. What I found out that people do not know where to look at.

1) I isolated the field of view. I removed ζ Orionis ( the star) from the field of you because it is very bright.

2) I found dividing line between 'bright' area( it is not bright at all, it is a bit lighter than other side) and dark area.

3) when I could see the dividing line then I scanned the the 'brighter' area along the line for dark patch ( the 'brighter' area because the Horsehead itself is the cloud of thick dust on the background of thin layer of gas and dust - simplified version how to explain it)

4) I took time for letting my brain and eyes to focus and decipher the picture I see ( nothing to do with imagination ). About 1 to 2 minutes. And here we are! I saw even to what direction it heading.

I made rough draft yesterday in complete darkness with my friends, amateur observers, around. Happy to share it if you know how to shrink the size.

Saying I ve seen Barnards 33, I think, anyone who attempts to look at it, has to remember:

1) dark site

2) very good to excellent transparency and seeing

3) dark adapted eyes (30-40 minutes) and do not look at any bright objects like open cluster or globular cluster, bright stars 30 minutes prior observing Barnards 33

4) Hβ filter works well only with eyepieces 4-7 mm exit pupil according to company recommendation.

As far as I understand you have Schmidt cass scope?!? Probably it means long focal length which is a bit too slow for The Horsehead. I have experience with the fast scope, 4.7 FR.

5) good to excellent eyesight

6) patience

I am not sure if I am helpful.

It is just my experience.

I know some will criticise me or tell me that it is impossible.

It is possible and I saw it at least 3 times already .

Kind regards,

Helix

[Luke]

Sarah and I managed to see the horsey from home in the very wee hours of Christmas Day It shouldn't have been on the cards as I was under orders to not put out the 16 inch dob on account of my dodgy knee. However, Sarah had to pop out for a bit and by sheer luck some elves passed by and carried the dob out for me

We used a 14mm Delos with 0.5 reducer and Astronomik h-beta filter. Hope some other folks had luck too.

[PeterW]

Nytecam, you can from london. The8" with double stacked Halpha filters a bit of reduction and a large flocked stray light shield pulled it from the murk last night. Yes larger than expected and not a fully defined head, but inline with a star where it should be when I checked the charts. Ok I cheat slightly with an intensifier, but I live in a small flat and don't have the space for a monster dob. Te monkey head was also good, but not a good night as Barnards loop was invisible.

Hears to a darker and clearer 2015.

PEterW

[John]

Hello there,

I saw The Horsehead nebula yesterday and the last winter under the UK skies, too, with my 10" Dob. I used Pentax 20 mm SW + lumicon H β filter and on another occasion 24 mm Panoptic + Ηβ filter.

This is challenging object. What I found out that people do not know where to look at.

1) I isolated the field of view. I removed ζ Orionis ( the star) from the field of you because it is very bright.

2) I found dividing line between 'bright' area( it is not bright at all, it is a bit lighter than other side) and dark area.

3) when I could see the dividing line then I scanned the the 'brighter' area along the line for dark patch ( the 'brighter' area because the Horsehead itself is the cloud of thick dust on the background of thin layer of gas and dust - simplified version how to explain it)

4) I took time for letting my brain and eyes to focus and decipher the picture I see ( nothing to do with imagination ). About 1 to 2 minutes. And here we are! I saw even to what direction it heading.

I made rough draft yesterday in complete darkness with my friends, amateur observers, around. Happy to share it if you know how to shrink the size.

Saying I ve seen Barnards 33, I think, anyone who attempts to look at it, has to remember:

1) dark site

2) very good to excellent transparency and seeing

3) dark adapted eyes (30-40 minutes) and do not look at any bright objects like open cluster or globular cluster, bright stars 30 minutes prior observing Barnards 33

4) Hβ filter works well only with eyepieces 4-7 mm exit pupil according to company recommendation.

As far as I understand you have Schmidt cass scope?!? Probably it means long focal length which is a bit too slow for The Horsehead. I have experience with the fast scope, 4.7 FR.

5) good to excellent eyesight

6) patience

I am not sure if I am helpful.

It is just my experience.

I know some will criticise me or tell me that it is impossible.

It is possible and I saw it at least 3 times already .

Kind regards,

Helix

This sounds entirely credible to me Helix and your post includes some valuable observing tips for this object. Thanks for posting