M42

[neil groves]

My imaging session was cut short last night because of clouds moving into the area, but just before I packed my kit up, I took time of visually observe the Orion Nebulae, I located it in the finder scope, then looked through the main OTA, man was I disappointed, I expected to see a great glowing gas cloud like I have seen in text books, nope....all I could see at first was the bright 3 stars of the trapezium, however as I moved away from the eyepiece the sky around the trapezium glowed like a candle glow, I found that by not looking directly at the object but instead slightly to one side, a spectacular sight came into view, my faith was restored and I can't wait to get out again, I only had a few mins as soon the cloud covered the entire sky but such a memorable time.

Neil.

[knobby]

Well done Neil, you just summed up 'averted vision' perfectly

[Moonshane]

A uhc filter really helps with m42

[tarotrocola]

What telescope do you have and which eyepiece were you using?

[SteveB72]

I observed M42 in a brief window early last week with my 2" 30mm EP checking out a new Coma Corrector in my Skyliner 400P, the view was amazing without any filters.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I find M42 amazing even in direct vision with the C8, even though it is better in averted vision. A UHC filter does help. Even the APM 80mm shows a lot of detail, especially at low magnification (AWESOME at 15.5x with the 31T5 "Panzerfaust" and at 22x with the 22T4).

[swamp thing]

M42 is pretty fantastic through any scope if the sky is a good one. LP ruins it a bit IMHO, I know its a nice bright nebula that stands out even from town but dark skies always ,make these things rock . You can't beat that ink black background

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

M42 is pretty fantastic through any scope if the sky is a good one. LP ruins it a bit IMHO, I know its a nice bright nebula that stands out even from town but dark skies always ,make these things rock . You can't beat that ink black background

Absolutely. My reasonable back garden gives nice views, but the best I ever had were from a dark site high up in the Austrian Alps.

[NotSoSuperNova]

Time at the eye piece also helps. The best views of M42 I've ever had took me about an hour to get to. Needless to say, I didn't need a light pollution filter then, unlike in my back garden 

[mondeoman]

Please can someone tell me if i have spotted m42 for the first time.After searching orion for a while i spotteda cluster of 4 stars surrounded by a whitish haze below and to the right of the belt of orion am i right as being pretty new to astronomy it will be only my second dso find

[mister_wavey]

vacuum, in reasonable skies, you can make out M42 visually as a haze in the middle of orion's lower half. see http://arrrr.com/messier/m42.shtml - in your observation, I'm presuming your used a scope to see the 4 stars you mentioned - make sure you use a finder first to locate the right spot before using the eyepiece or you can get lost very quickly.

[Moonshane]

Sounds spot on to me mondeoman

[Naf]

Yep sounds like m42 to me mondeoman, keep looking at m42 Neil, it will only get better and better, especially as you go through aperture fever, a very common illness contacted by amateur astronomers, cured only by the lack of depth in your pocket or the patience of your partner. Clear skies. :grin: