Pleiades' nebulosity?

[pipnina]

My skies aren't the best, but I managed M33 without needing averted vision in my last session (was quite obvious, noticed it as soon as it got into the finder FOV). But every time I've tried to see the nebulosity around the Pleiades, all I see is stars. I did note halos around the bright stars in the cluster, could this be the nebulosity not being the shape I expected or just the stars being bright? Or maybe the nebulosity is dimmer than I thought? Has anyone here managd the Pleiades' nebulosity before? And if you have, what sky darkness were you under?

Thanks,

    ~pip

[jabeoo1]

On youtube there is a channel called astronomyshed , on one of the uploads he reviews the SW Quattro 10 inch f/4.  Apparently you can visually get the nebulosity around pleiades with that scope.  My scope is f/6.3 of the same aperture and I have yet to be sure of seeing any nebulosity.  I am therefore assuming you need a 'fast' well collimated scope. 

[estwing]

Not noticed any in mine but then again they are more of a bins target

[xtreemchaos]

ive a 8inch newt and never manage to see more than the halos and i have quite good dark skys, ive tryed with diferent filters, i think the stars are so bright it makes it hard.  clear skys  charl.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have seen it in very clear skies in the Alps with my C8. There were even hints of structure around Merope. I put the star just outside the FOV, and a distinct wispy structure was clearly visible. Even with the stars in view you could see it. I used no filter (pointless on a reflection nebula)

[pipnina]

So I gather the nebulosity is just difficult then. Mystery solved I guess

Ty

[John]

I've glimpsed some nebulosity around Merope on a dark night with an 8" scope. The nebulosity in the Pleiades is, I believe, of the reflection type so it does not respond to filters such as the UHC or O-III variety, or at least not to the extent that other nebulae types do.

[laudropb]

From a dark sky site I thought I could just catch a hint of it in my 200 mm scope. But this might just have been wishful thinking and it was certainly not blue as in images.

[mikeDnight]

So I gather the nebulosity is just difficult then. Mystery solved I guess

Ty

It's not really difficult to see in itself and you don't need a large aperture to see it. What is needed are transparent skies. Town or city haze will wash out the nebulosity, so if you can, go to a dark site away from mist or haze. You should also use an eyepiece that gives a nice dark sky background, so that may be a mid range power rather than your lowest power. It's all about contrast with this nebula. The nebula is best seen using averted vision, but just let your eye scan the Pleiades cluster naturally rather than trying to focus on any one point. Often it appears as if the lens is beginning to fog over but looking at adjacent unrelated stars will show that it is actually nebulosity that you're seeing. Part of the problem may also be the brightness of the Pleiades themselves. Some observers have been able to detect the nebulosity with the naked eye from a dark site, though I never have. Good binoculars or RFT should reveal it under the right conditions.

If youve found M33 youve done well. Take a look at M31. In the same low power field is M32 and also the more elusive M110, which is a large ghostlike face on galaxy. If you can see M110 you can see the nebulosity enmeshing the Pleiades.

Mike :-)

[nicoscy]

I used to own a 6" f5.9 Achro refractor which under dark skies with a Nagler 31mm easily brought out the nebulosity.

You need a large FOV, decent aperture, a large exit pupil and good dark and transparent skies.

[Moonshane]

I have seen M110 lots of times from home but never managed anything around M45. Must try harder! 

[DeepSkyBagger]

It's not really difficult to see in itself and you don't need a large aperture to see it. What is needed are transparent skies. Town or city haze will wash out the nebulosity, so if you can, go to a dark site away from mist or haze. 

I totally agree with Mike here. I often scan the Pleiades to see if nebulosity is visible. With my 12" Newtonian, it is not visible from my moderately light-polluted home skies, but last month I was in the Lake District with the same instrument and the nebulosity was immediately obvious. Dark skies are king.

Patrick

[jetstream]

My Stellarvue 90mm APO triplet shows this nebulosity nicely, it is quite a sight really. It seems to appear on the coldest,blackest nights when the transparency is at its best, with SQM's of 21.7, or maybe a bit better.

[Stu]

Never convincingly seen it myself, though same as Shane, I've seen M110 plenty of times.

It's normally a case of thinking I'm seeing nebulosity, then realizing my objective is dewed up [emoji12]

[jetstream]

I really hate to say this, but refractors might work better for this...

[Stu]

I'm putting my tin hat on and am hiding under the table Gerry. Good luck [emoji3][emoji6]

[John]

I'm putting my tin hat on and am hiding under the table Gerry. Good luck [emoji3][emoji6]

Can you see the Pleiades from home Stu ?

[Stu]

Can you see the Pleiades from home Stu ?

Touché John, not from under this table anyway [emoji3]

[bomberbaz]

Seen the nebulosity in all its wonderful glory from the dark skies of Galloway, Scotland.

I was viewing through a 14" dob although I did see it through my 12" later the same night.

I was looking directly at the object and it shone as bright as some of the images I have seen. It truly was an amazing wow moment although the whole evening was amazing. If you get the right conditions you will have your socks blown off, it was beautiful. The skies were ink black and clarity very good.

I have tried since but sadly not replicated the results of that night but if the skies and night seeing are right you will see the nebula.

Steve

[Piero]

Interesting thread and rich of advises!

I've never seen it, but I must admit that I never looked for it as I thought it was only detectable through imaging. I also doubt the sky were I observe is dark enough. Will give a proper try this winter!

[acey]

In the 19th century, before the advent of astrophotography, there was a lot of debate about whether the nebulosity existed. That gives an idea how hard it is. If you think you can see it (e.g. round Merope), you need to inspect the region around other stars of equal brightness, and make sure they show no "nebulosity" that could just be diffraction in the scope or haze in the air. The requirement of optics with minimal light scattering tends to favour refractor over reflector (the discovery and all early observations were with refractors - modern reflectors are obviously a lot better than 19th century ones, but still more prone to light scattering because of the secondary obstruction). The nebulosity is large, so best looked for with lowest power. For very large, low-surface brightness objects, binoculars are sometimes best bet, though I haven't done a calculation to see if that would apply to Pleiades nebulosity. The discovery observations were generally with 4" refractors or smaller, I think.

I've tried for it on a number of occasions at dark sites but never had a definite sighting. Under the right conditions some people find it easy, but it all comes down to sky conditions. And of course filters are no help at all, since it's reflection nebulosity.