Never did like horses

[alan potts]

On the surface of things we had a clear sky last night though the areas anywhere near the horizon seemed a bit pea-soup like, I tried to scan with the 10.5x70 bino's and stars were there, as if they had gone, but on other nights I had been able to see these with my eyes alone.

So once dark and armed with the 18 inch Sumerian this time I was after a few targets though it was wet all around and you could almost drink the air, so I was not holding my breath. Not my intended target but M42 is always one of the best in the sky when it comes to nebula, even in a small telescope it opens up to show the lovely clouds of the type we all love to see. Having a scope this size really lights the blue touch paper and shows extended views of the gaseous clouds, I can never make up my mind whether I prefer this with the UHC filter or just the clean view. I feel the Astonomik's filter just extends the nebula a fraction and show just a tiny bit more in the way of detail but which ever anyone would be happy. The trapezium was very clean and sharp at low power, I was only using the 24mm panoptic without Paracorr giving X82 and stars E and F were easily visible, the images from this mirror from John Nichol are truely jaw dropping. I was not going to hold my breath over the alphabet continuing but tried all the same, without the paracorr just to reduce the amount of glass in line. Using the 10mm and then 8mm Ethos'sss I pushed the power to X198 and then on to X247, the old frequency of Radio 1, but I could not detect anything apart from stars in the outer clouds which were very clear, I could see after extended use the coma would annoy me with this FOV. The atmosphere was holding up fairly well as I could still see E and F clearly which was a good sign and sort of lead me on to Sirius, about my favourite double star as it misbehaves all the time. Not tonight though, the Pup clear a day with the 21mm Ethos and Paracorr at a power of X109, this must be in the top five of the best views I have had of this double which sort of made sense as the was not much in the way of scintillation from the Dog star.

Then I turned my attention to the Horse's Head, with this scope I always wonder if I am pointing at the right area to see it, even with the amount of maps and pictures I have seen I am still filled with dread that I am looking elsewhere, I've had goto's for too long. I thought it rather strange as conditions on the surface of it were good but I could not see the Flame Nebula which I am told is a must and something I had seen with this scope very easily before shortly after I bought it, then thinking it was the Packman Nebula as to me that is exactly what it looked like. I was becoming aware of things getting wet, my sheet of paper from the Paracorr which I keep in one of the cases was like a wet lettuce leaf and there was a coving on the eyepiece in both cases. I checked the outside temperature sensor which was telling me it was zero though my body was telling me it was lying.

Working with the 31mm Nagler (7mm EP) and the 24mm panoptic (5.7mm EP) with UHC and H beta fitted respectively, I just and somewhat strangley felt the UHC was giving the better view as it was with this filter I thought I could see something, though I do find after so many disappointment you tend to clutch at straws and I am always on my guard against this or at least try to be.

I spent about 20 minutes looking for the Horses head wondering why it could not have had a body as well only to be let down yet again, thoughts of apperture is not the answer flashing through my mind, I had the feeling at the start this was going to deliever but sadly I was left damp and wanting. I again had a feeling I was seeing something in the area where I believed it to be but it may have just been a sign saying, running at Sandown Park in the 2.30. This is clearly an extremely difficult target and even with 18 inches of high quality mirror and eyepieces at hand it is not a 'give me'  but that helps drive me on to the next time when hopefully conditions, or should I say the 'going' is a bit firmer as the soft conditions with all this water about were not to his liking. 

Last night just helped me understand more clearly that stable air is not transparent air

Alan 

[Pig]

Nice read Alan

I am sure it won't be long before you tame this wild horse as you do get some exceptional skies over there, you also have some excellent kit so its only a question of time.

Still no joy on the weather front here in Northants, it has been very poor for some time now. Mind you today has started off quite clear so we may get some chance for solar later on

[scarp15]

Good read, keep up the quest.

[faulksy]

nice report again alan. you will bag it one day and when you do you will say is that it. its nothing special just a dso everyone wants to see. theres a lot more special objects out there , but i understand why you do it. good luck alan

[estwing]

you are using the right tools Alan...trust me that 21E worked for me and of course the transparency...the flame was obvious at Snowdon,perhaps that opened the stable door for the horse to appear!

[Piero]

Nice report Alan, as usual.

I enjoy my UHC on M42 quite a lot. I think it's because of the small aperture my telescope has. The UHC (or OIII) can really highlight the global shape of these large nebulae. 

[jetstream]

Great report Alan. Your transparency held you back on this attempt and under better conditions the Flame will reveal itself as will the thin line of IC434 and from there the HH. Another test of transparency can be M43 and the faint separation near the top of the "comma". Keep at it with the 18", you will get it for sure. The 25mm TV plossl/Hb is a proven performer for many and in differing scopes, for sure worth a try.

[swamp thing]

Unlucky mate. Keep at it buddy.  

[Special K]

Best of luck next time.......it's definitely not a gimme!  Nothing like the joy of finding a gem at the end of a long quest.