Getting closer.

[alan potts]

I sort of set out last night with no intention of going anywhere near the Horse's Head as I just don't feel the weather is helping at the moment with the amount of moisture in the air but all the best plans are changeable.

I spent a good time on M42 or to be more precise the trapezium, using the 18 inch Sumerian this time with the Paracorr I spent a good while looking for star G and anything else the alphabet could throw up, E and F were very easy even at X73 which is about as low as you would want to go on a scope like this. This fairly high low power gives stunningly sharp view from edge to edge of the 82 degree field of view served up by a Nagler, it really is amazing just how far the nebula extends with this amount of light gathering power. To stand any chance of seeing G or any of the others, more power was required so I put the 10mm Ethos into bat with a more revealing X229, the conditions handled it well, the higher power help you see that bit deeper in terms of magnitude. I recall the 3rd night I saw the star in M57 it was only when I went to over X300 that it became visible, even with this scope, at that power it can see down to about Mag 16.2.

Site memeber and fellow Nichol mirror man Calvin is a great lover of the 8mm Ethos on his scope with this target, I find that mine with its longer F/L 10mm Ethos is better but I bet we are talking much the same power. Messier 42 is simply jaw dropping at this power, I really wish you all could have seen it. I did think I saw something in the way of extended letters in the area where one would expect to see the G star, but I feel it was only my imagination as it was for nothing more than a fleeting moment but it made my heart skip a beat.

It is worth more observation as Orion is still in a area of my sky where you could argue there is very slight light polutuion from the town 5 miles or so away, as the night whiles on The Hunter moves to a part of the sky where there is nothing for many miles and it is always that tiny bit darker, even to the eye. 

As if by magic the scope slewed by my hands to the general area of IC 434, now I have used these identification letters IC as many things, insignificant cluster etc, the last few night I feel that the 'I' is for Impossible or Infuriating though it is also Invisible and clearly very shy. I spent about 45 minutes using the 24mm Panoptic with the H Beta and the 31mm Nagler with the UHC. It was again an almost night, with the 24mm I felt I saw a shape of the head that appeared almost like liquid black ink being dropped into a bucket of water from a fountain pen, it took on the shape momentarily and then just like ink dispersed in to nothing. It was not enough for me to send up the flag as I have to be absolutely sure I see something and again this could just be my eyes playing tricks, so for the moment the Irritable Colt remains unclaimed. It could also just as easily been a brief glimpse in erratic conditions though Sirius was easy to split early on before it was totally dark, I always find that to be the case, I also think the size of the scope helps and it is a shame erratic is not spelt with an I. 

For the last couple of years I have played a bit of a game with Sirius in so much as I wanted to understand how hard this is from England, I never made the split whilst I did astronomy when living there. I have been regularly looking at the star before it gets above the height that it achieves in England and until recent I have never seen the Pup when low, just showing how difficult is the split. This though was not the case the other night with the Sumerian and the same last night, it seems the greater resolving power and mirror quality tips the balance. When I managed it with the Meade 12 inch a few nights back it was higher than any point in the UK so does not count.

I could see M33 naked eye so I thought I would swing the scope around for a look before I had to go start the wood burner. I was so pleased I did as I was treated to a superb view of the galaxy and I could make out the full shape, arms and all as well as a little detail of brighter parts of the main core. I believe this is the best I have ever seen this and it more than made up for not being able to claim the Incessantly Cloaked 434 instead I bagged the Incredible Catherine-wheel which at the time was sitting in about the darkest part of my sky.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings.

Alan

[Piero]

A lovely report and reading! Even if you don't feel completely sure that you spot the hh nebula, comparing this report with your previous attempts, it seems to me that you got a considerable achievement!

Looking forward to reading your next observation report! 

Piero

[laudropb]

Great report. A very enjoyable read. Sounds like you have almost nailed it. I am sure you will get there in the end.

[Size9Hex]

5 hours ago, alan potts said:

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings.

Definitely :-)

Always interesting to hear what other folks are observing and how they're getting on, and as a beginner, each time I read a post I learn a little more to make the next session that little better.

Keep plugging away at the horse head. Orion seems to have trotted further west each time I look. Sounds like you're on the cusp of cracking it though.

[estwing]

Great read Alan and I agree the 8e gives me 255x with the paracorr (I don't observe without it)...the view you get of M42 is almost beyond description isn't it....wait until you start galaxy hunting in Leo and Virgo!!...glad you're still enjoying your Dob...clear skies!

[John]

Lovely report Alan

I won't mention the horsey because it will make me grumpy but did you see any of the HII nebulous zones in M33 ?. NGC 604 is quite straightforward even in my scope from my back garden and is fascinating being a DSO located within another galaxy. Well worth tracking these down if you are having a good time with the big Triangulum galaxy

 

 

[scarp15]

Good one keep it up, no need to hedge the bets, the odds are looking more in favour for that horse.

[jetstream]

Great report Alan, keep them coming. Some of these faint nebula are very frustrating I find, great goals, but frustrating.

[alan potts]

11 hours ago, John said:

Lovely report Alan

I won't mention the horsey because it will make me grumpy but did you see any of the HII nebulous zones in M33 ?. NGC 604 is quite straightforward even in my scope from my back garden and is fascinating being a DSO located within another galaxy. Well worth tracking these down if you are having a good time with the big Triangulum galaxy

 

 

Well John, it was not quite as good a view as the photo, a few more feet of mirror required for that maybe. I would say from memory (not to be trusted these days) NGC 604, 595, 592, 588. For sure IC 135 and 139. Had I have pressed the power up a bit it may have unearthed the others, stunning view though. There is no doubt although there is a small amount of LP that comes when this is over the other side of the sky rising, it seems to make a difference, I have viewed this alot this time round . This gets pretty much overhead here and as always some nights are better than others. I will spend some more time on it next time the Moon goes away, it's a waste of time viewing M33 when our neighbour is around. Once you get in late March though it is getting too low after the sun has finally set and that sky is dark. Even though we are only in mid-February we have gained an hour of light compared to December. 

[John]

7 hours ago, alan potts said:

Well John, it was not quite as good a view as the photo, a few more feet of mirror required for that maybe.....

Alan, quite correct. In particular those straight white lines and the numbers are really hard to see with amateur scopes I find

[Pondus]

This is truly enjoyable and informative read (also your previous reports indeed). Interesting to see that even a relatively large telescope, dark skies and proper filters are no garantee that this holy grail of Visual astronomy will pop up in the eyepiece. I`m a bit curious what you`re gonna look for after you have succeeded With the HH.

 

Rune

[alan potts]

Rune,

After this the next goal is Sirius with a finder scope. Seriously though, there is always something to look at, the star I have just mentioned I have split many times, so many so that I started the little game I reported on in the post, it is a really tricky one from England but one many have done. Many thanks for the kind words about my reports, there are many more small books almost on eyepieces and the like dotted about in the equipment section. I try to entertain a bit when I write but I also really try to be accurate, for me this is upmost,

Cheers, Alan.

[Size9Hex]

13 hours ago, alan potts said:

Well John, it was not quite as good a view as the photo, a few more feet of mirror required for that maybe. I would say from memory (not to be trusted these days) NGC 604, 595, 592, 588. For sure IC 135 and 139. Had I have pressed the power up a bit it may have unearthed the others, stunning view though. There is no doubt although there is a small amount of LP that comes when this is over the other side of the sky rising, it seems to make a difference, I have viewed this alot this time round . This gets pretty much overhead here and as always some nights are better than others. I will spend some more time on it next time the Moon goes away, it's a waste of time viewing M33 when our neighbour is around. Once you get in late March though it is getting too low after the sun has finally set and that sky is dark. Even though we are only in mid-February we have gained an hour of light compared to December. 

I am stunned by this. Inspiring stuff. I'm delighted when I see M33 at all, even more so when I sense the overall shape, and especially on one occasion when I wondered if I saw a hint of a swirl. To pick out those details seems astonishing. If you've got these but not the horsehead, I guess it suddenly puts the difficulty of the latter into perspective.