Everything except the Horsehead

[Size9Hex]

What a difference a dark sky makes! I wonder if I also had some really, really, jammy luck with the conditions! Sincere thanks to all the usual suspects who post regularly here too. Without doubt, I'd have seen and enjoyed less if not for reading the wisdom and experience of others on the forum.

All observations from a dark location in the New Forest. 10 inch f4.7 Dob, 50x, 80x, 180x, with UHC used on the nebulae.

The first set of targets were the low winter Messier clusters in Lepus, Canis Major, Puppis and Hydra. Impossible to see with the horizon obstructed at home. Picked up M79 (glob), M41, M47, M46, M93 and M48 using 50 to 80x. Nothing too tricky. Of these, M46 really stood out with a particularly charming quality, and the surprise sighting of a planetary (NGC 2438) in the view was the icing on a starry cake! Also saw Hind's Crimson Star for the first time.

While in the region, I failed to split Sirius at 180x.

A brief interlude to have a chat with a chap walking his dog. Showed him the Pleiades, the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy. He was nearly speechless!

The next set up targets were intended to be those that I've struggled with in the light pollution at home (four faint Caldwell objects). Although successful, I went well and truly off piste right from beginning as the quality of the conditions slapped me in the face!

80x with UHC used for the next few nebula targets.

Orion

Flame Nebula. I put Alnitak out of view and the Flame Nebula instantly appeared, complete with a nice dark jagged lane through the centre. No doubting it whatsoever. I nearly fell off my chair!

I chanced IC 434 (the background behind the Horsehead), but found nothing initially. Returned to it later in the evening though (after a few other nebulae) and it landed without any effort as a linear division between dark sky and less dark sky. This is certainly not to say it was bright and obvious, just that it was suddenly there. Not sure what changed. Transparency improving perhaps, or maybe my brain getting tuned into observing extended faint nebulae which I've never really seen until now. A brief attempt at the Horsehead revealed nothing.

NGC 2023 was seen an asymmetric nebulous patch alongside the above.

Spotted NGC 1975 north of the usual M42/43, showing some structure including two good sweeping bands east to west, and a darker bay south west of c Ori.

Monoceros

Rosette Nebula. Found it quite hard work, with the faintness of the nebula, and the distraction of the stars in the view, but I really also think a lack of experience with this type of target was a handicap. In the end I felt that the nebula was staring me in the face but my brain just wasn't looking for it, if that makes sense. Detected a few regions of the view that were brighter than other regions (particularly a brighter wall north of the central cluster), but certainly not a photographic view! I also wondered whether a lower magnification wider field of view would have helped, yet I had no filter for my 50x eyepiece, and the 80x with UHC seemed better overall.

Taurus

Merope Mebula. Spent time trying to spot any nebulosity in the Pleiades. I'm always very sceptical whether it's nebulosity or just ghosting round the bright stars. My averted vision played tricks on me, with holes appearing in the glow wherever I looked. By using AV, I was just pushing the glow around, proving nothing. With advance knowledge/bias I believed Merope would be the best bet. With bias acknowledged, I still felt there was a faint wide band washing quite a long way south from Merope, and fainter than any glow nearer the stars.

A quick look at M1 before failing to spot comet 81P Wild 2, but it was a half hearted effort at best.

Auriga

The Flaming Star Nebula. Properly difficult, and I had to consult a photo to help me see any of it. Putting the bright AE Auriga and companion HD 34030 just out of view in one direction revealed a definite glow in their direction at the edge of the eyepiece but not elsewhere in the eyepiece. Putting these stars out of view in the exact opposite direction revealed no glow at all. I tried this a few times to be confident. No structure detected, just the location of the boundary of the glow.

Camelopardalis

Galaxy IC 342 was hard work. My impression was of bright distracting foreground stars, and my brain struggled to see a galaxy. A bright non-stellar core revealed itself however, although I needed to confirm the location of what I had seen precisely against a map to be sure.

Galaxy NGC 2403 was surprisingly prominent and bright.

Leo

A bit of unfinished business from a previous session. Picked up the Leo Triplet again, but including NGC 3628 for the first time which was invisible from home. A long dust lane visible with difficulty just south of the central bright region. With persistence, M66 revealed a dark curl to the west of the core.

M95, M96, M105, NGC 3384 spotted, and also NGC 3373 for the first time which came and went in averted vision, with the orientation also detectable.

Canes Venatici

Couldn't resist a quick look at the Cocoon Galaxies with nice structure seen.

Ursa Major

M81. Direction of elongation detected. The core seemed closer to the south west edge than the north east. I wonder if the south west is fainter to cause this impression. Impression of a dark curved region wrapping around north east of core.

M82. Brief look, with dark notching detected.

Need to come back to all of the following. I was getting too cold to do them justice.

Picked up NGC 3953 by accident while looking for M109. The latter showed a central bar skewed off axis.

M108 spotted. Overall impression was almost of a stick that had been chewed by a dog. Loads of knotted detail for a future viewing.

Brief look at the Owl Nebula too, which showed non-uniform structure in the disk, but it was time to call it a day rather than freeze to death figuring it out!

[YKSE]

That's a great session Paul Dark sky rules when you're after faint fuzzies

Just a note, when transparency is good, seeing is usually not great, i.e. maybe not best condition for splitting difficult doubles.

[Stu]

Excellent report again Paul. Your descriptions are fabulous, always an entertaining read ??

[jetstream]

I love it! another nebula hunter

Great report Paul, so much to see from a dark site its incredible. The Rosette likes a very wide field eyepiece and with one will show its true nature, try both the UHC and OIII.

Flaming Star? are you sure it was the Flaming Star? you may have picked up an even fainter nebula in there , Auriga is full of surprises. Congrats Paul.

Very good description of objects Paul, looking forward to more reports!

ps look for a large "boomerang" in Auriga...

[Piero]

A truly wonderful report, Paul!  Very inspiring! 

Thanks for sharing,

Piero

[Size9Hex]

2 hours ago, YKSE said:

That's a great session Paul Dark sky rules when you're after faint fuzzies

Just a note, when transparency is good, seeing is usually not great, i.e. maybe not best condition for splitting difficult doubles.

Thanks! Good tip on seeing/transparency. I'll be honest and admit a lot of my targets are still selected on naive optimism! :-)

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, Size9Hex said:

Thanks! Good tip on seeing/transparency. I'll be honest and admit a lot of my targets are still selected on naive optimism! :-)

Keep it like that Paul, don't listen to us jaded oldies with dodgy eyes ?

[alan potts]

What a superb report, it makes me feel better after Man Utd had a man sent off after 25 mins. Plenty of content in that session Paul, I hoping to get another go at the Horse's Head soon myself but weather is not letting do anything and I am still not firing on all cyclinders.

[laudropb]

Very nice report of a truly wonderful session. A most enjoyable read.

[estwing]

ahhh dark sky trips ...wetting the appetite for more! great report Paul and a list of challenging targets that require good skies. Do try to pop over to Mid-Wales its so worth it. looking forward to more reports like this!

[Special K]

That's some haul, and fantastic results on some real toughies too. You mention a few here which continue to elude me.....probably because I get somewhere nice and dark about once a year.  From home the Rosette is a real challenge but there's always hope 

I really should try putting Alnitak out of the FOV sometime to see if it helps.  Thanks for a very nice report!

 

[PeterW]

Flaming star is a pain, as mentioned there is quite a bit of fuzz around about, like in central Cygnus. The Rosetta is just BIG, swing the scope about to grab it by the edges. 

Nice haul, maybe try the monkey head/jellyfish up in Gemini?

 

peterW

[Stu]

Best view I had of the Rosette was in a 4" Apo with 31mm Nagler and OIII (I think). That had a 3.7 degree field of view so you can really pick the whole thing up without looking through it.

Guessing at a 24mm, 68 degree eyepiece at x50 in your scope, giving around 1.4 degrees, you can see why it's easy to miss the edges!

[Size9Hex]

4 hours ago, jetstream said:

I love it! another nebula hunter

Great report Paul, so much to see from a dark site its incredible. The Rosette likes a very wide field eyepiece and with one will show its true nature, try both the UHC and OIII.

Flaming Star? are you sure it was the Flaming Star? you may have picked up an even fainter nebula in there , Auriga is full of surprises. Congrats Paul.

Very good description of objects Paul, looking forward to more reports!

ps look for a large "boomerang" in Auriga...

Thanks Gerry!

You need to take a lot of the credit (blame? ) for getting me interested in observing nebulae! I'll certainly be looking for more after last night

I was sure it was the Flaming Star until you questioned it; Now I'm full of doubt! I've tried to mark the area I saw below. The two positions in which I put the eyepiece are marked in black either side of the bright pair of stars. The yellow area is roughly on the brighter region I detected, with the boundary at the top of the yellow area not well defined. When I pointed the eyepiece straight at the bright pair, I didn't really get anything with complete confidence. Looking at the photo in the cold light of day, there's clearly a huge amount I missed. I don't know whether it was too faint/subtle for either the conditions or my skills, or whether I just didn't see it because I wasn't looking for it, or just didn't spend enough time on it. I guess it was a pretty amateur effort, but I was still absolutely stoked to detect anything at all! Hopefully I'll see more next time.

I'm not a fan of blaming the kit, but I did wonder whether the eyepiece (exit pupil 2.9, mag 80x) was too aggressive for some of the nebulae last night. It held up well on the galaxies (which now seem so bright!). I was really amazed at just how dim the nebulae were.

(Makes mental note to look for a boomerang next time...)

 

[jetstream]

You did a great job Paul! A lot of these nebs want a large TFOV and also a bit higher exit pupil- I love the 100 deg EP's for this and also use my 30mm ES82 a lot. You will see more and better if you use a widefield 20-25mm eyepiece IMHO. Your image shows the inner "V" of the boomerang shape, I get the Flaming Star mostly in the FOV of my 21E and more in the 30mm ES 82.

You actually did a super job seeing this neb in the 14mm as it is easy to see through it at that level. You will be shocked at how easy this one is to see under your conditions in a lower power, wider field eyepiece, many say the Hb is the answer, but so far the UHC has been better- I just ordered a 2" Hb though and will report soon I hope.

This borrowed image shows the boomerang and its neighbors, wait until you get the "spider and fly"!

Welcome to the nebula hunters club!

[alan potts]

Looking at that Gerry i sometimes wish I was a camera. I have lost count how many times I have looked in that area and only seen a quarter of what is there, I must start to plan sessions better, I am not very organised.

Alan

[bomberbaz]

7 hours ago, alan potts said:

Looking at that Gerry i sometimes wish I was a camera. I have lost count how many times I have looked in that area and only seen a quarter of what is there, I must start to plan sessions better, I am not very organised.

Alan

agreed Alan. My best sessions have been the ones where I go well planned as per Gerry's. Works best when I have a list of objects for differing times of the session that are a mix of difficulties, that way if the goings tough at least some of the easier stuff keeps you going, otherwise its easy to lose interest and then you start to feel the cold etc.

I am making one for tonight, although my main aim tonight is the elusive horsehead.

Great report btw Paul, you have inspired me to really have a good session tonight.

[jetstream]

Hey Paul, a 20mm ES 100 just might work well for you, one used one up for sale right now. A 24mm ES 82 would be good too, ask around about that one first maybe. They both offer very wide true fields. The new ES 92 sounds very promising from what I've read, more eyerelief on this model.

[Size9Hex]

On 07/03/2016 at 06:56, alan potts said:

Looking at that Gerry i sometimes wish I was a camera. I have lost count how many times I have looked in that area and only seen a quarter of what is there, I must start to plan sessions better, I am not very organised.

Alan

 

On 07/03/2016 at 07:26, bomberbaz said:

agreed Alan. My best sessions have been the ones where I go well planned as per Gerry's. Works best when I have a list of objects for differing times of the session that are a mix of difficulties, that way if the goings tough at least some of the easier stuff keeps you going, otherwise its easy to lose interest and then you start to feel the cold etc.

I am making one for tonight, although my main aim tonight is the elusive horsehead.

Great report btw Paul, you have inspired me to really have a good session tonight.

+1 for having a list with a range of targets and a bit of flexibility to pick based on the conditions. I find Sky Safari brilliant for it. It keeps track of multiple lists quite nicely without much faff. Last night, I'd hoped to view a few galaxies with the moon still out of the way, but when I got out I realised the sky was a little too milky. It was easy to switch to a list of open clusters on the Herschel list though. That said, sometimes it's nice just to pan around with no map or plan and see what you stumble upon!

[Size9Hex]

On 07/03/2016 at 03:00, jetstream said:

You did a great job Paul! A lot of these nebs want a large TFOV and also a bit higher exit pupil- I love the 100 deg EP's for this and also use my 30mm ES82 a lot. You will see more and better if you use a widefield 20-25mm eyepiece IMHO. Your image shows the inner "V" of the boomerang shape, I get the Flaming Star mostly in the FOV of my 21E and more in the 30mm ES 82.

You actually did a super job seeing this neb in the 14mm as it is easy to see through it at that level. You will be shocked at how easy this one is to see under your conditions in a lower power, wider field eyepiece, many say the Hb is the answer, but so far the UHC has been better- I just ordered a 2" Hb though and will report soon I hope.

This borrowed image shows the boomerang and its neighbors, wait until you get the "spider and fly"!

Welcome to the nebula hunters club!

 

Thanks, very kind words indeed!

Thanks for the tips on the EPs and the heads up on the EP on sale. I fear that the purchase of a 92 or 100 degree might cause some disharmony if my wife sees the bank statement... The 82 range does seem good though. I'm getting on well with the 6.7 and particularly the 14mm in that range.

Funnily enough, I think I stumbled upon the fly last night as a small but obvious patch around a bright star in cluster NGC 1931 (in the 14mm again). From the map I was using, I was just expecting a cluster, so it was a nice surprise. Looking at a map later, I only picked up a very small amount of what was there, and I didn't pick up any other nebulosity at all in the wider area of your image, but I was more than happy with what I did spot! It's always brilliant to see something unexpected. I was at home, so nowhere near as dark as it was from the site at the weekend.

[jetstream]

Welcome to the confusion that Auriga so generously gives! This season I spent weeks in confusion when visiting Auriga I had nailed these objects seasons ago and came back for a serious visit with the 15". The Flaming star kept drawing me back and back and the new narrow FOV messed me up for a bit

There is so much to see In Auriga that it can be hard to figure out whats whats in a manual scope, for me anyway.

Did you see NGC 1931 or NGC 1907? NGC 1931 can be pretty hard from less than dark skies and NGC 1907 offers a subtle glow of nebulosity around it to.

You will see everything soon here Paul, much to see, I'm still squeaking things out here myself. I borrowed an image from Reiners great website, what a fantastic resource.Yes, get the 24mm ES 82...

 

[Size9Hex]

57 minutes ago, jetstream said:

Welcome to the confusion that Auriga so generously gives!

You're not wrong! I was looking for clusters on Herschels list, and I think becase they were fainter than I expected, and also because there's so much in the area, I got turned round in circles more than once!

Double checking, it was NGC 1931. I've indicated the area I saw below. It was quite bright and obvious but also very small. Almost a case of "That star looks a bit fuzzy!". I saw NGC 1907 just as a cluster, and I also went through the area of both IC410 and IC417 (in my star hop) and also checked in again on the Flaming Star, but no nebulosity jumped out in any of those. It's nice to have a reason to revisit!

 

[Paul73]

Another vote for the ES82° 24mm. I have the same spec scope as you and it really flies. It got swapped in for the Ethos but in performance terms they are not £400+ apart. 

The Flaming Star is a real toughie. Couldn't get it last night even with a Lumicon Hb filter.

the ES is the inner circle.

Paul

[jetstream]

The Flaming Star is a nice transparency test too, I've watched it go from "bright" to barely visible within minutes as the trans changed. The thing that catches my eye first is the inner "V" . My UHC is working wonders on this object but I did first start with the 1.25" Hb- the 2" Lumicon Hb will be here on Weds- fingers crossed.

Paul(73) you will see the Flaming Star, just a matter of time-it is very sky dependent.

[Paul73]

I'll stick at it !

The Flame wasn't even visible last night so the Flaming Star was a bit hopeful even with the Hb. I'm guessing that, like the Flame (tough under typical British skys), the Flaming Star will be another "it's easier once you have seen it".

The OP's darker skys will help a lot.

Paul