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I saw the North America Nebula with 8" aperture!

N3ptune

By N3ptune
in Observing - Reports

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N3ptune

N3ptune

Posted
Posted

I just want to say, last evening I saw the body of the North America Nebula and Pelican Nebula, for the very first time. :happy6: I read they were impossible to see and a really dark area is required (That was not really true)

--> Using my 32mm EP (31x 2.25 TFOV) with my new NBP filter on the 8" tube, the body of the North America was truly visible:hello2:,  it was possible to see the contrast between space and the gas by looking with averted vision around the 2 nebulae, exactly the red dot on the map bellow. No mistakes, they were visible, the Pellican was much more difficult to see then the opposing N.A.

I could even move the telescope around the contour of the N.A. It easier to see with the slightly moving telescope.  The opposite side of the blue dot (of the N.A.) was harder to see but still visible, the part facing the pelican had the more contrast and the finger tip (blue dot) I saw it clearly. Amazing!

ExHgQhT.jpg?1

 Allright! what a great observation it was ((: it's filling me up with joy, events like that, I thought these were impossible 100% convinced.

And that was my best story for this week end!

 

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Moonshane

Moonshane

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It's definitely possible with small apertures and some report seeing it naked eye (with an Oiii filter held to the eye) from dark sites.

It's a wonderful sight. My best view was from a garden in Glan Conwy once with my 6" newt. Saw the Pelican too with that and an Oiii. The Veil was also wonderful there.

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Paul73

Paul73

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Splendid stuff! The NA seems to respond well to normal sized scopes. It is all about getting a wide enough view to get the contrast. Once you have your eye in, the magnification can be cranked up for a proper explore. The big scooes often look straight through it! 

Well done on the Pelican. I've never managed to get that one.

Paul

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cloudsweeper

cloudsweeper

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Great result!  I've done OK with nebulae in Orion and Taurus - also some minor nebulous patches which haven't even got names (as far as I know).

Early days, but so far I've found the UHC (and Nd) filters make very little difference.  Maybe it's different with very faint ones?

Doug.

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Hobbes

Hobbes

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Congratulations. It's really exciting to spot one of these challenging targets.

I had my first view of the Pelican a couple of weekends ago at the Kelling Heath autumn star party. I had a UHC-S filter fitted and had just finished admiring the the Veil, I scooted over to the North American and had my best ever view of it  so thought the Pelican would be worth a try, shifted the scope and bingo there it was. Very exciting!

 

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PeterW

PeterW

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Congrats! The pelican certainly Is fainter. The dark gap between them looks a bit like a cactus. For an extra challenge look for ic5068, the cocoon or sharpless 119 nearby. They certainly aren't impossible and most of them have names (sharpless, lbn,ced etc) though I still have to find the right designations for some of the wispy bits that Cygnus is full of). Big scope users are at a disadvantage, maybe why people claim that galactic nebulae are impossible. Cloudsweeper, which patches are you referring to... I am (fairly well) versed in the Orion region? Barnards loop and the angelfish neb (sharpless 264) being particular favourites. Transparency is key, got to be crispy clear, not just dark!

 

Cheers

 

PeterW

 

PS there are things I have yet to find (e.g. ctb1, sharpless 240, sharpless 91, eridanus loop for starters... but you got to have something to aim for).

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Stu

Stu

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As Peter says, transparency is key for this one. My best views have been with a widefield frac (4") at dark sites with an OIII or UHC (can't remember which gives best results). Thing is though, some nights it can look fabulous, and other nights it's nowhere to be seen, even if the conditions appear similar. The difference is just slight high level haze which blots it out.

Great spot though, one of my favourites.

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N3ptune

N3ptune

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20 hours ago, Sirius Starwatcher said:

Nice one. It makes it all worthwhile getting the gear out and going for it. Nice to hear.:icon_biggrin:

Ahhh totally, a few days after, I am still thinking of these nebulae. ((:

 

15 hours ago, Moonshane said:

It's a wonderful sight. My best view was from a garden in Glan Conwy once with my 6" newt. Saw the Pelican too with that and an Oiii. The Veil was also wonderful there.

Ok great! on a 6 inches. Glan Conwy is close to nothing, to the south it looks really dark.

 

3 hours ago, Piero said:

Well done! :thumbsup: Are you going for the Veil now? :) 

14 hours ago, Paul73 said:

Splendid stuff! The NA seems to respond well to normal sized scopes. It is all about getting a wide enough view to get the contrast. Once you have your eye in, the magnification can be cranked up for a proper explore. The big scooes often look straight through it! 

Well done on the Pelican. I've never managed to get that one.

Paul

Yeah, I was not able to see it at 55x with my 18mm 1.25" EP, but maybe because I didn't spend enough time searching at that power. I had to put the 2 inches EP back, it has 2.24 degrees of TFOV which makes the observation more interesting, really vast object.   The pelican has way less luminosity, I could see it while moving my instrument a little bit, the core was revealed but no distinctive contour or specific shapes, a really faint ghost. Tt would not have been possible for me to sketch it.

 

14 hours ago, cloudsweeper said:

Early days, but so far I've found the UHC (and Nd) filters make very little difference.  Maybe it's different with very faint ones?

Ican't say.

 

13 hours ago, Hobbes said:

Congratulations. It's really exciting to spot one of these challenging targets.

I had my first view of the Pelican a couple of weekends ago at the Kelling Heath autumn star party. I had a UHC-S filter fitted and had just finished admiring the the Veil, I scooted over to the North American and had my best ever view of it  so thought the Pelican would be worth a try, shifted the scope and bingo there it was. Very exciting!

 

That's great (;  Hopefully we will look at it again soon!

 

3 hours ago, Piero said:

Well done! :thumbsup: Are you going for the Veil now? :) 

Hehehe I saw it a few weeks ago! but I am looking forward to look at it again. (And maybe produce a sketch)

 

2 hours ago, Stu said:

As Peter says, transparency is key for this one. My best views have been with a widefield frac (4") at dark sites with an OIII or UHC (can't remember which gives best results). Thing is though, some nights it can look fabulous, and other nights it's nowhere to be seen, even if the conditions appear similar. The difference is just slight high level haze which blots it out.

Great spot though, one of my favourites.

Ahh ok, ill be carefull with that. These days it's cold at night like 5 Celsius the humidity is low, that must be why I had chance with the NA and even the Pelican. A few weeks ago I tried to look at NGC 6888, the Cygnus Crescent Nebula, but it's unclear if what I saw was nebulosity clouds or.. dew on the filter. 

The NA is a great spot (:

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alan potts

alan potts

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Very well done and a nice report, I have seen it from here a couple of years ago using the Olll to the eye. I have also seen it with the 10.5 X 70 binos though not filtered it was still there well enough.

It is of coarse one of the targets in the sky that looks like its name with modest equipment, not that many do.

Alan 

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swamp thing

swamp thing

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Nice one :thumbright:

I actually find larger aperture can be a disadvantage on this object. I find this object easier with no scope and just a 2" O-III filter held over one eye than trying to find it with my 20" Dob. The Dobs image scale is far to large to be of any benefit and actually serves to hamper ones attempts. Once located the Dob obviously gives a more detailed view because of the image scale but the naked eye gives a much more pleasing view IMHO 
Plus I find observing it with just ones eye makes one feel a little like the very early astronomers which I think is kinda cool.

Have fun out there :) 

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